Ayon Skylla II

sidvee

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I recently received my Skylla II DAC and have about 15 hours on it. This replaced the Ayon Cd2s which I was using as a DAC. When comparing DAC's I usually do not expect a night and day difference between units, especially as prices go up and diminishing returns kick in. Well when I hooked up the Ayon Skylla, fresh out of the box, my jaw dropped! 16/44 files started sounding excellent and the differences between 24/96 and 192 were now very obvious, a difference that I could not tell with any conviction previously. The dynamic range with hi-rez material was such that I had to bump up my preamp volume by 1 to 2 notches to get to same level of audibility as with 16/44 files. And Wow! the macro dynamic shifts were breathtaking. I have never heard my Harbeth's SHl5 sound like this before. I was anxious before buying the Skylla as I never heard it in my system, but its performance has really floored me.
Cheers,
Sid
 
I would also like to add that I recieved my M2tech Evo external clock and PSU this weekend as well. The trio of the Evo, PSU and clock have really transformed my computer into a high end transport. Standard 16/44 files are sounding more analog than before (when I was just using the Evo), and I had a continuous 4 hour session on sunday with zero listening fatigue, pointing to a significant improvement in handling jitter, IMO (which I feel is the major cause of listening fatigue with digital playback). I also feel now my computer is at-least equalling my previous Ayon Cd2s's performace in CD playback if not beating it handily, with FLAC's and WAV's and especially hi-rez files. An excellent proposition if you consider that my sony laptop cost Rs. 32k and the m2tech trio cost $1700, with all cables thrown in it comes in at approximately half of the Ayon cd2s.
Cheers,
Sid
 
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Ayon Skylla II retail - 4.75lac (not sure what it is now with recent rupee hammering).
I bought it from ARN systems, which is represented by FM Odyssey in the forum. Get in touch with him if you are interested.
Cheers,
Sid
 
Ayon Skylla II retail - 4.75lac (not sure what it is now with recent rupee hammering).
I bought it from ARN systems, which is represented by FM Odyssey in the forum. Get in touch with him if you are interested.
Cheers,
Sid

Congratulations;

Well done.

I am sure you will enjoy it !

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This is the Ayon room @ MOC - 2013 - I think;;
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Congratulations on your new acquisition! Could you tell me which other DACs you evaluated before selecting this one?

Best,
APK
 
Hi Sidvee

Congratulatios .

Just curious - any though on SQ from skylla and a high end TT ?


Also the proposition for Laptop and M2 Tech evo is tempting.

Regards
 
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Hi Sidvee

Congratulatios .

Just courious - any though on SQ from skylla and a high end TT ?

Pratim not sure if I can comment on this without starting a analog vs digital war:lol:, however all I can say is that having been an TT fan, i still have about 70 treasured Lp's and my last vinyl rig was a music hall mmf 9.1 about 5-6 years ago, I am convinced that I have arrived at a nice place right now where I do not think about cleaning fluids, stylus cleaners, static electricity, humidity, rice paper sleeves, scratches, pops, clicks etc. I am sure people still have preferences and mine is computer based sources, and I believe for my budget, I have the most optimum setup.
Cheers,
Sid
 
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Congratulations on your new acquisition! Could you tell me which other DACs you evaluated before selecting this one?

Best,
APK

Thanks, I tried the Prism Orpheus and my previous Ayon Cd2s internal DAC. I would have liked to to try the Playback designs 3 and MSB Tech units, but since we are in India, no home auditions please (or is it No S#x please, we're Indians!)
Cheers,
Sid
 
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sid

that is a great dac
really a great one

a clinet uses it with a pair of Ayon Monoblocks

it it just sublime!

many congratulations
 
@ Magma
:signthankspin:
I agree with you, it is an order of magnitude better than the built in Dac's with Ayon Cd players, with reports that the Ayon Skylla power supply is more robust than the DAC section of the Ayon Cd5s (which is the same circuitry as the skylla), hence better low frequency extension.
Cheers,
Sid
 
Hi Sidvee

Congratulatios .

Just courious - any though on SQ from skylla and a high end TT ?

Also the proposition for Laptop and M2 Tech evo is tempting.

Regards

A good TT is a good TT - the only issue is a 'good' TT is rather exp - arm + cartridge + phono etc. It will cost ++ of 20K US $'s at least.
That is a different story alltogether;

The other point I want to comment on - I recently embraced the J Play Mini - 2 machine set up with an RME Card & the change I cannot describe to you in words;
I have never in my 15 + years of audio career ever experienced such a hugh change with a component change / upgrade.

I say this - any person that is playing the computer game - has to do what I have done - there is no other way out - just listen to it - to understand what it is doing - simply stupendous; trust me - rather your ears [if you want to come & listen to it] !!!
:yahoo:

:clapping:
 
I have followed the lead of this person on Computer audiophile, and you can see his detailed review here:
15 USB/SPDIF converters shootout
and I am very satisfied with the outcome. I have posted links to the same in another thread of mine but cannot find it now.
I am sure there are other solutions as Bhagwan described as well.
Cheers,
Sid
 
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The other point I want to comment on - I recently embraced the J Play Mini - 2 machine set up with an RME Card & the change I cannot describe to you in words;
I have never in my 15 + years of audio career ever experienced such a hugh change with a component change / upgrade.

Hi Bhagwan, Is this on some specific hardware ? do give some details of it .
 
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For excellent sound that won't break the bank, the 5 Star Award Winning Wharfedale Diamond 12.1 Bookshelf Speakers is the one to consider!
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