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DAC Selection

I listen to vinyl mostly, but with my recent speakers upgrade I found digital sounding quite good and have been thinking to invest in a better DAC. I use tube gear - tube preamp, SET mono blocks, etc. I am using big full range 3-way speakers, highly efficient, very dynamic, going almost flat down to 20Hz. Most of the gear I use is either DIY or highly upgraded commercial products with exotic parts. The DIY products are all built by me, either from kits or from well-known simple and good sounding schematics. Listen to all kind of music but mostly jazz and blues. 

Looking to get the best DAC I can for my system. My budget is $6K. I can try building one myself, buy a kit, or get a commercial product. Besides building one myself, three DACs have caught my eye:

  • PS Audio DirectStream DAC
  • Schiit Audio Yggdrasil 
  • Audio Note Kits DAC 5.1

I have listened to several DACs and found the Analogue Devices chips to sound more musical in my system than the newer Sabre chips. But that could be due to the DAC implementation rather than the chip itself... Never heard an FPGA DAC like the one from PS Audio. The Audio Note Kit looks great in terms of design, components, and quality, but I would never know how it sounds until I build it, so can’t really audition and return if I don’t like it like I can do with the other products on my list. 

Another idea going through my head is to try building one myself - get the cleanest regulated power, the best digital section I can find, and a high-quality analog section with the best components available. And I might end up with a very high-end DAC. But again, you invest a lot of money, not knowing what the end result would be.

Some days I wish I could not solder. With all the choices we have, it is already so difficult to make decisions, and when you add DIY in the picture you make the decision making process a lot worse. And when you open a commercial product that costs $5,000 and find parts for $450, that makes you think really hard if you spent your hard-earned money the best possible way. But let’s not go there… I am happy to spend $6K for a PS Audio DirectStream DAC if I am convinced that’s my best option. And I will certainly audition that 


Any comments, suggestions, recommendations? 


nenon
melm
1,057 posts
 
You sound adventurous* enough to consider one of the direct-order Asian DACs which seem to provide a lot of value.

Unless you're intent upon spending a lot you might research DACs like Holo, Pontus, LKS, Gustard, or Denafrips.  Costing a fraction of what some DACs mentioned in this thread cost, users are reporting that they outperform some of the VERY high priced ones.

Personally I would not purchase a DAC that does not play SACDs or (my preference) ripped .dsf files. Some of these are simply outstanding in SQ.

You might do a search here and elsewhere.

*Hey, you use a soldering iron!
audioengr
3,282 posts
 

I would not assume that every $6K DAC has $500 of parts in it.

The output coupling caps in my DAC alone cost more than $1K.  The 22 custom linear regulators are $4400.

The other thing about designing your own DAC is that it takes a LOT of experience and knowledge to design a good one.  You must understand how to minimize jitter, how to linearize non-linear analog sections, how to get really low noise floor, how to design low-noise fast responding voltage regulators.  You must be familiar with what are the best and fastest gates are, the latest technology.  Finally, you must have the knowledge to design USB or Ethernet interface yourself, or you end-up buying something from a third-party that is crippled (low sound quality).

This is not a cook-book exercise.  It's not sufficient just to make it functional. It must perform well.

Steve N.

Empirical Audio

nenon OP
28 posts
 
@charles1dad Checking out the SW1X. My first thought is that it would be an excellent choice if I had a CD player. But I forgot to say that I would listen to digital via USB. They have an interesting USB to SPDIF solution, and I will read more about it. The Denafrips Terminator caught my eye!
@melm Very good suggestion. I reviewed the list and the Holo and Denafrips Terminator looked very interesting. I am adding the  Terminator to my list.
@audioengr "I would not assume that every $6K DAC has $500 of parts in it." - Of course not! I've seen many high-end audio devices with parts worth around 10% of their MSRP, but I would never generalize that for the entire industry. Sorry if I have offended someone, did not mean to. There are many examples of much higher ratio too. A lot of hard work, excellent engineering, and extremely time consuming R&D goes into many of those products, so looking at the parts cost only is not fair. Yeah, as an end-user I would like to see less of my money spent on marketing and dealer commission and hate to see compromises made with the part quality on expensive products. It drives me crazy when I see a product that cost over $5K that uses $1 caps in the signal path. I have even seen a very expensive product that used a CAT5 wire in the signal path. But let's not go there... I see that you offer your DAC with V-Cap or Duelund caps. Thumbs up for that. They are my favorite caps.
BTW, I never even thought about designing my own DAC. I meant "building" by taking one of the well-acclaimed digital modules available and combining with good power section and good analog section. Yeah, it won't be anything unique, but more likely a highly tweaked popular existing solution. Chances are I won't go there at all. If I decide to do, I will start another thread. 
roxy54's avatar
roxy54
7,684 posts
 
OP,
I once bought the lowest of the low Audio Note DACs on the reccommendation of John Rutan of Audio Connection after he put it up against the Cary CD player that I thought that I wanted and was reviewed well. The Audio Note sounded so much more real to my ears, and much less electronic. Three years ago, I got an Audio Note Kits 2.1 DAC, and it is an absolute pleasure. I can hardly imagine what the 5.1 sounds like, because mine sounds so good as it is.
I say, if it is emotion and pleasure that is your first priority, go with the Audio Note.
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,233 posts
 
The Audio Note DACs have a near universal reputation for a natural sound quality as opposed to a hifi/electronic character. Supposedly the SW1X Audio Designs is cut from very similar cloth. A direct comparison would be interesting. In terms of philosophy, design, circuit and implementation they have much in common. I suspect that both are very good in providing the crucial emotional connection while listening to music. IMO a mandatory requirement. 
Charles 
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