Following, I will be interested to hear your thoughts on the Merason in comparison to the others.
Congratulations on your retirement. I am in year three and wonder how I ever found time for a job.
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 6 responses by zlone
@soix I have to disagree with adding a DDC. I feel that the DAC’s should be compared based on their abilities, without having the DDC safety net. The Merason has its own galvanic isolation built into the unit. If others do not include this, they may suffer in comparison, as it should be. |
I love the Reuss and at this time I am not considering a change. The sound is very addicting and I just want to keep listening. I have compared it in my system to an Yggdrasil MIB and the original Merason DAC1. I liked it much better than the Yggy, and my previous DAC was a Gungnir, and in comparison to the DAC1 Mk I, I and a friend of mine who did the same test in his system, found the Reuss to be more refined. That’s the term we both agreed was the best description of the difference. As for upgrading to the DAC1 MkII, my thoughts are that it would offer a similar sound, but again, more refined than the Reuss. I have had two people that have heard both say that the DAC1 MkII, might be overly refined and I might like the Reuss better. Not sure what too much refinement would mean, just one of those things that I would have to try and see if I like it. For my tastes, at this time, the Reuss is wonderful DAC.
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