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AKM dacs - which products use them ?

I have been pleasently surprised with the sound of my low-cost soundcard EMU 0404 and Behringer DEQ2496 digital EQ/AD/DA. They have a warm and natural sound to them.
I have noticed they both use AKM dacs which if I recall is the tool of choice for APL's Alex Peychev super modded Esoteric players which are supposed to be the "best digital sources on the planet".

I am trying to compile a list of audiophile dacs or cd/dvd players that use them hoping to find an upper scale product which would do the full justice to those dac chips in a full blown implementation.
spraglow
stehno
1,453 posts
 
Correction, Alex of APL HiFi does not use the AKM dacs only in the new Esoteric ucdp he recently started modding.

For a number of months now, Alex has also been using AKM dacs in his later versions of the more reasonably priced APL modified Denon 3910 universal cd player.

-IMO
spraglow OP
32 posts
 
Thanks for all the replies. There is no question there is more to a successfull design than just dac chips but I think they can provide a great head start.
It seems to me that AKM really listened to what they were making and the $90 (EMU 0404) and $200 (DEQ2496) product examples of AK4396 and AK4393 implementation I have on hand have some things in common as far as naturalness of sound goes (imo).
I understand the AK4396 is a dsd capable chip. I wonder if there are any universal players (beyond APL designs) that use it.
kenn39
75 posts
 
M-Audio Transit uses AK4584. I think it sounds better than DEQ2496.
dazzdax
599 posts
 
Is this AKM related business not just a hype? I mean, I don't care whether a DAC unit has this "Miracle DAC" or not. I'm only interested in it's sound. Does the Miracle DAC guarantee whatsoever a good sound? It's as if the marketing says: If your DAC unit doesn't have the AKM, it is flawed...

Chris
bar81
791 posts
 
The Esoteric P5 also uses AKM DACs.
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