I have the de Capos, great speakers. I bought a MHDT Stockholm 2 DAC and it has what i think you want. Its more open, bigger soundstage, very musical and warm, some describe it as euphoric. Many if not all of the MHDT DACs will have this profile.
A reasonably priced DAC upgrade from Schiit Gumby
Hello everyone. Looking for a reasonably priced DAC upgrade from the schiit Gumby I have now. Which I absolutely love but feel could be a bit more open. Source is Oppo 105. Amplification is Schiit Ragnarok 2. Speakers are Reference 3A de capos. The Schiit Gungnir does NOT have the upgrade.
I had the Denafrips Aries 2 and liked it, but it was a bit too, well, digital for me. So I guess I’m looking for a warmer sound. I use CDs maybe 5% of the time and Tidal max for the rest.
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+1, @grinnell Given your system, a tube DAC like MHDT or Border Patrol should provide the warmth you seek from your digital playback. |
For a bit more money than the Gumby I’d suggest the Denafrips Pontus. The Pontus is a definite step up from the Ares and will give you warmer (and fuller) sound. Definitely not digital sounding.. I’ve owned all three of these units and much prefer the Pontus that I still use in my headphone system. My suggestion also would be to use something besides the Oppo for your source, which imo is the weak link in your system right now. I also think the “digital” sound you’re hearing now is more attributable to the Oppo than the Ares. |
Not sure what your budget is. Have you looked into a Musetec-lks-da005? https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/musetec-lks-mh-da005-dac/post?postid=2320113 |
If you want to have a clear upgrade, with all aspects improving then you will probably need to spend at least 2x to 3x. Even this still puts you in the budge DAC range. But I would not upgrade until you could jump to something like a Yggdrasil… used would be fine. If you stay in the same price area you will be trading one set of weaknesses for another. |
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