I've never heard a DAC more pleasing than my Mark Levinson 360s with Burr Brown PCM 1704 chips. Yeah, I'm old school~
Sweet Sounding DAC
Ok, here's another one of those threads seeking DAC guidance. Certainly, I have started more than my share of such questions.
This search started as a need to find a smaller DAC and streamer due to overcrowding in my cabinet. Current players Bricasti M3 and M5. But as I started looking and listening, I realized there is a sonic search as well; just to complicate the process. As much as I like the Bricasti gear, I have always yearned for a softer- perhaps more tube/ analogue sound. So the search got harder. Here are some of the contestants with my questions/ comments or concerns. I seek advice from those who actually own or know the gear to follow , I will try to be brief. BTW my budget is essentially what I can recoup from selling the Bricasti gear. So lets say 3500 to 5000 ( if I sell both pieces). The first 4 I have sampled, the rest I have read about
1. Wattson Madison; great size. Found vocals a little off/ sounded better w external streamer - but then whats the point of the DAC / Streamer
2. Lab 12 DAC: loved the sound; too big a footprint. Great vocal tone
3. Konus : real nice, still a strong contender
4. Merason Frerot with LPS: not for me ( suprisingly)
5. Audio Note: would need to be entry level due to size. Is it good enough?
6. Gold Note DS-10 + Evo. Looks good on paper; has anyone heard it? Some dealers are not so high on it
7. Ferrum Wandla: looks good on paper but would add a box ( LPS ) to my cabinet. Anyone hear it? Word is that is a rich - smooth tone
8. Audio 11 Sagra: not much to go on but supposed to be smooth and sweet sounding
9. Border Patrol: some love it and some don't. Cannot fathom who is right.
10. AudioMirrow Tubadour. Seemed like a strong contender until a user told me its not that sweet sounding. More neutral in tone. I was bummed to hear that. Not sure it has the Lab 12 tone I seek.
I think thats enough to choose from.
Any insights would be appreciated. Please refrain from snarkiness....I much too tired for snark, But I do appreciate the help.
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- 96 posts total
Such powerful words of wisdom form @pennfootball71 After my experiences with Lampi I would not listen or read a word of advice from this guy. Grain of salt.
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If you are looking for something warmish, sweet even then Lampizator can produce excellent results. I had a play back designs MPS 5 sacd/dac which was replaced with a Lampizator golden gate, much better. The GG was tunable with different valve combinations - wonderful dynamic analogue like sound. I had to down size due to moving house and replaced the Lampi with a Mola Mola pre amp with an integrated phono and Tambaqui Dac modules. Different sound naturally but more detailed and tighter bass. (btw I have found the the streaming source every bit as important as the DAC). The Tambaqui is a superb sounding DAC and easily equals my analogue set up. The free sanding unit is also very compact. |
From my experiences with SPL and knowing their background in audio production studios I would give their DAC a listen. I have the SPL Phonitor 2 and Phonos in my system and they are spectacular. But as with everything YMMV and this is just my opinion based on firsthand experience with their products. |
- 96 posts total