All these DACs makes my head spin - Please

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Grand_Soir

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Dear fellow hifi-nerds and musiclovers :D

To build an "ultimate" soundsystem is not easy, and certainly when one can´t audition all the current units that I am interested in.


I hopefully can get some input from you guys. My speakers are custommade and endgame for me and many others, they are like no other on the market and only available in Sweden. I can explain more if people are interested.

Anyways, so when it comes to DAC, there seem to be a lot of options now and I can spend some money to get to a high level. I´m very sensitve to cold and "angry" highs. My tastes are musicality, midrange magic, a big wide and deep soundstage with some 3 dimensionality.I like warmth over cold and a welcoming sound that doesn’t hurt my ears with a bright thin sound. Then again, I know that there can be a problem if you add too much warmth with all tubes etc. then you get a "sameness" over all sourcefiles.

These are the ones I´ve been looking at.

*HoloAudio May KTE - I was wanting this for a long time and it was a favourite among a lot of people
out there. 2 box solution

*d1-sublime DAC - Never heard of, but I´ve heard good things about it. The only thing is that it´s
several boxes. From what I understand it can´t play DSD 512, how does that work?

*Weiss dac 501 - One box solution.

*Mola Mola Tambaqui - A "hidden gem"?! It´s suppose to be very nice and there is no off the shelv
standard components in it. One box solution which is nice

*Lampizator Horizon - Very expensive....my gut feeling says it´s very nice with tubes, but maybe it will
add too much warmth since I´m considering a pre-amp tubes.

Thanks for your time.
 
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Of those, the Lampi. Lots of tube tuning options.

Also look at MSB. Very smooth and organic.


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Look at the Aqua La Scala. Awesome sounding DAC with a hint of warmth which can be increased with tube rolling.
 
I've heard the Horizon in a few systems and my friend who has one I have been there to listen when rolling some tubes. It is not a warm DAC in the sense you'd expect from a tube piece.

MSB came to my mind when reading what you are looking for.

Some on your list I have not heard.
 
When reading your post I have to wonder what your budget is, you listed the May DAC which is around $5k where the Horizon is around 10 times that price. Price doesn't always dictate quality but if you find one at $5k that comes close to the Horizon please come back and let me know, I've been searching myself.
 
If you enjoy DSD, which many people including me consider the most organic natural, analog sounding format then one of the best is T+A. They are out of Germany so I assume there should be dealers around. I have heard that T+A is huge in Europe.
 
Comparing dacs is difficult. Think it is needed to try and compare these on your own system. The best dac could not be the best dac on your home system and even the second best dac could be switched to the best dac when you change the linear powersupply. By the way: in my opinion it is better to use a good dac with an excellent power supply then an excellent dac with a normal power supply.

And how about the digital output? Some say USB is best, others don't agree

What makes matter complex that there are 2 types: oversampling and non oversampling dacs. Some people say you should oversample others say you don't have to. And oversampling to what? Some here say Dsd is best, others pcm. Looking at the site from hqplayer learns that they offer 14 modulators, 49 PCM oversampling options and 3 DSD rate converters. That are a lot of converters for 1 single hardware setup, in which every converter has its own characteristic.

Think best way to compare is to borrow dacs at your own setup and keep what sounds right to you.
 
Alkyogre said:
Comparing dacs is difficult. Think it is needed to try and compare these on your own system. The best dac could not be the best dac on your home system and even the second best dac could be switched to the best dac when you change the linear powersupply. By the way: in my opinion it is better to use a good dac with an excellent power supply then an excellent dac with a normal power supply.

And how about the digital output? Some say USB is best, others don't agree

What makes matter complex that there are 2 types: oversampling and non oversampling dacs. Some people say you should oversample others say you don't have to. And oversampling to what? Some here say Dsd is best, others pcm. Looking at the site from hqplayer learns that they offer 14 modulators, 49 PCM oversampling options and 3 DSD rate converters. That are a lot of converters for 1 single hardware setup, in which every converter has its own characteristic.

Think best way to compare is to borrow dacs at your own setup and keep what sounds right to you.
Click to expand...

Great idea, unfortunately good luck with that.

This is probable why I ended up going through 14 different DACs before finally settling on a T+A DAC using a Windows Server, running Roon and HQPlayer with all of my digital music being sent to the DAC in DSD512 via HQPlayer, regardless of the resolution of the original files. Amazing combination and in many ways very competitive against my analog setup. I own several high-end recordings in both 45 RPM master type pressings and high-resolution digital versions. Sometimes the vinyl is better, sometimes the digital, however they are mostly very close.
 
Grand_Soir said:
*Mola Mola Tambaqui - A "hidden gem"?! It´s suppose to be very nice and there is no off the shelv
standard components in it. One box solution which is nice
Click to expand...

I own this one, its good enough for me. Is it near the top? who knows. its a matter of preference which means you'll have to hear it over your 'special' speakers, another variable no one can account for.
 
Randy Myers said:
Great idea, unfortunately good luck with that.

This is probable why I ended up going through 14 different DACs before finally settling on a T+A DAC using a Windows Server, running Roon and HQPlayer with all of my digital music being sent to the DAC in DSD512 via HQPlayer, regardless of the resolution of the original files. Amazing combination and in many ways very competitive against my analog setup. I own several high-end recordings in both 45 RPM master type pressings and high-resolution digital versions. Sometimes the vinyl is better, sometimes the digital, however they are mostly very close.
Click to expand...
Maybe this is the way. Ending up with 14 different dacs. There are people I know who are all the time buying and selling. But if you do that with a 30k costing dac all the time comparing is an expensive hobby

Problem is that there are not many shops with so many different dacs. It is hard to find even a shop that had 3 of the candidate dacs in the house.
 
I am pretty happy with my Mytek Brooklyn DAC+. However, the Lampizatior Baltic 4 looks appealing. But a bit more than I'd want to spend.
Even the Holo May KTE is a tad pricey for me (well not really but don't want the spouse to cry).
I am hearing a lot about R2R ladder DACs. I guess the best option for me might be to procure a Denafrips Venus II. Might do that later this summer.
 
petek said:
I am pretty happy with my Mytek Brooklyn DAC+. However, the Lampizatior Baltic 4 looks appealing. But a bit more than I'd want to spend.
Even the Holo May KTE is a tad pricey for me (well not really but don't want the spouse to cry).
I am hearing a lot about R2R ladder DACs. I guess the best option for me might be to procure a Denafrips Venus II. Might do that later this summer.
Click to expand...

The digital "methodology" (delta-sigma, R2R, multibit) is not as important as the design and implementation of the "analog" design/section/implementation. Lukasz Fikus and his team at LampiZator have found this through extensive R&D that a single transistor in the analog section can, and does, have more effect/impact on the quality of the DAC that the digital methodology utilized. You can ask Lukasz about this.

Again, let your ears be the judge. If you're happy with your Mytek, IMHO, money for an "upgrade" is better spent on reducing ground-plane noise, especially for digital componentry.
 
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