Start with Upgrade to DAC?
I am ready to set out on an upgrade cycle to my system, which consists of the following, over the next couple of years:
* Rogue Audio RP-7 Preamp (Upgrades: Rogue RP-9 or McIntosh C2800--C2800 includes Phono preamp and DAC)
* Odyssey Kismet Monobloc Amplifiers (Keepers!)
* Lounge Audio LCR Gold phono preamp (Keeper!)
* Fyne Audio F-702 Speakers (Keepers!)
* Definitive Tech Supercube 6000 (Vandersteen Sub Three or Paradigm XR11)
* Schiit Bifrost 2/64 DAC (Schiit Yggydraseil or ????)
* NAD C568 CD Player used as transport (Schiit Urd or ???)
* iFi Zen Stream
*iPad Pro for Apple Music
* Ice Age Audio OFC Power Cords
* Audioquest and mostly Morrow Interconnects (RCA & XLR)
* Performance Audio Speaker Cables, using Mogami W3104 Speaker Wire
I am thinking that perhaps the best place to start would be the DAC, with the idea of moving from the Bifrost 2/64, which I like, to the Yggdrasil (model TBD) DAC, which has gotten superb reviews that speak to sound quality characteristics that are of concern to me. Budget for DAC upgrade is about $2500. OR, should I go for room correction capability?
I recently replaced a highly-rated 100 wpc tube amplifier with the Odyssey mono blocs, and I was stunned by the improvement in sound quality, definition, and imaging, but I think there still is some room for improvement.
Thoughts and recommendations most welcome.
I had 3 great streamers in the house at the same time and did direct comparisons. There were big differences in sound. I would not say one was better than the other, but the differences were easily evident. I wrote many posts on this.
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This answer maybe different based on who you spoke with at Schitt. I called them a few months ago to discuss the Yiggi+ MIB DAC. The guy I spoke to cursed out the Yggi+ LIM DAC that I owned and told me the Yggi+ OG was much better. I took his advice and got the last OG available (Schitt replaced it with the MIB). It took a month of burn-in for me, the same as what Robert Harley reported in TAS a few years ago. However, after that burn-in I could tell that the OG was much different than the LIM. Either could be preferred by people over the other. I love both and have then in 2 separate systems. I have not heard the Bitfrost but based on my experience I described above I would think the MIB or LIM is much better than the Bitfrost. It would of course depend on the sonic match with your system and how revealing your system was. I use a used $700 Sonore OpticalRendu streamer, which uses fibre optic cable (glass) just before it goes into a USB conversion and into the DAC. Not as pure a fibre solution as the Lumin X1 (owned it before) but close in execution. Only issue with the Yggi+ DACs is that it sometimes shuts down for 1/2 second between songs on a ROON stream. That is if the next song is a bit slow to play. Irritating at first but the sound of the Yggi+ is so good that I do not care. Saved me $20k by eliminating my desire to buy the Playback Designs DAC.
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@zarf I think the best bang for your buck streamer, especially if you use ROON, is the Sonore OpticalRendu. I have owned about 5 or 6 of them. I sold a few to friends and setup their streaming. I currently have 2 of them with both the audiophile power supply and the much cheaper power supply from Sonore. Go for the cheaper power supply. Since I owned the Lumin X1 I would also highly recommend the following Lumin streamer based on the X1, but this one has no DAC. That and the Yggi+ OG maybe a future setup for me. It sounds different than the Sonore OpticalRendu. I call the Lumin a wild child streamer vs the refined sounding Sonore opticalRendu. Another streamer that would be perfect if it had fibre optical, but maybe great nevertheless, could be the I say potentially great because my now sold Playback Designs STREAM-IF was great using SPDIF output from an Ethernet input. The Aries S1 also takes in Ethernet unlike the Lumin and Sonore, which take in fibre. I tended to stay away from Ethernet streaming but the Playback Designs steamer was so good using Ethernet. BTW - I should add that the digital Leedh volume control on the Lumin is almost as good as the great volume control on the Benchmark LA4 preamp. I compared the 2 side-by-side. The difference is really a non-factor for almost everyone. Normally digital volume controls are really subpar compared to an analog preamp, especially the LA4. |
@mike4597 I saw you mention that you are considering using room treatments. You can use the physical treatments like I use in my office. Very ugly but they work well, and the wife stays out of the office, so she does not care how ugly they are. Now if I were to use or need acoustic treatments in the Livingroom I would go with Mitch Barnett at, Digital Room Calibration Services, Convolver, Headphone Filtersets (accuratesound.ca) I used his great remote DSP service in the past and the dude is a digital genius. This DSP will only work for a signal before it goes into your DAC. So, no benefit with a tuner or TT. The cost of his remote service is $750. I no longer use the DSP files I had created for my office, but it is a great safely net to have. One reason I no longer use the DSP (convolution files) is because I have different speakers. The Magnepan LRS+ is actually rather easy to place in my office.
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