Just when I thought digital could not match analog


I recently had an experience that forced me to re-think a long held belief about audio sources. The experience was a recent comparison between the new dB Audio Labs Tranquility USB DAC (fed by a Mac Mini computer) to my reference analog rig (VPI Super Scoutmaster). In the past, every time I compared digital to analog, it was clearly evident which was which. The analog always sounded much more real, fluid and involving. No matter what strengths the digital had, it was never even in the same ballpark as analog. I have even found that inexpensive analog rigs have these particular advantages over digital. This has now changed. The dB Audio labs DAC is in the same ballpark as analog! In fact, it was difficult to tell the Tranquility DAC from the Super Scoutmaster. It felt like comparing two analog rigs, and my analog rig is no slouch costing approximately $7K. After more listening, I found that the analog is slightly more fluid and the digital is slightly more dynamic. Which do I prefer, hard call… But, this is the first time I have EVER found a digital source that is even comparable to analog! I will be adding a Tranquility DAC to my system and finally be able to enjoy digital as much as analog.
sdfish

Showing 2 responses by tedmbrady

What does this DAC handle? Only 16/44? No info anywhere about sample rates, etc. Seems weird for a DAC mfg'er not to tout it's capabilities. I might be missing something. I'd love to tout it as a new HiREz (24/96+) DAC (on my forum) but so far no news is no news.

Ted
DBaudiolabs,
Thanks for listing the specs and clearing up the basic issues. Sounds like a great product priced very nicely.