R2R next? Don't like ESS


Can you recommend a good 'starter' R2R dac?  I've been through a number of ESS Sabre dacs and they're not for me.  IMO, they lack a certain transparency that I'm after.  Point of reference:   The *only* dac that I've heard that is decent to my ears is a 10yr old Maverick Audio D3 w/ Sparkos OpAmp swap.  *This* was great.  Alas, I sold it because I thought I could do better with something newer.  

Geshelli's offerings have piqued my interest - the J3 in particular - but it's an ESS chip.  Wondering if I should make the jump to something R2R - Denafrips, Broder Patrol..  thoughts?

martinman

Showing 1 response by v-fi

Lots of recommendations for Denafrips and I agree with those. But nobody has mentioned Musician Audio which is another brand designed by the same people and built in the same factory as Denafrips. They all use R2R conversion and have a lot in common with Denafrips but with some unique designs to take them in their own direction.

They aren't as well known but I've read a few users who after trying equivalent priced units from each one tend to prefer the Musician Audio model. I've only heard their little Draco which is well under $1,000 and I thought it was much better than the most budget Denafrips which is the Aries.