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Curious about older "world class" D/A converters

Good day, all.

Recently, I’ve become a little obsessed with the idea of purchasing/employing an older DAC. The few that’ve been swirling in my mind are the Mark Levinson 360s, dCS Elgar and Spectral SDR-2000/Pro. Here’s what I have in place now (and I’ve been through many systems over the years):

- MacBook Pro / SSD / AIFF’s, over the air
- ModWright Transporter (Emission Labs 5U4G / 50’s Sylvania 6SN7’s)
- Duelund DCA20GA
- Line Magnetic 218ia (Shuguang 845B’s, Gold Lion KT-77’s and 12AX7’s)
- Kimber 4PR
- Omega Super 7XRS

I listen to all types of music (99.9% of my digital library is Redbook), favoring acoustic anything - as much as possible, I attempt to get the effect that the instruments are in the room. As is, everything is dialed in pretty darn nicely, but I feel as though I could use just a bit more focus - if I could have a sharpness dial... Anyhow, you get what I mean. And just so you know, I chose the Transporter over a Berkeley Alpha 2 (had both in the system for 8 months or so, with the former feeding the latter via AES). In the end, I feel there’s just something organic about the Transporter. The Alpha certainly did everything right, but the Transporter just seemed more "natural" (for lack of a more elaborate description). I will say, though, that in some cases, depending on the material - if I’m being completely honest with myself - I wasn’t able to tell them apart and actually got them mixed up in my own exhaustive comparisons.

So, all that said (and sorry for the long-windedness) would any of the three I mention above be worth a shot? I will admit that I’m smitten with the engineering, design and build quality of these pieces without even having an idea of what they might sound like.

Thanks for your time,
Mark (ballywho, since 2003)
ballywho
teo_audio
2,197 posts
 
Snatch and grab time, I gave you the keys to the kingdom.

Other than one of these dacs in that list (the correct Dac or player), you'll have to go to multi-bit discrete to beat them. Which start at over $10k, except for the ones from china. and the newer DIY dac boards that are being designed and released.
jond's avatar
jond
5,657 posts
 
My DAC has the PCM63-K chip which is I believe a multibit R2R chip.
jond's avatar
jond
5,657 posts
 
Not sure if I would say world class but I bet this will sound great, no affiliation with the seller just an AN fan obviously.

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/da-converters-audio-note-uk-dac-1-original-2017-09-04-digital-6476...
teo_audio
2,197 posts
 
Yes, the PCM63-k is a 20 bit ladder or r-2-r dac.

my day to day streaming dac has a pair of PCM1702 dac chips, of similar design and spec. Although almost every single part other than the dac chips has been changed. Very non-stock. For 16/44 it would be difficult to beat - more sideways than anything thing else.
2psyop's avatar
2psyop
1,500 posts
 
I think the coloration of the sound from any digital source component has to involve many factors. Of many factors, these four are what I think about most.
1 The ability and expertise of the designer/engineer. (I think Mike Moffat of Schiit audio and Ted Smith of PS Audio are examples of good designers). 
2 The chip itself. DAC chips are getting better, and some older versions are surprisingly good too.
3 How well the product uses the chips. How good is the overall design? The implementation of all the components.
4 What kind of sound (coloration) appeals to each person?
Some specs of various products only tell half the story! The other half is the sound. I always liked the saying, "we see what is in back of our eyes, not what is in front of them". This same observation applies to one’s ears as well!

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