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Thinking about getting a R2R DAC

Dear community,

I currently have a chord qutest DAC. I like it a lot, very full sound, accurate detailed and exciting.  However, whenever I go back to vinyl (with a well-recorded nice pressing) I find the sound so much more satisfying.  There is a warmth, yes, but there is a presence, a 'there-ness' that I just don't get with the digital.  I'm wondering if an R2R DAC would get me closer to that?  my budget would be around the same as the qutest.  I was looking at the MHDT Orchid or the Border Patrol.  Don't get me wrong, I really like the Qutest.  I am thinking of putting it in the upstairs system to pair with the Node2i I have up there.  Any thoughts?  Will analog always just be a different animal than digital?

Currently in the main system I have a Sonore uRendu feeding the Qutest which is going to a LTA MZ2 going to a Pass XA 30.5

thanks!
adam8179

Showing 3 responses by fsonicsmith

fsonicsmith's avatar
fsonicsmith
980 posts
 
I can’t believe that someone in this thread tried to state that R2R DACs are “bit perfect”, implying that they’re more accurate than Delta Sigma, which is actually the opposite of the truth.

This place is a caricature of itself sometimes.
I agree that this Board is often filled with mistruths, bias, ignorance, and the like. But here, you are the one who is appears to be misguided. 
"Bit Perfect" is a meaningless term. It is meant to imply lack of jitter but with the problems of ringing presented by filtering and the adverse affects of upsampling, it is still meaningless. However, I have to ask, are you confusing "bit perfect" and "bitstream"? Do you know the difference? 
Personally, I think emphasis on the nature of the converter employed is secondary to the nature of the sampling. 
This article is informative https://jeffsplace.positive-feedback.com/audio-note-uk-peter-qvortrup-on-making-digital-sources-soun...
fsonicsmith's avatar
fsonicsmith
980 posts
 
I believe that the following explanation makes a lot of sense;
http://sw1xad.co.uk/technology_post/delta-sigma-vs-non-oversampling-r2r-dac-designs/
So the readers digest version is that it is all a matter of implementation. 
Everything matters and simplicity will beat unnecessary complication most times, particularly for most consumers' budgets. Everything must be taken into consideration and impedance mismatches between the digital source and the DAC account for a lot of problems that many listeners complain of. Everything needs to be implemented optimally just as with vinyl playback. 
Now let me acknowledge that I am biased but I am also putting my money where my mouth is-I have a DAC II Special with USB on its way to me. And as I said before, I heard a top tier Audio Note digital rig at Axpona '19 and the sound was stellar. 
fsonicsmith's avatar
fsonicsmith
980 posts
 
@fsonicsmith , that "white paper" from SW1X is pure technical babblegaggery and shockingly ignorant either due to lack of knowledge and/or intentionally. I am not sure what is a worse reason, the former or the latter? So many statements, probably most, in that so called article w.r.t. DS are just laughably wrong.
Sure Dannad, because you know everything. How does your system sound? Is your system both compelling to listen to and satisfying to listen to? Can you find five verified posters-unlike you who is not verfied-to attest to good sound from your system? I bet not. Look up my posts-I don't gravitate in the "digital" forum much. I don't need to. The folks that are on here the most are the folks that are not getting good sound and in search of answers to their problems. I am not in "digital" much because I listen to vinyl 98% of the time. 
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