The new Mullard tubes in my Pathos amplifier are a clear upgrade in sound quality, but because it's such a new upgrade it's more challenging to evaluate the Schiit DAC because my "muscle" memory is still in the past.
However, after a bit more listening I have decided to return the Schiit DAC.
My Maverick TubeMagic D2 DAC has parallel solid state and tube outputs. I had previously determined that the solid state was the output that I preferred, so didn't even have the tube output connected. In the process of evaluating the Schiit I hooked the tube output back up and discovered that it sounded identical to the Schiit DAC. I think the Schiit DAC and tube output on the Maverick may be my preferred sound with the new Mullard tubes in the Pathos, but there's just not any reason to spend the money for something that seemingly is giving me the same sound.
I've done a little research and there's a discrete op-amp upgrade that is supposed to significantly improve both outputs on the Maverick DAC and that is my next planned move.
The Schiit DAC sounds good and appears to be a quality piece of hardware, so don't have anything negative to say about it. It's doesn't make sense to spend money for the same sound.
However, after a bit more listening I have decided to return the Schiit DAC.
My Maverick TubeMagic D2 DAC has parallel solid state and tube outputs. I had previously determined that the solid state was the output that I preferred, so didn't even have the tube output connected. In the process of evaluating the Schiit I hooked the tube output back up and discovered that it sounded identical to the Schiit DAC. I think the Schiit DAC and tube output on the Maverick may be my preferred sound with the new Mullard tubes in the Pathos, but there's just not any reason to spend the money for something that seemingly is giving me the same sound.
I've done a little research and there's a discrete op-amp upgrade that is supposed to significantly improve both outputs on the Maverick DAC and that is my next planned move.
The Schiit DAC sounds good and appears to be a quality piece of hardware, so don't have anything negative to say about it. It's doesn't make sense to spend money for the same sound.