Post by Donnie on 05/02/20 at 03:30:34
Tommy,
Here you go.
Front:
From the right:
Trivia question, who is the picture of on my monitor?
From the left:
Dan the Amp really needs to have his new hair color put on.
|
Forums
https://www.decware.com/cgi-bin/yabb22/YaBB.pl AUDIO FORUMS >> Digital >> $1200 DAC https://www.decware.com/cgi-bin/yabb22/YaBB.pl?num=1585606022 Message started by Donnie on 03/30/20 at 23:07:02 |
|
Title: $1200 DAC Post by Donnie on 03/30/20 at 23:07:02 So if a person was getting a check in the mail for around, let's say $1200, what DAC would you recommend? Just asking for a friend. |
|
Title: Re: $1200 DAC Post by Dana on 03/30/20 at 23:42:52 I love my MHDT Orchad DAC. With the WE D getter tube. Spent every penny of your $1200 https://6moons.com/audioreview_articles/mhdtlab/3/ You'll spend a lot of time at your "friends" house just listening. Well after the covid thing. |
|
Title: Re: $1200 DAC Post by Showme on 03/31/20 at 04:10:48 Wait to order until after your friend cashes the check. Just sayin! |
|
Title: Re: $1200 DAC Post by Dana on 03/31/20 at 05:34:10 No,. It's from the government... They're here to help |
|
Title: Re: $1200 DAC Post by 4krow on 03/31/20 at 14:28:58 Being an optimist, I am thinking that is a Tax refund, and not the Federal funding given to those needing help due to recent loss of income. My apologies if I am wrong. |
|
Title: Re: $1200 DAC Post by Tommy Freefall on 03/31/20 at 14:47:08 Donnie, in that price range quite a few people on this forum - myself included - like the Border Patrol DACs. They utilize an older chip that has a nice analog sound signature. Plus they're US built. |
|
Title: Re: $1200 DAC Post by Lon on 03/31/20 at 16:14:42 It's not a tax refund, it's a payment made from the Treasury to US citizens whose income is 75,000 or below. |
|
Title: Re: $1200 DAC Post by Dana on 03/31/20 at 17:55:18 Since you are in lock down... CD12V ALL VACUUM TUBE REFERENCE DIGITAL PROCESSOR http://www.curcioaudio.com/cddes_3.htm Full kit is $1250. Totally Discrete Vacuum Tube Design from DAC to Output (No IC's in the signal path) |
|
Title: Re: $1200 DAC Post by Donnie on 03/31/20 at 22:34:05 Well truth to be told it is the stimulus check. $1200 a piece for a married couple making less than $150K. Thank goodness that my wife is retired! |
|
Title: Re: $1200 DAC Post by funch on 04/01/20 at 04:17:38 I have the multibit version of this one, and like it very much. https://www.schiit.com/products/gungnir |
|
Title: Re: $1200 DAC Post by beowulf on 04/11/20 at 07:07:59 Is that Big Daddy Trump check burnin' a hole in your pocket? ;D |
|
Title: Re: $1200 DAC Post by Radarek on 04/15/20 at 01:15:04 Will eat everything in that price range... ;) https://www.musicalparadise.ca/store/index.php?route=product/product&path=61&product_id=97 |
|
Title: Re: $1200 DAC Post by Dana on 04/15/20 at 06:31:32 Has anyone actually here musical paradise dac? |
|
Title: Re: $1200 DAC Post by Jeff of Arabica on 04/15/20 at 16:35:24 My buddy recently purchased the Musical Paradise MP-D1 and loves it. A great value when considering SQ and price. |
|
Title: Re: $1200 DAC Post by Donnie on 04/15/20 at 23:04:57 The Musical Paradise looks nice. RIght up my way of thinking. So does the Denafrips Ares II and stretching it a bit the Pontus. I've also had pretty good luck with a Wired 4 Sound DAC before. They just kind of left a bad taste in my mouth when my Wyred DAC stopped working when I got a Windows update. I looked at the Schiit stuff, I hear good things and then I hear bad, don't know Schitt I guess! Another interesting DAC is from SMSL of all places. Their D1 model looks good, but how good can it be from a place that is known for $200 DAC amps?? As you can probably tell I still don't know what way to go. Hell I'm currently listening to a little pair of homemade radial speakers powered by a $45 Bluetooth chip Amp running off of drill batteries. I must not be too picky. |
|
Title: Re: $1200 DAC Post by Radarek on 04/16/20 at 00:06:04 I have the MP D1 first edition with some mods... Mundorf Silver/gold oil and NOS Siemens 6922. My version is re-wired to take 6922 direct. 5670 family is the stock one. Some people love it with WE 396a. Some more mods coming to this one. Worth trying.... I’m catching myself looking for musicians in my room.... lol... You won’t find a used one for sale.... With MP D2 you can change dad modules on the spot and coupling caps without soldering... so is fully tube/ cap roller |
|
Title: Re: $1200 DAC Post by Radarek on 04/16/20 at 00:12:37 Donnie You can grab this one.... same model like my... full updates will cost you extra 200... https://www.musicalparadise.ca/store/index.php?route=product/product&path=66&product_id=56 |
|
Title: Re: $1200 DAC Post by Dominick on 04/16/20 at 23:29:25 Donnie....for Christmas I had got the new Schiit Bifrost True Multibit DAC. It’s like $750 ...so the Gungir Multibit would be around like $1200. I need throw a review up in this section, but I’ve been lagging my feet. Anyway...the new Schiit Multibits Dac’s are truly amazing sounding! They are clean, musical, and very detailed. I would definitely consider them as a top choice. Dominick |
|
Title: Re: $1200 DAC Post by Donnie on 04/18/20 at 16:57:02 Denafrips Ares II won out. $760 delivered from Singapore. Great reviews about how it sounds so undigital. Sure hope that it is all it is hyped up to be. Plus what a cool sounding name " Denafrips" is!! Sounds like some sort of snack chip that is good for your teeth. |
|
Title: Re: $1200 DAC Post by Donnie on 05/01/20 at 00:01:59 Sorry everyone, You have wasted your money in buying any DAC other than a Denafrips. In other words my Denafrips Ares II arived from far off Singapore. Holy crap this thing is good, way good and it is only a hour out of the box, I can't wait to hear what it does after it gets warmed up. I started it out on Dan the Amp and he sounded way better than my Torii, just stellar. Then I put in the Torii, just jaw dropping, words fail me on how good. There is still much more experimenting to do with it, NOS or OS and several filters to listen to. Anyway I'm excited. Anyone need a Grace Design M900? Ask nice and it may be yours. Sorry, I gotta go listen to this thing sing. |
|
Title: Re: $1200 DAC Post by Tal on 05/01/20 at 03:10:02 Donnie I had a similar experience when I added the Denafrips Pontus to the system. The Pontus replaced a Schiit Bifrost MB, a competent DAC, no doubt. However, the Pontus sings, man! Granted the Pontus is above the $1200 budget mentioned in this topic, but boy is it good. BTW I received an email today from Vinshine Audio about a new upgrade DSP card that can be purchased. Cost is $298 Signapore dollars. I satisfied for now. Maybe I purchase the upgrade down the road. Cheers Tal |
|
Title: Re: $1200 DAC Post by Tommy Freefall on 05/02/20 at 03:10:30 Donnie, congrats on your Denafrips! I almost pulled the trigger on one myself. It was in my top 3. Would love to see a photo of it in your system if you have the time! |
|
Title: Re: $1200 DAC Post by Donnie on 05/02/20 at 03:30:34 Tommy, Here you go. Front: From the right: Trivia question, who is the picture of on my monitor? From the left: Dan the Amp really needs to have his new hair color put on. |
|
Title: Re: $1200 DAC Post by Donnie on 05/02/20 at 04:01:48 I forgot one of the back.  Yep, I'm using a Beldon USB cable, it was the ony thing I had that had the 5V power cable in it. The Denafrips needs the 5V to trigger the USB section. I also am using some Monoprice XLR to RCA cables to run Dan the Amp off of. I tried the cables on my Torii and they didn't sound as good as my Mapleshade cables. Sometimes you get what you pay for. |
|
Title: Re: $1200 DAC Post by Jeff of Arabica on 05/02/20 at 08:42:37 Quote:
You can fool it with the AQVOX LPS http://www.aqvox.de/usb-power_en.html (or similar device) which will allow you to use a "data only" USB cable that does not have the 5V buss. The sound quality will improve. |
|
Title: Re: $1200 DAC Post by ArtMan on 05/02/20 at 17:38:52 Tal, Have you played with the high pass filters on your Pontus yet? The slow (less steep) filter sounds better in my system. The highs are cleaner and more refined compared to the default steeper filter. |
|
Title: Re: $1200 DAC Post by Donnie on 05/08/20 at 23:39:47 Tonight I'm planning on experimenting with oversampling vs. non oversampling and maybe some of the filters on this Denafrips DAC. Wish me luck!! |
|
Title: Re: $1200 DAC Post by Donnie on 05/09/20 at 12:43:47 Well I did quite a bit of trial and error testing with my Denafrips Ares II last night and came up with some early impressions. Non oversampling wins by a mile. Whoda thunk that basically no digital trickery would sound the best? So these DAC's don't have a chip in it and works by using a whole bunch of resisters. As I understand it this is the most old fashioned method of converting digital to analog. Then I run it into a tube amp, the most old fashioned way of amplifying a signal and together they sound just glorious. Hmmm I'm seeing a trend here, maybe the latest and greatest isn't quite what it is hyped up to be?? If I get real ambitious tonight I might try encoding everything to 4X DSD and see it that makes any sonic changes. I've noticed that it is much easier to tell sonic changes in the dark as opposed to during the daytime. There always seem to be too many distractions during the daylight hours. Anyway, I am a very happy with this Denafrips DAC, but am truly happy with how wonderfully it synergizes with my Decware amplifier. |
|
Title: Re: $1200 DAC Post by Tal on 05/09/20 at 15:15:58 ArtMan I haven't experimented with the filter yet. After reading the description on the Denafrips website, sounds interesting! Will be experimenting tonight. Tal |
|
Title: Re: $1200 DAC Post by ArtMan on 05/09/20 at 17:51:47 Donnie, I came to the opposite conclusion with the Pontus in my system. With OS on, the highs sound more extended with a much larger sound stage. The rest of the range, as far as I could tell, was very similar but slightly different. The differences I could hear, other than the highs, were very subtle between the two. My conclusion is that some sources sounded better with NOS but with most I preferred the extended highs and air of the OS. I don't doubt your ears since I've come to realize that much is system dependent. I find R2R DAC's sound much more like analog than other alternatives. I don't doubt you are enjoying Ares II. Denafrips DAC's are great values for the money. |
|
Title: Re: $1200 DAC Post by ArtMan on 05/10/20 at 21:59:27 Since I have cables still burning in, I decided to listen to the NOS setting again last night. Some sources, especially the more intimate ones, sounded better in NOS, although it seemed more a matter of harmonic balance than anything else I could pinpoint. However, near the end of my listening session I realized something that was unexpected. I actually felt listener fatigue via NOS. At least at this time, I will stick to the OS mode for most music. |
|
Forums » Powered by YaBB 2.2.2! YaBB © 2000-2008. All Rights Reserved. |