Matt has been one of the most humble people on Audiogon. I've asked him several questions through PM and he has always been respectful. He's vey hesitant to be overly critical of a component. Matt keep being who you are, I submit you help make Audiogon a great place for constructive and honest dialog.
Absolute top tier DAC for standard res Redbook CD
Hi All.
Putting together a reference level system.
My Source is predominantly standard 16/44 played from a MacMini using iTunes and Amarra. Some of my music is purchased from iTunes and the rest is ripped from standard CD's.
For my tastes in music, my high def catalogues are still limited; so Redbook 16/44 will be my primary source for quite some time.
I'm not spending DCS or MSB money. But $15-20k retail is not out of the question.
Upsampling vs non-upsampling?
USB input vs SPDIF?
All opinions welcome.
And I know I need to hear them, but getting these ultra $$$ DAC's into your house for an audition ain't easy.
Looking for musical, emotional, engaging, accurate , with great dimension. Not looking for analytical and sterile.
Putting together a reference level system.
My Source is predominantly standard 16/44 played from a MacMini using iTunes and Amarra. Some of my music is purchased from iTunes and the rest is ripped from standard CD's.
For my tastes in music, my high def catalogues are still limited; so Redbook 16/44 will be my primary source for quite some time.
I'm not spending DCS or MSB money. But $15-20k retail is not out of the question.
Upsampling vs non-upsampling?
USB input vs SPDIF?
All opinions welcome.
And I know I need to hear them, but getting these ultra $$$ DAC's into your house for an audition ain't easy.
Looking for musical, emotional, engaging, accurate , with great dimension. Not looking for analytical and sterile.
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- 4487 posts total
Imgoodwithtools, we had a customer bring in his Berkley Ref 1 which I know in'st the latest howerver we compared it to our Davinci Dual Dac MK I which isn't as good as the newer MK II. So it was a fair title match up last series of each head to head. The Davinci was signifigently more like an analog source with a bigger soundstage and a more holographic sound stage. The Berkly was superb I think we also compared both to the EMM Labs Da 2 the new $25k one, and both of these dacs were better than the Emm. You should listen to one if you can, they are very rare dac's but as Matt will attest to one of the most remarkable pieces of digital out there. Dave and Troy Audio Doctor NJ |
http://lightharmonic.com/products/da-vinci-dac-mkii/ "Now we’ve decided to push the boundaries once again with Da Vinci MKII’s 32/768 kHz PCM resistor ladder DAC engine. And history will repeat itself. Da Vinci MKII’s second decoding engine is a pure Delta-Sigma DAC capable of decoding DSD signals up to DSD256." As I thought, the PCM decoder is a resistor ladder circuit. The DSD engine is Delta Sigma. Personally have no respect for LH Labs, as they kickstarted the Vi dac and took money from customers without delivery. But doesn't mean they can't build a good dac. |
- 4487 posts total