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Different R2R DACs

Several months ago, I bought a used Hono Spring Level 2 DAC to see how R2R would compare against my Mytek Brooklyn DAC+. I like the Brooklyn+ a lot, but, given the other components in my system, I'm thinking about building in a bit more warmth (without losing significant detail). I'm not looking for sweetness or holography. Unfortunately, I was thoroughly unimpressed by the way the Holo Spring Level 2 smeared the music. I returned it within two weeks. Perhaps the unit I bought was defective (though I bought it from a highly reputable seller of used equipment), but it started me wondering how much of the hype surrounding the newer generation of R2R DACs was just that, hype. However, I keep seeing so many glowing reviews of reasonably priced R2R DACS from Denafrips, Aqua, Lampizator and others. So I'm wondering whether I should give them another try. Unfortunately, where I live the only real (suboptimal) option is to audition by purchasing one DAC at a time. Before I start down that road again, I thought I would ask the collective brain of Audiogon about how much of a difference I might expect, as against the Holo Spring level 2, from a new Denafrips Pontus II or used Terminator II, a used Aqua La Voce or Lampizator, or some other R2R DAC under $5K. I don't require require resolutions greater than 24/192 (beyond which I discern no difference). I do like the option of MQA decoding, but it's not a deal breaker. 

The rest of my system (source components aside), at present, include a Parasound JC2 BP preamp, a pair of VTV Purifi mono amps, and Harbeth C7ES-3 speakers.

audio-satisficer
oldschool1948's avatar
oldschool1948
488 posts
 

+1 Audio Mirror Tubadour III.  I had the Audio Mirror Tubadour III SE.  It is an excellent sounding DAC.

audio-satisficer OP
30 posts
 

Responding to DJones. Thanks. I think you're right.

audio-satisficer OP
30 posts
 

Responding to Charles1Dad. I can see how it could be interpreted that way. Sorry to have created the misimpression.

curiousjim's avatar
curiousjim
4,192 posts
 

audio-satisficer,

 I might have missed it, but did you give a budget for how much you want to spend on a new DAC?

 I'm still using the original Schiit Bifrost multibit and I'm thinking about getting the Pontus, but I'm not in a great hurry. I just bought new speakers and an amp this year and my wife will go nuts if I come home with anything but groceries for a while!

All the best.

JD

fsonicsmith's avatar
fsonicsmith
935 posts
 

I have reached a state of zen in which I feel no need or desire to extoll the virtues of my particular choice of R2R DAC. As CharlesDad noted-once again as he tends to hit the nail on head-it is a matter of implementation. System synergy and individual sensitivities too. I am very sensitive to digital sound and listener fatigue. That might sound elitist but I truly don't mean it to be. I do think that at lower price points achieving great digital sound is very unlikely. Thanks to the popularity of streaming, DAC's are here to stay and CDP's are an endangered species. So things become more complicated. A talented design team or single engineer can craft a great CDP but accounting for all of the variation between possible music storage systems (typically with integrated streaming) and the variations of connections (I2S, S/PDIF, or other) and then the design of the DAC itself is nigh impossible. As you move up to more pricey designs and implementations the variables become paradoxically easier to match and more difficult at the same time. Just my humble op. 

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