Let's Get A Consensus Of The Best DAC's In The Market Today

[andromedaaudio]

Interesting to see the Zanden mentioned here. Audiocrack and I have each retained ours (though I note he has more than one digital now since he has gone hi-res). Of the 12 owners of Zanden digital I know, at last check, all but one still own theirs.

With good isolation (SRA), good NOS tubes, and more recently the addition of the Z:Axis Reference I2S cable and latest SL-777 power cables...the digital has continued to go from strength to strength.

Consistent ownership is a good sign .
Old school digital rules 44.1
The ML DAC maybe colours the sound , but i love the coloration


Btw , I have electronic music on tape as well for example and i prefer the digital with the ML DAC on numerous occasions .

 

[microstrip]

IMHO the dCS Vivaldi stack is still on the list.

 

[DasguteOhr]

At the moment I think the russian dacs are great, nem midi usb dac simple circuit dacchip four germanium transistors and output transformers. sounds like old tape machines like a m 15 from telefunken.

USB-midi - NEM

nemrussia.ru

Or a ral good R2R dac AudioStandArt Reference Analog dac

ЦАП AudioStandArt Reference Analog DAC — приближаемся к аналогу вместе — ЗАВЕРШЕН

Публичные выступление всегда волнительны. Не верьте тем, кто говорит, что не волнуется. Особенно в моменты, когда ты что-то долго готовил, а теперь хочешь поделиться со всеми. @Anton и AudioStandArt прошли большой путь в проектировании ЦАПов, 20 лет поисков уложены в интересную статью —...

www.dastereo.ru

 

[Lee]

Lampi models from 2015 are not in this conversation now, neither are MSB or Totaldac models mentioned by Steve in the original post.

What are your favorites, Mike?

 

[K3RMIT]

the list needs to be some kind and cost order
it’s not fair to compare a 2 k dac to a 100k dac it’s not a good idea
if it’s dacs under 5 k there are some great SS dacs
revised post

 

[Mike Lavigne]

What are your favorites, Mike?

at this point i see the (ignoring price) dac landscape like this.

you have your Lampi/Audio Note/Nagra/Aries Cerat.....dac leaners who like tubes. they see things one way.

then you have the solid state dac viewpoint. with MSB, TotalDac, dCS, Soulution, CH Precision, and Merging Technologies.....

likely there are under the radar dacs, that are also worthy but not yet recognized. i just recently heard about the Pilium dac that has impressed. might it be a player in this question? why not? probably others too.

the best model of any of those recognized brands have it's supporters. so far my 'preference' for all those (tube or SS i have heard) is the MSB Select II. the 7 box CH P maybe next for me. so far. maybe the "not yet introduced" Lampi Horizon goes farther (but unlikely it's my preference)? a question.

and then there is the Wadax, a solid state dac, but.......maybe.......in a category of it's own.

and various server choices might also be very relevant.

 

[howiebrou]

at this point i see the (ignoring price) dac landscape like this.

you have your Lampi/Audio Note/Nagra/Aries Cerat.....dac leaners who like tubes. they see things one way.

then you have the solid state dac viewpoint. with MSB, TotalDac, dCS, Soulution, CH Precision, and Merging Technologies.....

likely there are under the radar dacs, that are also worthy but not yet recognized. i just recently heard about the Pilium dac that has impressed. might it be a player in this question? why not? probably others too.

the best model of any of those recognized brands have it's supporters. so far my 'preference' for all those (tube or SS i have heard) is the MSB Select II. the 7 box CH P maybe next for me. so far. maybe the "not yet introduced" Lampi Horizon goes farther (but unlikely it's my preference)? a question.

and then there is the Wadax, a solid state dac, but.......maybe.......in a category of it's own.

and various server choices might also be very relevant.

I have heard the Audio Note Dac 5 and Dac 5 Sig in two different systems in the last few weeks and I have to say it seems to tick lots of boxes. I wonder if it has partly something to do with the SPDIF only input vs USB.

 

[bonzo75]

When Ron and I heard the trio with the bass horns, they had the AN 5 dac with an esoteric transport. I don't remember if it was or wasn't Sig

 

[howiebrou]

When Ron and I heard the trio with the bass horns, they had the AN 5 dac with an esoteric transport. I don't remember if it was or wasn't Sig

This was a Dac 5 sig driven by AN transport.

 

[nirodha]

the best model of any of those recognized brands have it's supporters. so far my 'preference' for all those (tube or SS i have heard) is the MSB Select II. the 7 box CH P maybe next for me. so far. maybe the "not yet introduced" Lampi Horizon goes farther (but unlikely it's my preference)? a question.

and then there is the Wadax, a solid state dac, but.......maybe.......in a category of it's own.

and various server choices might also be very relevant.

I think the choice of tube / non-tube dac is system dependent. I have a non-tube set so my gut feeling is that a tubed dac is probably the ticket ( next year). A second hand Pacific is the number one on my extremely short list

 

[Mike Lavigne]

I think the choice of tube / non-tube dac is system dependent. I have a non-tube set so my gut feeling is that a tubed dac is probably the ticket ( next year). A second hand Pacific is the number one on my extremely short list

don't quite agree. to me the tube/ss part is a matter of expectations/requirement for linearity and the type of music you like to listen to. the part i agree with is that your system tends to also reflect that.

my solid state based system is expected (by me) to play large scale music with linearity. that is number one with a bullet. and when i had the Lampi GG2 and the Nagra HD neither could match the Aqua Formula dac, let alone the MSB Select II, at holding together according to my expectations......in a relative sense. both were fine objectively, but not as fine as i wanted them to be in direct compare to the ss dacs.

similar to my darTZeel/Lamm/VAC amp compare. my system leaves no place to hide when i push it. and i push it.

i did and do appreciate what the tube dacs do that i like. but even there, there are musical things i also prefer with the ss dacs apart from large scale linearity. the ss dacs don't remind me i'm listening to reproduced music as much as tube dacs. i hear music. i could certainly be completely happy with those tube dacs, or for sure the Pacific or absolutely the Horizon too i'm sure. but i choose a ss dac.

if your solid state based system does not need 'taming' since it's got a natural presentation, don't throw coloration at it. if it's not natural already, fix that, don't try to balance it with another extreme. it's will just set you back in terms of performance and musical truth. YMMV. just my 2 cents and a viewpoint i believe strongly in. obviously we have plenty of tube dac zealots that disagree. hallelujah! do what you love to do.

when i wrote that post #326 above on Dec 28th, i had already heard the Wadax in Florida, sold my MSB dac, and the Wadax was inbound to me for the direct compare. but i had not yet talked about it. i was just stressing about shoveling snow out from my barn and driveway so i could deal with the Wadax crates.

 

[nirodha]

do what you love to do.

I never do anything else

 

[Mike Lavigne]

I never do anything else

btw, my post/rant was not saying that a Pacific would not be a great choice for you. it should be on any dac buyers radar. it's a great sounding dac and likely a good value now too. i was only talking about the concept of getting a tube dac to balance a ss based system. i don't subscribe to that part.....and hits a nerve when i read it.

 

[Gregadd]

btw, my post/rant was not saying that a Pacific would not be a great choice for you. it should be on any dac buyers radar. it's a great sounding dac and likely a good value now too. i was only talking about the concept of getting a tube dac to balance a ss based system. i don't subscribe to that part.....and hits a nerve when i read it.

Or as I like to say, you know what is tune like?,Tubes.

 

[nirodha]

btw, my post/rant was not saying that a Pacific would not be a great choice for you. it should be on any dac buyers radar. it's a great sounding dac and likely a good value now too. i was only talking about the concept of getting a tube dac to balance a ss based system. i don't subscribe to that part.....and hits a nerve when i read it.

No prob, mike! I also believe that compensating a weakness in a set is not the way. My Humboldt is far from an analytical solid state. I am not after a typical “tubebanisation” but a decently designed tube dac could bring some extra magic without colorization. Take care and all the best from a jealous lusterer after Wadax. Provokes ultimate drool without even having heard it. Love your epic stories and the Wadax look. Namaste.

 

[morricab]

don't quite agree. to me the tube/ss part is a matter of expectations/requirement for linearity and the type of music you like to listen to. the part i agree with is that your system tends to also reflect that.

my solid state based system is expected (by me) to play large scale music with linearity. that is number one with a bullet. and when i had the Lampi GG2 and the Nagra HD neither could match the Aqua Formula dac, let alone the MSB Select II, at holding together according to my expectations......in a relative sense. both were fine objectively, but not as fine as i wanted them to be in direct compare to the ss dacs.

similar to my darTZeel/Lamm/VAC amp compare. my system leaves no place to hide when i push it. and i push it.

i did and do appreciate what the tube dacs do that i like. but even there, there are musical things i also prefer with the ss dacs apart from large scale linearity. the ss dacs don't remind me i'm listening to reproduced music as much as tube dacs. i hear music. i could certainly be completely happy with those tube dacs, or for sure the Pacific or absolutely the Horizon too i'm sure. but i choose a ss dac.

if your solid state based system does not need 'taming' since it's got a natural presentation, don't throw coloration at it. if it's not natural already, fix that, don't try to balance it with another extreme. it's will just set you back in terms of performance and musical truth. YMMV. just my 2 cents and a viewpoint i believe strongly in. obviously we have plenty of tube dac zealots that disagree. hallelujah! do what you love to do.

when i wrote that post #326 above on Dec 28th, i had already heard the Wadax in Florida, sold my MSB dac, and the Wadax was inbound to me for the direct compare. but i had not yet talked about it. i was just stressing about shoveling snow out from my barn and driveway so i could deal with the Wadax crates.

Just the opposite for me...I haven’t heard a SS DAC yet that didn’t remind me (often glaringly) that I was listening to reproduced music.

 

[PeterA]

A couple of my friends have told me that lately the forum has become all about vintage systems, and SETs and horns so they don’t read it much anymore. But when I look at the “what’s new“ section, all I see are threads about DACs and streamers. I pointed this out to them.

I find it very interesting that Steve just got the new Lampizator Horizon DAC and Mike just got the new Wadax Reference DAC. Both of these are arguably the new digital reference judging by the many positive comments. It is not surprising that two threads plus the streamer thread are very active right now.

What I do find surprising, however, is that we are talking about solid-state versus tube again, and that we are describing these different technologies in very general even stereotypical terms the way we used to describe amplifier technology and sound: linearity versus coloration.

I suppose things will never change. But it would be very interesting if someone directly compared these two new reference DACs in the same system. Surely there would be people preferring either one over the other. What I am curious about as a vinyl listener is do these DACs really sound very different from each other, and if so, which one sounds more like real music? Like with so much Else in this fascinating hobby, there may never be a consensus.

 

[howiebrou]

which one sounds more like real music?

Simple. Only vinyl or tape.

 

[andromedaaudio]

A couple of my friends have told me that lately the forum has become all about vintage systems, and SETs and horns

Lol

Like with so much Else in this fascinating hobby, there may never be a consensus.

Thank god, because how boring would that be .
Imagine everybody having a tube dac a SET and some Horns

 

[PeterA]

Lol


Thank god, because how boring would that be .
Imagine everybody having a tube dac a SET and some Horns

Or any single one of the many other alternatives, don’t you think?