As some of you may know when the hot summer months arrive here in the Northeast I swap out my tube gear for solid state. My reasoning is not so much about the heat generated by the gear, more so the noisy fans I use which obscures, well, everything I love about my system. (I only air condition the bedroom.) I’ve actually come to enjoy this little once a year exercise, it helps with perspective. Having held on to much of my previously-loved gear gives me a few nice options. This summer I decided on the Ohm MicroWalsh Talls driven by the Marantz HD-AMP1 (class d integrated with on-board ESS DAC). It had been a few years since the Ohm’s were in my living room for any length of time and I enjoyed the time with them. That said, I’m really happy to be back listening to my Decware/Omega system.

Out of curiosity I opted to have a listen to my Tranquility DAC (TDA1543), which hasn’t seen much use in the past few years. Much to my surprise I prefer it with 16/44.1. A surprise because of my current love affair with the MHDT Lab Pagoda. The Pagoda (PCM1704) is wonderful with higher rates but to my ear the Tranquility is the champ with Redbook. With the Tranquility in the mix my humble little system is providing more joy, more pleasure than I thought possible at this price-point.

While I very much enjoy well-done high-res the overwhelming majority of my music library consists of ripped CDs. It was my desire to hear 16/44.1 done “right” that led me to the Tranquility DAC 10 years ago and I was not disappointed. In fact, I only moved on because of the supposed vast superiority of high-res. I was excited to hear it’s potential and purchased the Chord Qute HD. A year later I had it upgraded to the EX version. Nice DAC. I was mostly happy, yet …

Point being (and thanks for bearing with me), I recently re-read “Steve’s Digital Journey” thread. Yes, he waxes poetic about a different DAC, the Holo Audio May, but it was his experience with 16/44.1 that really got my attention (starting at post #41). The thread has more than 22,000 views but if you haven’t read through it yet it’s well worth the time. After all these years of disappointing digital, 16/44.1 can deliver. I’d love to hear the Holo May DAC one day but seriously doubt it will happen. I will however remain content with my Tranquility DAC. It gets it right.

A question .. have you found a DAC which does justice to 16/44.1?

I don’t have a lot of experience with DACs but really enjoy the BorderPatrol SE.  I don’t think it will even handle real hi-rez, but I thoroughly enjoy the clarity and wonderful detail it offers (plus I could just handle the price point).  

The more I have read these forums (which are so helpful and thoughtful) and other reviews of gear, I appreciate the joy (and frustrations) of finding the right gear for your ear and your room - which could be very different from someone else. Happy listening.

Melvin, with your Sonore microRendu, are you pleased with its contribution to your digital reception and enjoyment?  I am considering it.

I've been loving listening to 16/44.1! a majority of the music I enjoy is only available in 16/44.1. My ZP3 has been sitting cold with no action for months. Actually I played a record 2 weeks ago, before that it was 2 months ago.

I used to be 70% vinyl.

Issue I've found is new vinyl is the same mix as the digital version. The QA on vinyl is very low in general, I get a lot of bad pressings. Digital is sounding so good I don't really miss vinyl. When the vinyl is mastered differently than the digital then usually the vinyl sounds better, due to the mix / mastering, still plagued with bad pressings.

Older original pressings are a different story.

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Yes! I thought it was just me. New vinyl is also crazy expensive, compared to digital and esp. considering how poor it usually is.

I bought thousands of albums, almost all used or cutouts, back in the 80's and early 90's and they were typically a couple of bucks each and (mostly) sound great. I've thinned the herd considerably since then but I've kept my (pretty nice) vinyl rig and always felt like there was a noticeable gap between it and digital. But that has all changed with Denafrips/Jay's and now it is really just about the music, as I hoped it would be when I bought my first CD player and CDs way back in the day.

Same with your system Lon. I remember looking up the gear listed in your signature when I first joined here. I can only imagine. I live in a more budget-restricted world than many in our hobby (really, is it just a hobby?) but I've managed to cobble together a very satisfying system. Looking back it seems somewhat like a treasure hunt and I struck gold.

Melvin,

Like Chester I also have the Border Patrol SE DAC and I really like it.
It has a nice analog sound.
It doesn't do hi-res, but if I can get great redbook sound then I'm perfectly satisfied with that.