Six DAC Comparison

An update on our new Mystique Z...

Prototyping is going quite well.

The PCM58 DAC chips we're using are the best sounding vintage R-2R DAC chips we've ever heard.

Notably better than the AD1862N-Z chips (aka "Z chips") we offered as an upgrade to our Mystique X SE.

We were hoping to start shipping the new Mystique Z this summer, but it's looking more like fall.

Part of the delay is the usual delay from the machine shop that does our chassis.

But to be honest, with all this import duty stuff still up on the air, we would prefer to not release a new product until we're certain what the parts are going to cost us. 

Even though our DACs are 100% designed and manufactured in the US we use quite a few parts from Europe and Asia. 

The difference in import duties could be the difference between an MSRP of $9K-$12K and an MSRP of $12K-$15K.

No small difference. 

Mitch will be getting a pre-production prototype to review.

When you see Mitch reviewing the prototype we'll be accepting orders for our first production run.

Pre-production orders will have about a two-month lead time prior to shipping. 

We certainly could add $1,000 to our MSRP and create an internal clock that will rival (I said "rival" not "beat") the ones in a Jay’s CDT-3 MkIII or the dCS network bridge...but why would we do that when those products already have exceptional clocks inside of them which in effect act like a master clock with our DACs? 

And we could add $1,000 to our MSRP to include an I2S input that would perform as close as possible to our existing inputs.

But since over 80% of the streamers and servers on the market exclusively use USB or consider USB to be equal to or better than their other outputs.

And since 100% of the CD transports and many servers and streamers have an AES approved balanced and/or coaxial output.

Why would we want to raise the price of our products so that we could interface with some fringe technology like I2S that less than 10% of our customers are actually using?

@fuzzbutt17 excellent points. From someone who uses an Antipodes K50 into a Weiss 501 via AES, which sounds better than its USB output, it makes me wonder why a high-end DAC manufacturer doesn’t provide a converter option which simply forgoes an internal clock altogether at a cost savings to the consumer.

Thankfully, like you, neither manufacturer is considering adding the I2S connection and raising the cost of the end products. It is worth mentioning that it was only last year Antipodes developed a USB output they considered worthy of using and sonically comparable to the AES input. 

Thanks for your logical insights and input in this thread, It only increases awareness and success of your products IMO. 

After my experience with a Benchmark DAC years ago that got rave reviews but for which I hated the sound (ear-bleeding highs), I learned something.

There is sound.  But there is also music.  They are not necessarily the same thing...

You ain't said nothing but the truth.

@fuzzbutt17 Will the new Mystique Z have a TOSLINK input?