2. digital
  3. 1378133559

DAC Recommendation around 2.5K

There are so many new DACs, it makes one head swim.

I currently have a PS Audio DL III w/ level 3 Cullen mods
it sounds great, very analog and musical, however will not do 24/192 even via coax. So.....

Hegel HD25? NAD M51? I want to have a usb 24/192 to avoid another device in the chain (in order to use coax)

System:

Jolida fusion preamp (with mods)
channel island d-200 moon block amps
acoustic zen adagio speakers
kimber silver cable
soundstring cable
"anti-cables" for speaker wire

Listen to ALL types of music, so dac needs to be comfortable with classical and jazz but also lots of classic rock

Thank You

PS: i do not care about DSD capability, don't buy it....
mlapenta

Showing 4 responses by wisnon

wisnon
700 posts
 
Vhiner,

The Lampi Dacs are very musical and this carries thru from their PCM dac to the DSD option that has recently become available (PURE DSD, no conversion to multibit Delta-Sigma internally...just poss pass filtration). They are excellent on RBCD, as that is where most of the effort is directed!

DSD128 is sublime though, no doubt about it. Many leading edge audiophiles are ripping their vinyl to DSD128 and claim that they cant hear a difference in Playback! Frankly, with the amount of material on DSD based on ability to rip SACDs, I cant understand why anyone would NOT want to have DSD playback ability on top of an excellent PCM DAC.
wisnon
700 posts
 
typo... LOW Pass filtration...
wisnon
700 posts
 
Vhiner,

Fair enough on your opinion of what justifies the cost of upgrade. What Dac do you have? Also, which L4 did you hear? Gen 4 as of May 2013? As you know Lampis have subtle differences over time.

Regarding format, DSD IS different! It does dsound different and one advantage it does have is that since editing is limited, they would not have been messed with as much post recording as PCM. Now here I refer to native DSD recordings or analog to DSD transfers. PCM to DSD transfers by definition should not be as impressive and frankly better left as PCM. DSD has its own sound signature and I find more consistently of high quality that PCM hires offerings, given that most are SACD rips that we can make via a PS3.

One can build up a huge library that way, given that SACD prices are often cheaper than hires downloads. The new frontier is DSD128 rips of vinyl from a classy analog setup. I hear that this is "delicious". I am trying to source a couple tracks to confirm.
wisnon
700 posts
 
LoL

Vhiner, you are a riot.
We are getting off topic a bit, but can continue viua PM at Audiocircle, in order not to hijack this thread. I use the same user name there.

I will end by saying that I have nearly 2TB of DSD material, so I am NOT starved for DSD content by any means. The fringies are ripping vinyl to DSD128. Unfortunately, I dont have a vinyl rig nor a collection of LPs. I get my content from SACDs primarily.
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