Most vinyl-sounding DAC?

[DasguteOhr]

Even a sonic frontiers still sounds excellent today, I have mine completely restored all caps tubes siemens cca e88cc wbt sockets silver wire. with laptop mutec mc 1.2 usb converter exsample

 

[morricab]

I once had one, at some point I had the crazy idea that there was definitely something better and sold it. can someone please hit me in my face, there's nothing better...big exclamation point behind it.

P.S 3 power iec sockets at underside dac(digital,left and right chanel analog) View attachment 126336

Yes, that is my suspicion…never heard it though… of course cd only but…do you really need more.

 

[mtemur]

That was largely due to their frequent pairing with a PMD100 digital filter. When paired with a better digital filter they no longer sound like that.

PMD200 perhaps? I used to have BOW ZZ 8 CD player equipped with PCM1702 and PMD100. It was sounding good when four Yamamoto MGB-1 feet placed under it.

 

[Lee]

It’s set upsampling everything to DSD if I’m not mistaken. My comments on filters were mainly about native PCM decoding. on the other hand upsampling and DSD aren’t perfect either IMHO.

I believe DSD to be the ultimate digital format as I have experience recording with high quality ADCs in PCM and DSD. DSD is more natural sounding and gets very close to the live event.

It’s also, imo, why the Quad DSD sourced MFSL albums sound so damn good.

 

[Lee]

Yes, that is my suspicion…never heard it though… of course cd only but…do you really need more.

Yes I think you do. With Qobuz and other hirez source, why not experience the extra quality of hirez files?

 

[morricab]

Yes I think you do. With Qobuz and other hirez source, why not experience the extra quality of hirez files?

Because I have Qobuz and I rarely find an improvement over the available cd quality. In fact the cd version is often preferable. And yes, my DAC is 24/192 capable.

 

[morricab]

PMD200 perhaps? I used to have BOW ZZ 8 CD player equipped with PCM1702 and PMD100. It was sounding good when four Yamamoto MGB-1 feet placed under it.

I have found with BB DACs the BB DD1704 is better as is the last NEC filter. Not sure about the PMD200. The PCM1702 was the poor cousin to the PCM63K….less than half the cost.

 

[DasguteOhr]

Yes I think you do. With Qobuz and other hirez source, why not experience the extra quality of hirez files?

At nativedsd download, most a pcm/dxd to dsd conversion.

https://www.nativedsd.com/catalogue/

Best way to get dsd native file buy used sacds and make a backup copy to your hard drive. Anyone who owns the original can make a copy, at least in Germany this is permitted according to copyright law.

 

[mtemur]

I have found with BB DACs the BB DD1704 is better as is the last NEC filter. Not sure about the PMD200. The PCM1702 was the poor cousin to the PCM63K….less than half the cost.

Although BB PCM63K is better but two stacked up BB PCM1702 K grades for each channel don't sound bad. 1704 is the last multibit DAC and I still have two lying around for a DIY project but I'm not sure it's better.

 

[mtemur]

I believe DSD to be the ultimate digital format as I have experience recording with high quality ADCs in PCM and DSD. DSD is more natural sounding and gets very close to the live event.

Recording direct to DSD and playing it back on a native DSD DAC might sound very good. It can even be the best digital around. I don't argue about that but almost all music on streaming services, CDs, high res files etc are natively recorded as PCM. Almost all DSD releases or SACDs are converted to PCM for editing purposes and converted back to DSD again. My consideration on my prior comment is about resampling those PCM files to DSD. That's not optimal nor native DSD.

It’s also, imo, why the Quad DSD sourced MFSL albums sound so damn good.

I don't think they sound good. On the contrary I think they sound bad. It has nothing to do with DSD. It would be similarly bad if PCM had been used instead.

 

[Lee]

Recording direct to DSD and playing it back on a native DSD DAC might sound very good. It can even be the best digital around. I don't argue about that but almost all music on streaming services, CDs, high res files etc are natively recorded as PCM. Almost all DSD releases or SACDs are converted to PCM for editing purposes and converted back to DSD again. My consideration on my prior comment is about resampling those PCM files to DSD. That's not optimal nor native DSD.


I don't think they sound good. On the contrary I think they sound bad. It has nothing to do with DSD. It would be similarly bad if PCM had been used instead.

Some editing workstations can edit in native DSD. Others do convert to very high rate PCM but I have serious doubts if anyone can hear the differences at 32/352.

I’m surprised you don’t think the MFSL DSD albums sound good. I have almost all of the MFSL catalog and the DSD sourced ones sound very good to my ears.

 

[acousticsguru]

Some editing workstations can edit in native DSD. Others do convert to very high rate PCM but I have serious doubts if anyone can hear the differences at 32/352.

I’m surprised you don’t think the MFSL DSD albums sound good. I have almost all of the MFSL catalog and the DSD sourced ones sound very good to my ears.

They did until the word got out!

Greetings from Switzerland, David.

 

[morricab]

Although BB PCM63K is better but two stacked up BB PCM1702 K grades for each channel don't sound bad. 1704 is the last multibit DAC and I still have two lying around for a DIY project but I'm not sure it's better.

I don’t think the 1702 sounds bad…but better is the enemy of good. The only direct comparison I have regarding PCM63K and PCM1704k is in a Monarchy DAC. The original M24 DAC used 63s with an SRPP output stage. The later version used the 1704K. Based on what I heard, the 63 version was better sounding overall. More natural and less “etched”. To be sure we are talking about 2 very fine DAC chips…just the 63 was, IMO, better sounding.
I have an Ayon DAC that uses the 1704 and sounds fantastic…only wonder what it might have sounded like with the 63.

 

[acousticsguru]

I don’t think the 1702 sounds bad…but better is the enemy of good. The only direct comparison I have regarding PCM63K and PCM1704k is in a Monarchy DAC. The original M24 DAC used 63s with an SRPP output stage. The later version used the 1704K. Based on what I heard, the 63 version was better sounding overall. More natural and less “etched”. To be sure we are talking about 2 very fine DAC chips…just the 63 was, IMO, better sounding.
I have an Ayon DAC that uses the 1704 and sounds fantastic…only wonder what it might have sounded like with the 63.

The only time I ever heard a direct comparison between DAC chip sets in the same unit was with the Counterpoint DA-10 - it was fascinating, but of course one still came away wondering if the topology was equally suited to each so-called "DAC card".

Greetings from Switzerland, David.

 

[DasguteOhr]

Wadia 27ix have 8 x1702 sounds phantastic for me. A Wadia No Go soft feet under him, best for me are stillpoints. I find the 27 better as the Wadia 9 although it has a better power supply.

 

[morricab]

The only time I ever heard a direct comparison between DAC chip sets in the same unit was with the Counterpoint DA-10 - it was fascinating, but of course one still came away wondering if the topology was equally suited to each so-called "DAC card".

Greetings from Switzerland, David.

Yeah, the Monarchy was interesting because it was optimized for each chip primarily in the IV conversion. PSU, digital receiver, digital filter and output stage all the same.

 

[dennis h]

View attachment 126364

DasguteOhr,
How do the dinosaurs affect the sound ?
(running and ducking)
dennis h

 

[DasguteOhr]

DasguteOhr,
How do the dinosaurs affect the sound ?
(running and ducking)
dennis h

These are herbivores, you don't need to be afraid when you visit them

 

[skids929]

Nobody has mentioned Audio Note DACs. I am not a digital expert but AN certainly has a reputation for having a more vinyl-like sound.

100% on Audio Note...Forget vinyl sounding...They are simply musical DACs and at the end of the day it's all about the music, not "imaging" or whatever-other fancy words we can come up with for sound. What we do as audiophiles should not be about the "sound" but rather about the music and Audio Note (and some of the other DACs mentioned) does this incredibly well.

 

[tony22]

I don’t think the 1702 sounds bad…but better is the enemy of good. The only direct comparison I have regarding PCM63K and PCM1704k is in a Monarchy DAC. The original M24 DAC used 63s with an SRPP output stage. The later version used the 1704K. Based on what I heard, the 63 version was better sounding overall. More natural and less “etched”. To be sure we are talking about 2 very fine DAC chips…just the 63 was, IMO, better sounding.
I have an Ayon DAC that uses the 1704 and sounds fantastic…only wonder what it might have sounded like with the 63.

The old EAD DSP-7000 Mk3 used PCM63Ks. I loved that DAC.