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Compare Between Few Dacs

hi to all.
i have LEBEN CS 600 AND DEVORE NINES SPEAKERS.i get suggest from here to buy dac that called METRUM OCTAVE MINI NOS DAC. but ,unfortunately i live in israel i cant hear this dac .so i decided to buy dac but in my country there few dacs that i can hear and consider i like to know what you people can suggest me to buy and why that will be match well to my system (pls if u can explain your choice i will be glad) :

HEGEL HD 2 OR 11, WYRED 4 SOUND DAC1 ,MDAC AUDIO LAB,TEDDY DAC,BEL CANTO 1.5 DAC, OR ANY ELSE SUGGESTIONS PLS

and what you think if you compare all this to metrum octave mini nos dac ??
someone in my country say that the hegel hd 2 is perfect for use with pc and its cheap but i cant test it in my home so what your opnion ??
please i so need help what to do ?
the budget is 1000$-1200@ used or new i dont care
bolero32
bhobba's avatar
bhobba
303 posts
 
Hi Devilboy

I am not surprised you prefer it to the Minerva - I compared the two and the Metrum was clearly better to my and others ears that heard it.

I have compared the Audiophellio to the optical with the Metrum - the Audiophellio blows it out of the water - a joke comparison.

No drivers necessary for the Audiophellio on a Mac - not sure about a Windows machine since I dont use that.

I have compared many USB converters to the Audiophellio and nothing cheaper bests it - the stuff that does like an Off-Ramp is much more expensive. The Audiophello is the best bang for buck.

I use Bitperfect and Audirvana on a Mac for playback software and they have options to adjust buffer size - Bitperfect is very cheap and is what I would suggest - but its default settings work just fine.

No experience with a BNC input but the Audiophellio direct injects into the DAC and you get attachments that make it dead simple to connect to the Metrum.

Thanks
Bill
devilboy
1,172 posts
 
Bhobba: Thank you very much for the info...much appreciated.
devilboy
1,172 posts
 
Bhobba: I'm about to pull the trigger on an Audiophilleo 2 and have another question about your experience with it. I understand that it comes with a usb cable. Did you use it with the stock cable or did you use an upgraded cable? Also, should the usb cable be 1.5 meters as recommended by many for digital cables?(although I don't know if that pertains to coax only or usb as well).

As always, your advice is greatly appreciated.
naggots
115 posts
 
I replaced the spdif input rca for a true 75ohm bnc on my Metrum, 5 min job. It is worth it. I however use a JKMK3 which is Bnc out and a Blackcat Silverstar didital IC which is also bnc.

Metrum is very nice, it replaced a W4S in my system. Bill is correct and has a wealth of knowledge, you need to feed it a good jitter free signal if using a Mac/PC. Nothing less than JKMK3 or Audiophilleo.

I've only tired optical with my Apple TV2 and AirPlay....... Not as good
snackeyp's avatar
snackeyp
455 posts
 
I can't offer comparisons you ask for but I have spent the past three months with my Wadia 121 and it just keeps getting better sounding as it continues to break in. I think it has about 200 hours on it now so I believe it is fully broken in. It is a very musical and smooth sounding DAC with great resolution without fatigue. I am always curious about other DACs but for now I'll stick with this one. It is very affordable and feature rich.
Peter
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