Do some DACs "handle" sibilance better than others?


I recently watched a  Hans B. review of the Ferrum Wandla in which he states that it "handles sibilance well," or something to that effect. Up to that point, I'd never come across such a comment, so I'm wondering whether anyone here has found that certain DACs are more/less prone to sibilance?  

 

 

 

stuartk

I don’t believe in sibilance vs non-sibilance DACs, but rather some DACs can tame some sibilance caused by the audio chain+recording

Your DAC is likely to have the least effect on sibilance of any component in your system unless it’s badly engineered. You’re more likely to hear a lot more difference between different speakers and different preamps than between different DACs, so long as the DAC is well-designed and doesn’t introduce a lot of jitter.
 

But in general, R2R DACs are considered to be somewhat darker and more euphonic than Delta Sigma DACs. This is only a generalization and some Delta Sigma DACs won’t sound hyper-detailed, revealing sibilance in the recording. 

Sibilance used to drive me nuts.  The last thing that I figured was the problem was my preamp.  But, that's what it was.  My system is more revealing than it's ever been and sibilance is not an issue.  

@stuartk 

If some DACS handle sibilance better than others it means that those particular DACs are surely enough altering the original sound.
 

If sibilance is there and a certain DAC reduces it, then that DAC would alter the original sound of all the music. I would conclude in this respect that it must be inaccurate, and in doing so is “colouring” the sound, so to speak.
I thought that term was only ever applied as a criticism of analogue turntables and tape players.

Maybe DACs are as coloured as analogue?

l know to my ears digital is more “analytical” than “coloured”, but which is perceived as best is a question of personal taste.

OP, the answer is yes. After years of painfully bright digital music from CDs on various delta/sigma DACs, I found NOS & R2R DACs, and everything changed. Some of them manage to be bright, but way fewer than any random assortment of d/s DACs would be.

Listening to one of them now (MHDT Labs Orchid with the best NOS buffer tube I could find). Not bright, not sibilant. In the system 8 feet away is another great sounding NOS DAC, the Metrum Onyx. They don't sound the same, but neither one is bright or sibilant except to a very minor extent on the worst, edgiest music cuts out there (cuts that would razor my ears off on pretty much any d/s DAC).