Which DACs are known to be sweet/rich/relaxed?

hello op

we have a ton of experience with Roon as well as other servers and streamers.

First We were aureder dealers then an innous dealer the Innous sounded far better we tested sotm lumin and many others.

The Stereophile comment is very wrong the statement sounds far better if you are using usb and yes demoed that way the difference is very audible via ethernet there would be no difference.

fast forward we found a thread New to the forum: high end music server with Roon Core and 3 x dedicated linear power supplies | What’s Best Audio and Video Forum. The Best High End Audio Forum on the planet! (whatsbestforum.com)

the poster found the 5k 432evo Aeon sounded nearly as good as theese 10k euro servers

The Aeon has a very rich and Musical presentation. and we have compared it to the nucleus and the Aeon sounds far better.

may/ june Absolute Sound Andrew Quint reviewed 432Evo Aeon and found the Aeon to be best sounding server I have heard. in fact he purchased the sample..

as per dacs the Aqua hifi dacs are very musical and are fully modular and upgrad able as they are ladder dacs they are very smooth and natural sounding.

Dave and Troy

Audio intellect nj

US importer 432Evo music servers AQua hifi rdealer focal dealer

I'm totally onboard with verdantaudio, Antipodes is very nice, they know how to optimize both ports and power supplies, K50 would be my first choice for off the shelf not insanely priced servers, K40 or 41 for running another brand streamer.  And yes to running Roon with core on server, endpoint on streamer.

Audio Note DAC4.1x. They manufacture their internal components including C-core transformers and caps. 

The company is well represented in the Far East including HK, Singapore, and possibly Malaysia. Their philosophy is to test for  performance results and then adjust by listening to the components. That's why they don't have stellar measurements on the bench.

No affiliation, just an owner and a fan.

I would recommend an Aurender W20SE streamer… giving you a spectacular and natural / quiet input. Then an Audio Research Reference DAC9 or Reference CD9se. I own the later and had a Berkeley Reference Alpha DAC in my system for several weeks… the ARC was a touch warmer and pretty much just as detailed.

I have been a real fan of Audio Research preamps and phono stages. I just never thought of Audio Research as company that had a great DAC… until my dealer bright one over and said, “listen to this”. When I did… I sent him a message within a minute to order one for me.

These two changes will give you a world class natural sounding front end. I think that will improve every aspect while taking the edge off. If there is any residual brightness.. switch to Cardas Clear Beyond interconnects and particularly a Cardas power cord for your amp.

As I have gained more experience in what music actually sounds like and how to match components to reproduce the emotional connection as well as detail and slam I have moved step by step into more Audio Research tubed gear. I have been able to keep the detail and add the emotional connection (rhythm and pace, midrange bloom) to the music… even in the digital realm. So my digital end has the detail and soul of my great analog end.

Upper quality Aqua , HoloSprings, Denafrips all are R2R dacs.