The very best DACs today...

[bonzo75]

so return to theme.. has somebody build a DIY dac??

Lukasz

 

[Manos_Bits]

I have read very interesting things about this...do you have any more 'listening notes' you can share with us? Most interested! And yes, i also agree that there seem to some great audio products coming out of Greece...i have heard Ypsilon's reference monos for example. Their NOS DAC is apparently also remarkably good.

sorry my fault.. no 1543's but 32 x AD1865's are used in Kassandra, 16 parallel per channel !!
I have listened to Kassandra twice in Hi-end exhibitions in Athens..
It's sound was warm, natural, dimensional, clear, clocked and exact.. also musical and pleasant..
I liked that sound very much even if it was playing with horn speakers, which I do not consider best speaker solution.. I like electrodynamic way..
I have also spoken with Stavros the designer of Kassandra, he was explain me for long time and with much passion the philosophy of this machine..

 

[bonzo75]

sorry my fault.. no 1543's but 32 x AD1865's are used in Kassandra, 16 parallel per channel !!
I have listened to Kassandra twice in Hi-end exhibitions in Athens..
It's sound was warm, natural, dimensional, clear, clocked and exact.. also musical and pleasant..
I liked that sound very much even if it was playing with horn speakers, which I do not consider best speaker solution.. I like electrodynamic way..
I have also spoken with Stavros the designer of Kassandra, he was explain me for long time and with much passion the philosophy of this machine..

Which electrodynamic speakers?

 

[Manos_Bits]

Which electrodynamic speakers?

at first, everything that speaks English.. Kef, Harbeth, Atc, Pmc, Tannoy, B&W, Proac.. and some others.. My mains are the Kef Ref 205's

 

[wisnon]

Tune Audio is clearly a Greek company.. perhaps you confuse it with Aries Cerat that is Cyprian company..

Yes, my bad. Tunes is the Horn company...

BTW, you need to find a way to demo a B7...the word most used to describe it is MUSICAL. Lampi is a music machine.

Despite your earlier talk, based on what you seem to like...I think you would fall in Love...

 

[LL21]

sorry my fault.. no 1543's but 32 x AD1865's are used in Kassandra, 16 parallel per channel !!
I have listened to Kassandra twice in Hi-end exhibitions in Athens..
It's sound was warm, natural, dimensional, clear, clocked and exact.. also musical and pleasant..
I liked that sound very much even if it was playing with horn speakers, which I do not consider best speaker solution.. I like electrodynamic way..
I have also spoken with Stavros the designer of Kassandra, he was explain me for long time and with much passion the philosophy of this machine..

Thanks...sounds similar to the Audio Note DACs which also use those chips i believe. Interesting. Would love to hear it someday.

 

[marslo]

Hi everyone,

I have on loan a new Metronome C8+ dac. Compared to the previous C8 model it has a new amanero usb board which can play both pcm up to 24/192 and dsd up to 128 fs.
The sound of the new Metronome connected to W20 is rich, organic, musical combined with outstanding transparence and resolution . The SQ of hires like HRx from RR is just amazing, the best pcm I have heard in my system.
Dsd compared to lampi dsd dac has darker background and more air. There is no hum or any noise when no signal while lampi is a bit noisy .
C8+ recognize automatically the type of conversion be it pcm or dsd . It gives more musical playback than vivaldi dac and better resolution that my La Fontaine dac. Moreover it has two different outputs - tube and ss and one can switch during the playback for the direct comparison.
All in all , very capable challenger for the title of the very best dac today

For those of you who can read french :
http://www.metronome-technologie.com/documents/42/c8_haute_fidelite_032015_lr.pdf

 

[bonzo75]

Hi everyone,

I have on loan a new Metronome C8+ dac. Compared to the previous C8 model it has a new amanero usb board which can play both pcm up to 24/192 and dsd up to 128 fs.
The sound of the new Metronome connected to W20 is rich, organic, musical combined with outstanding transparence and resolution . The SQ of hires like HRx from RR is just amazing, the best pcm I have heard in my system.
Dsd compared to lampi dsd dac has darker background and more air. There is no hum or any noise when no signal while lampi is a bit noisy .
C8+ recognize automatically the type of conversion be it pcm or dsd . It gives more musical playback than vivaldi dac and better resolution that my La Fontaine dac. Moreover it has two different outputs - tube and ss and one can switch during the playback for the direct comparison.
All in all , very capable challenger for the title of the very best dac today

For those of you who can read french :
http://www.metronome-technologie.com/documents/42/c8_haute_fidelite_032015_lr.pdf

Thanks. can you please compare to Big 7 DSD if you get a chance, since you are in Poland? The DSD dac is level 4

 

[marslo]

Thanks. can you please compare to Big 7 DSD if you get a chance, since you are in Poland? The DSD dac is level 4

I am trying really hard
Unfortunatelly , without success , Lukasz has so many orders that 220 V demo unit is hardly available , I am in touch with him. As soon as I can get one , will give it a serious listen.
Stop ordering !

 

[bonzo75]

I am trying really hard
Unfortunatelly , without success , Lukasz has so many orders that 220 V demo unit is hardly available , I am in touch with him. As soon as I can get one , will give it a serious listen.
Stop ordering !

Lol - thought it would be easy for you as it is your backyard. Also please check with Elberoth, he has both a Trinity and the Big 7 DSD, so you guys can do a shoot off with all 3.

 

[wisnon]

Maslo,
I think Lukasz is in the US now and orders are indeed exploding! Apparently he is making arrangement to cope, so that is a relief.

For the normal Dacs yes, but also for the newly released Big7 HEAD Dac, Balanced B7 and GG Dacs and the new push-pull 100wpc 211 monobloc balanced amps with no phase splitter.

The latest review of a B7 (with Generation 5 PCB) at Audioshark says that the B7 is dead quiet at all volume levels.

DSD via the DHT tubes (Level 7 and Golden Gate) are another level above the level 4 DSD...not just the components, but the DHT versus the small signal tubes.

Maslo, you perhaps know Elberoth in Warsaw...why not wrangle and invitation to hear his Big 7 DSD only Lampi? I think you will be in for a treat. Pity you wont hear B7 PCM there though.LoL

 

[marslo]

bonzo75,wisnon

Of course I know Adam , the audiophile community in Poland is not so big . BTW Elberoth is always very helpful but busy as I am . I live in the country side ( you can see on my profile why) 4 hours drive from Warsaw, so the shoot out wont be easy to arrange.

I use W20 and Adam has a computer as a transport which makes possible the conversion of all files to dsd . I would prefer to keep it " native " and as pcm represents 90 % of my library my preference goes to the dac which plays pcm perfectly and dsd at least very good. To bo seen if big 7 or GG will outperform C8+.
Before I decide about a new dac with both pcm / dsd playback I have to wait for the upgrade possibility of my La Fontaine under the new brand Vermeer Audio

http://vermeeraudio.com/en/products/25-two

I spoke to Bruno G from Vermeer Audio, he hopes to be ready for the upgrade of La Fontaine after Munich .

 

[bonzo75]

bonzo75,wisnon

Of course I know Adam , the audiophile community in Poland is not so big . BTW Elbertoh is always very helpful but busy as I am . I live in the country side ( you can see on my profile why) 4 hours drive form Warsaw, so the shoot out wont be easy to arrange.

I use W20 and Adam has a computer as a transport which makes possible the conversion of all files to dsd . I would prefer to keep it " native " and as pcm represents 90 % of my library my preference goes for the dac which plays pcm perfectly and dsd at least very good. To bo seen if big 7 or GG will outperfom C8+.
Before I decide about a new dac with both pcm / dsd playbeck I have to wait for the upgrade possibility of my La Fontaine under the new brand Vermeer Audio

http://vermeeraudio.com/en/products/25-two

I spoke to Bruno G from Vermeer Audio, he hopes to be ready for the upgrade of La Fontaine after Munich .

If, for example, you thought the upsampled PCM was greater enough than native PCM, wouldn't that affect your purchase decision?

 

[marslo]

Could be, but I don't know how much time would take to convert to dsd around 2 TB of pcm files outside of W20.

 

[wisnon]

Marslo, I think he means on the fly conversion with HQ Player. So no offline conversion needed... you keep your 2TB as is and upsample OTF.

Remember Adam is converting to DSD128 at the moment and talk is that DSD256 conversion is even better and you need a capable PC to do that i& motherboard, etc. Lampi DSD256 is now ready and available to all as an option or upgrade.

This would mean selling the W20 and going Caps or Dual PC with a powerful one (doesnt have to be "clean) running HQP connected to HDD (internal or external) and streaming to the quiet mini PC (like the cheap $150 fitlet-B PC with the free HQP embedded NAA software) which then connects to the Dac.

Between the 2 PC, you could do wifi or Fibre media converters and ethernet cables. This will ensure that a "clean" signal will hit the Dac.

Adam can explain better and you can learn a lot at CompAudiophile forum.

 

[marslo]

Understand, I am registered already on CA since I switched to the files.
My setup is in the living room and W20 is a must Computer is never ending story : new usb card, new clock, new procesoor, new PSU ... then dual pc then ...etc.
I have grand children , W20 is for me

 

[wisnon]

Marslo,

The powerful PC can be in another room and stream wifi to the tiny fitlet-PC which acts as NAA feeding the Dac.

Here is a picture so you can understand the size and hide-ability of fitlet:
http://www.fit-pc.com/web/products/fitlet/

Its the size of a CD jewel Box.

 

[marslo]

Marslo,

The powerful PC can be in another room and stream wifi to the tiny fitlet-PC which acts as NAA feeding the Dac.

Here is a picture so you can understand the size and hide-ability of fitlet:
http://www.fit-pc.com/web/products/... Box.[/QUOTE] Thank you , impressive indeed.

 

[wisnon]

Sorry for send you down a rabbit hole. LoL

 

[Bruce B]

I believe for true fidelity the 'correct' filter is the one used by the original ADC when the file was created.
Keith.

Hmmm..... which one has the 'correct' filter??


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