DAC Shootout Starts This Weekend

Next DAC on the agenda is the Playback MPD-8 Dream which should arrive next week.  I have a used unit coming in and will spend a little time with it before we find it a forever home.  PM me if you are interested in acquiring it.  

@jeffreyw the best match with AC is supposed to be Pink Faun.  That DAC likes being fed from a server with a great clock.  I might also look at Antipodes.  What software do you plan to run?  BTW...I will admit, I am not a huge fan of streamers.  I very much prefer server and player as I feel it does a better job of dealing with a volatile internet and not introducing noise at the critical rendering stage.  

@chayro I agree and have been trying to compose a post that I think is succinct, informative an uncontroversial without blathering.  

@ddafoe I hear amazing things about Meitner/EMM products.  I have not heard one in person yet.  It is a brand I am exploring adding.

@fsonicsmith I just found out that my local rep for Clarus cables is also the rep for Gryphon.  Unfortunately that is a Brick and Mortar brand only and doesn't fit with my business model.  Love the products though.

@fsonicsmith I just found out that my local rep for Clarus cables is also the rep for Gryphon. Unfortunately that is a Brick and Mortar brand only and doesn’t fit with my business model. Love the products though.

I think you mis-read my comment. Quite understandable re-reading my post :-) I was suggesting a trial of the SW1X DACIII Balanced Classic. SW1X is the brand name. Based in England but with two US distributors. The "Balanced" does not refer to circuit topology per se. As I understand it, the balanced portion of the design involves an extremely robust output section built much like a power amp. I have owned mine for about a year and half. I ought to know more about it and back when I ordered it and waited six months for it I was more familiar with the details of the design but since then I just listen to music with it. Mine gets signal from an Aurender W20 with a custom built S/PDIF from Analysis Plus built with their Silver Apex wire. Music played through it sounds very much like my vinyl playback utilizing a modded Garrard 301 with Classic HiFi brass bearing https://www.classichifi-shop.co.uk/ with the Dobbins platter and Reed 3P, and Lyra Etna Lamda.

@fsonicsmith I will check that DAC out.  I am always interested in learning about new products.  

So, as mentioned previously, the MPD-8 Dream DAC from Playback arrived and is now fully tested.  This took some effort as I have an amazing opportunity to listen to the flagship integrated amp from AVM and I just received my Inakustik sales samples which were incorporated into the system.  

That said, for the test, we rolled back to the ACM A5.2 integrated, Audioquest Cables, etc...

In the context of this test, the Dream is stunningly good.  There is sparkle in the piano in In a Sentimental Mood.  The drum rolls show off incredible separation and the saxophone is coming about 6' to the left of the left speaker.  

In Be Still My Beating Heart, separation of all the instruments is amazing.  There is no sibilance at all in Stings voice and when you hear beats drop, the noise floor is incredibly low.  The absolute soundstage is larger than the Edelweiss.  Very similar in scale to the Jadis JS1 MKV but more detailed.  Might be a hair less dynamic.  Edges are smoother and it is a cleaner, more analog sound.

In Liberty, her voice is centered and stable.  No sibilance and the effects come from where you would expect at this point having heard this song seemingly millions of times.  Tonally similar to the Jadis, slightly more forward than the Edelweiss.  Slightly less forward than the Rockna based on memory.  

In Duende, this is another high.  What I thought was incredibly clean lacking digital artifacts in the opening hit a new high.  The opening bass solo sounded more natural than on the Edelweiss or Jadis.  I explicitly went back and listened to the first minute of this song on all three back to back to back to make sure I was not hallucinating.  It really is smoother.

The Berg piece is amazing.  Scale is off for chamber but that is what I have come to expect from these more expansive sounding DACs.  No massing of strings.  No glare.  It is smooth and sweet and glorious.  

What is amazing to me is that we have now risen to a level where I would expect all DACs to be stunningly good and we are still finding noteworthy audible differences that make system matching critically important.  This is an incredibly smooth, analog sounding DAC yet there is a level of microdetail that is astonishing and usually accomplished via making the unit brighter.  

Parting with this MPD-8 when someone buys it is going to be a sad day.  It is wonderful and I am going to enjoy it thoroughly while it is hear.  

Currently 8 DAC models on offer and another in the pipeline.

https://sw1xad.co.uk/products/?prod_cat=digital-to-analogue-converters-dacs

There are a number of enthusiastic owners over on AudioCircle.