Bozzio Levin Stevens - some excellent musicianship. Love this disk. My 2 $1500 DACs, Benchmark DAC3B and Gustard X26 Pro, did manage to produce the bass line clearly.
DAC Shootout Starts This Weekend
Okay...in another thread I promised to do a side-by-side evaluation of the Audiobyte HydraVox/Zap vs the Rockna Wavelight. Due to the astonishing incompetence of DHL this has been delayed. At the moment, I have a plethora of DACs here and am going to do a broader comparison.
I am going to do a compare of the Rockna Wavelight, Rockna Wavedream Signature, Audiobyte HydraVox/Zap, Chord Hugo 2, Chord Hugo TT2, Bricasti M3, Bricasti M1 Special Edition, Weiss 501 and the internal DAC card for an AVM A 5.2 Integrated amp as a baseline.
For sake of consistency, I am going to use that same AVM integrated amp driving Vivid Kaya 45s. I may branch out and do some listening on other speakers (Verdant Nightshade of Blackthorn and/or Wilson Benesch Vertexes) but want to use the Vivids for every compare as they are the fullest range speakers I have here. For sake of consistency I will use a Chord 2Go/2Yu connected via an Audioquest Diamond USB as a renderer. The only exception is the Hugo 2 which has a 2Go directly attached to it. I will use a Roon Nucleus+ as a server in all cases.
My plan is to use the same five songs on every DAC; In a Sentimental Mood from Duke Ellington and John Coltrane, Be Still My Beating Heart from Sting, Liberty from Anette Askvik, Duende from Bozzio Levin Stevens and Part 1 of Mozart String Quartet No 14 in G Major from the Alban Berg Quartet. The intent is to touch on different music types without going crazy.
I will take extensive notes on each listening session and write up a POV on the strengths of each unit. I am going to start this this Friday/Saturday and will be writing things up over the next month or so. If you have thoughts, comments or requests, I will be happy to try and accommodate. The one thing I am not going to do is make the list of songs longer as that has an exponential impact on this and make everything much harder. If and when other DACs come in on trade I may add to the list through time.
I am going to do a compare of the Rockna Wavelight, Rockna Wavedream Signature, Audiobyte HydraVox/Zap, Chord Hugo 2, Chord Hugo TT2, Bricasti M3, Bricasti M1 Special Edition, Weiss 501 and the internal DAC card for an AVM A 5.2 Integrated amp as a baseline.
For sake of consistency, I am going to use that same AVM integrated amp driving Vivid Kaya 45s. I may branch out and do some listening on other speakers (Verdant Nightshade of Blackthorn and/or Wilson Benesch Vertexes) but want to use the Vivids for every compare as they are the fullest range speakers I have here. For sake of consistency I will use a Chord 2Go/2Yu connected via an Audioquest Diamond USB as a renderer. The only exception is the Hugo 2 which has a 2Go directly attached to it. I will use a Roon Nucleus+ as a server in all cases.
My plan is to use the same five songs on every DAC; In a Sentimental Mood from Duke Ellington and John Coltrane, Be Still My Beating Heart from Sting, Liberty from Anette Askvik, Duende from Bozzio Levin Stevens and Part 1 of Mozart String Quartet No 14 in G Major from the Alban Berg Quartet. The intent is to touch on different music types without going crazy.
I will take extensive notes on each listening session and write up a POV on the strengths of each unit. I am going to start this this Friday/Saturday and will be writing things up over the next month or so. If you have thoughts, comments or requests, I will be happy to try and accommodate. The one thing I am not going to do is make the list of songs longer as that has an exponential impact on this and make everything much harder. If and when other DACs come in on trade I may add to the list through time.
Showing 12 responses by yyzsantabarbara
@verdantaudio
yyzsantabarbara - all of the DACs tested produced what sounded like a clear bass line. It was only in comparison that I realized that it could be better than what I was hearing.Yes, I understand that but I was a happy to notice that my cheaper DACs did not fail on that test. That album you used is awesome. Thanks for the musical discovery. |
I try to avoid buying room correction on any audio hardware because they are all weak processors of data and fixed in their processing horsepower forever (a firmware update does not increase horsepower). Computers on the other hand are super cheap and get more powerful each year. You can also use these cheap and powerful computers with ROON Server and easily keep the noise out of the DAC (fibre optical streaming). I have 2 sets of Convolution filters (headphone and floorstanders) that work on my far away ROON Server and will work with EVERY single DAC listed on this thread. At this moment I have stopped using these filters because I managed to make the room and headphones (sometimes) work without them. One set of these professionally crafted filters cost me $700 and the other set was $250. @verdantaudio An hour ago I had a musician at my place listening to my 2 DACs and telling me his opinion. We listened to CHARLES MINGUS - Ah Um album to do some comparisons. It was very illuminating for me and I was told how the DACs were doing reproducing the instruments from this musicians experienced ear. Seems my 2 office DACs have some issues for him. I will get in contact with you in the near future and we can discuss how I can improve my setup. |
@verdantaudio Here is a great review of the Halo May vs the Musetec. I have been told that the Musetec is also an incredible DAC. Review: Holo May (L2) DAC and the Musetec Audio (LKS Audio) MH-DA005 DAC Compaired | Audiogon Discussion Forum |
Playback Designs MPD-6 Edelweiss DAC – Verdant Audio Playback Designs MPD-8 Dream DAC – Verdant Audio
Can the PLINK input take a fibre optic stream directly like the Lumin X1? How is the volume control on the DAC? Improved with a preamp?
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@f208frank Congrats on the DAC. How are you streaming to it? I have a PLink streamer but no Playback Desings DAC 😀 so I have no clue how the PLink sounds.
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@verdantaudio You should try the X1 USB stream out to the MPD-6 to compare the streaming abilities of the X1 to the PLink (which I assume you use on the MPD-6). The streamer on the X1 is really good, especially using Fibre Optic as an input. I still have not heard my PLink which is sitting under my desk. I use my X1 as a SPDIF streamer to the Peachtree GAN1 (that you tested) and also as a XLR analog output to my RAAL VM-1a headphone amp. In both cases, it is a great result with a very advanced forward-looking user interface. My GAN1 is not the stock version you heard; it is a modded version that I think is as good as my X1 going into a my 2-channel amps. |
The new Lumin U2 seems to be using the same streamer as in the Lumin X1. That streamer is pretty amazing. The settings that you have access to is incredible. I use it for both analog duty and to stream digital to my PeachTree GAN1 via SPDIF (along with amazing volume control). I also have Fibre Optic into the streamer and then SPDIF out. That Fibre Optic is essential in my setup (noisy). One reason I will not touch any Ethernet streamer built into a DAC. The Sonore OpticalRendu is also incredible and is now discontinued until late summer when the new version comes out. The old OpticalRendu sounds more buttoned up compared to the wild child sound of the Lumin X1. Weird way to describe it but once you hear them side-by-side it makes sense. I love the sound of both streamers. |
@topside3 All 3 of my streamers were great. I have not heard the very best feature of the PlayBack Designs Streamer-IF because I do not have a PD DAC to use the PLink feature. However, the SPDIF of the IF sounded a mix in-between the Lumin X1 fibre and my Sonore OpticalRendu. The Lumin X1 is as loud as the IF (just a gain setting I guess). It sounds the fastest on music playback. A real toe tapping experience. I loved the X1 streamer and the features on it are the best of all 3. This was very important when I wanted to stream to SPDIF to my incredible modded Peachtree GAN1. This GAN1 was as good as $20K+ gear with the Lumin X1 via SPDIF. The OpticalRendu wsa not as loud and maybe not as fast sounding. It sounded rather refined to me compared to the other 2. The PD IF was in-between the sonics of the OpticalRendu and the X1. I think if I got the Plink hooked up (in the future) it likely will have the best streaming sound or experience. At the moment I think my OpticalRendu is my fav. Though it is like choosing between chocolate and vanilla, both are very good and a matter of taste. I was surprised that these 3 high end streamers would have such a variety in sound. I have used lower end streamers and they do not compare to the X1 and oR in terms of details and other sonic attributes I value.
Note: I only used the X1 with a fibre input stream |
I had the Topping D90LE and the D90SE for a short time. Both of those DAC ended up being sold rather quickly since I found them rather lifeless. I like the Benchmark DAC3B a lot more than the Topping units. I still have the DAC3B and likely keep that around. I am now down to 1 final audio piece to get to finish off my Livingroom system (other systems are done). I am looking at the PlayBack Designs Dream DAC (or the lower PBD unit). The system I plan this for currently has the DAC3B using a PlayBack Designs streamer (via SPDIF). Listening to the Livingroom system already gives me goose bumps (every time). It sounds even better with the Schitt Yggi+ Less is More DAC, but I need that DAC in my office system. I am assuming a top tier DAC would be over the top incredible.
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