@fuzzbutt17 Will the new Mystique Z have a TOSLINK input?
Six DAC Comparison
I am in the middle of comparing the sound of six different DACs in my system. I own them all (I know weird) but one of them is still within a trial/return timeframe.
Not to share specific comparisons today, but a couple of observations so far are that first, they all definitely sound different from each other. On one hand, they all sound pretty good and play what is fed to them without significant flaws but on the other hand there are definite sonic differences that make it easy to understand how a person might like the sound of some of them while not liking others.
Second, raises the observation that most of them must be doing something to shape the sound in the manner the designer intended since one of the DACs, a Benchmark DAC3 HGA, was described by John Atkinson of Stereophile as providing "state-of-the-art measured performance." In the review, JA closed the measurements section by writing, "All I can say is "Wow!" I have also owned the Tambaqui (not in my current comparison), which also measured well ("The Mola Mola Tambaqui offers state-of-the-digital-art measured performance." - JA). The Benchmark reminds me sonically of the Tambaqui, both of which are excellent sounding DACs.
My point is that if the Benchmark is providing "state-of-the-art measured performance," then one could reasonably presume that the other five DACs, which sound different from the Benchmark, do not share similar ’state-of-the-art" measurements and are doing something to subtly or not so subtly alter the sound. Whether a person likes what they hear is a different issue.
Showing 25 responses by brbrock
@mitch2 Thank you for the reveiw. I'm in the market for a DAC and I am very interested in the Mojo DAC's. Benjamin at Mojo talks about his DACs being different because of the chokes. Does any of the other DAC;s have chokes? I don't think I have ever seen or heard of another SS DAC with chokes. |
@mitch2 Out of curiosity what DAC's have you had in the past before the six DAC's you are comparing. I know you have said you love the Mojo Audio and SMc DAC's. What other DAC's have they bested. |
@fuzzbutt17 Thank you for the explanation of power supplies. I read your post a few time over and just want to clarify a few things and ask some question? LC power supplies are power supplies with large chokes? CLC power supplies are made of just capacitors. To determine if it is an LC power supply you just look for the large chokes? Some people talk about moving towards tube DAC's because of timing timbre harshness etc. In some of these DAC's they have the LC power supply which is correcting time timber etc. What do you think the tube is doing in these DAC's? Does the tube cover some of the bad stuff in the CLC power supply? |
@mitch2 and @vthokie83 and @trivema I have a few questions about some of the equipment in the study. Mitch do you know the DAC chip used in the SMc Audio DAC? Also is part of the purpose other than correcting timing of a DDC to be able to change inputs? Many DAC's do not have an optical input such as the SMc audio and Mojo Audio, because of this I am not able to connect the TV to watch movies etc. |
@fuzzbutt17 Benjamin can you tell us if you have anything in the works for upcoming models? |
@mitch2 I don't think you have to worry about people thinking you are biased. You have been very transparent about your comparison. I am interested because I have an smc amp and may get a preamp from smc so our systems might be very similar. Have you ever thought about swapping the chips in your DACs and putting the z-chips in the new X SE NCZ? |
@mitch2 You may already know the answer to the question I am asking. Benjamin from Mojo Audio has said that his DAC's are great at time and timbre especially during dynamic changes from the use of chokes. I understand what he is saying but I have never heard his DAC's. Will you speak specifically of the MojoAudio DACs to the others and let us know if you notice a difference. Plenty of DACs use several transformers and lots of Capacitors but none have chokes. I am curious just how much this plays into the sound. |
@fuzzbutt17 @mitch2 How large is the power transformer and chokes on the Mystique DAC's. I can't tell from the pics. On other DAC's they may have several transformers but usually look smaller. |
@mitch2 That was a great write up. Patrick at SMC Audio is great to work with. You can get a custom amp, preamp or DAC made and it is a very fun and unique experience. You are a part of the build by choosing exactly how it will be built out. The quality of the build and equipment surpsasses the price by far. Mojo Audio and SMC seem to take the same approach with their builds. The internals seem to be pretty simple but the parts are very high quality. I would love to see if Patrick could use another DAC chip that would allow streaming from TIDAL etc. without downsampling. I would also be curious if they could add an external power supply to the DAC like they do their amps and preamps. I know they can also add chokes in the power supplies as an upgrade to the external power supplies. |
@mitch2 Thanks for sharing the link to that power supply. That is the first time I have seen a picture. That is definitely not the base level power supply. I know the base level external power supply doesn't come with chokes. The nice thing about the external power supplies is that they can be easily upgraded just by having another sent. Same goes with the future models of the Mojo Audio DAC's. I think that is definitely the way to go. |
@mitch2 When I read comments about the Holo Audio May and the Terminator II DAC's they seem to be bested by the Mojo Audio DAC's and the AYRE QX-5 twenty DAC. Now I'm not sure which level of May DAC they are comparing but most seem to have the KTE. With the May DAC you get two DAC's in one. Several talk about running the may with HQ player. With the Ayre it comes with a streamer and volume control. You can also upgrade your Ayre QX-5 twenty as technology improves. I have talked to Ayre and they have said sound improves slightly when adding a good preamp. They also have an AC conditioner that they build that improves the sound. When I read the comparisons of other DAC I am not sure if they are streaming to the network bridge or if they have a separate streamer. |
@mitch2 Do you play (stream) your music from a hard drive or do you stream from the internet. How does the Mojo DAC's sound streaming from internet from Tidal etc. compared to streaming from a hard drive? I think I read earlier in the thread that Mojo Audio is coming out with some DAC's PCM based and I am curious if those are more geared towards streaming from the internet. They also sound interesting in the fact that the power supply is external and modular and you can easily upgrade. |
@debjit_g If I understood your post you have a Musetec005 and a Mojo Audio X SE. If so I am excited to hear what you have to say about the comparison of those DAC's. |
@debjit_g You mentioned the Musetec and Mojo DAC's are different. Can you explain how they are different. Can you mention some of the DAC's you have had in the past? |
@mitch2 Hey Mitch just checking to see if you are still getting the Mystique Y and if you have had a chance to listen to it yet? |
@mitch2 That is good to here that you have the MojoY. Keep me updated as you get more hours on it. |
@mitch2 Hey Mitch how does the new DAC sound? I know it is suppose to be a tad more lively. Does the Mystique Y still beat the other DAC's you spoke about in the thread? |
@fuzzbutt17 Are you stepping away from the R2R DAC's with the PCM58 DAC chip. This is a Delta Sigma chip correct? How many PCM58 DAC chips are you going to use in the new Z DAC? I am excited to see what you have. |
@fuzzbutt17 I have seen several DAC's now daisy chain DAC chips and seen the Aries-Cerat daisy chain several of the same DAC chips that is in the Mystique DAC's. Have you thought about doing it in your models. Is there a pro/con to doing this? |
@mitch2 Thanks for the response on the Helene. I am in Oklahoma and if you bike you don't have much of a window. As we get into the summer the temperatures gets up past 100 degrees and in the fall and winter it is very windy so you got to get it in while you can. There must be a correlation between biking and audio because I have cone across several bikers online. I was looking at the internals of the Helene and it is very impressive. I have seen several companies daisy chain the DAC chips now. I know Benjamin at Mojo Audio is moving on to a different DAC chip but I would like to know the benefits of daisy chaining and why he hasn't done that.vv |
@fuzzbutt17 So have you been trimming or adjusting the Mystique X series DAC's? When reading your post you mentioned that you just purchased the correct equipment to do that, So do the people with a current DAC send them in to get them adjusted? Do you have an ETA on the new Z DAC and an idea of the starting price point? |