DAC around INR 100k

[arj]

Octave surely represents a sweet spot for me. Unfortunately, it will be a completely blind buy. And somehow I am falling short of taking that step, though it does seem to be a well sorted DAC.

i understand the apprehension.. but buying blind is not really that risky as long as the groundowrk towards the decision is done as unless you hear it in your system and your room it is anyway a blind buy.
Problem is in india thats the only Option singapore and hongkong might be the only place where you might be able to access every brand..but there there are very few dealers willing to do a A/B at home.
My amp and speaker are both blind buys but i think i spent enough time in forums/reviews and communicating with owners to get a feel as to how it would sound...

 

[msagar]

Since NAD is available in India, I would recommend auditioning NAD m51.
It is Stereophile Class A+ rated product. Price is USD 2000.
It has very good built-in digital preamp.
You do not have to worry about service issues.

M51 Direct Digital DAC - NAD Electronics

NAD M51 Direct Digital D/A converter | Stereophile.com

 

[ranjeetrain]

i understand the apprehension.. but buying blind is not really that risky as long as the groundowrk towards the decision is done as unless you hear it in your system and your room it is anyway a blind buy.
Problem is in india thats the only Option singapore and hongkong might be the only place where you might be able to access every brand..but there there are very few dealers willing to do a A/B at home.
My amp and speaker are both blind buys but i think i spent enough time in forums/reviews and communicating with owners to get a feel as to how it would sound...

I hear you. There is some good news. I found a deal on Ayre CX-7e. Price seems reasonable and reviewers seem to have liked it. Besides it will double as a CDP (though I have stopped spinning disks long back, it won't hurt to have that functionality). Now, I need to find a way to have an audition somehow.

Since NAD is available in India, I would recommend auditioning NAD m51.
It is Stereophile Class A+ rated product. Price is USD 2000.
It has very good built-in digital preamp.
You do not have to worry about service issues.

M51 Direct Digital DAC - NAD Electronics

NAD M51 Direct Digital D/A converter | Stereophile.com

Looks like a good DAC. Thanks for sharing.

 

[sidvee]

I found a deal on Ayre CX-7e.

I may be mistaken - but I do not recall this player having a digital input. How do you plan to use it as a DAC?
Cheers,
Sid

 

[neo]

Hey!if you can wait you can audition the Belcanto's during the gurgaon meet , it's most likely to be there.
All the best.
Cheers

 

[ranjeetrain]

I may be mistaken - but I do not recall this player having a digital input. How do you plan to use it as a DAC?
Cheers,
Sid

Don't know what I was thinking. Must be I read about some other DAC and thought it was the Ayre

Hey!if you can wait you can audition the Belcanto's during the gurgaon meet , it's most likely to be there.
All the best.
Cheers

I am not in a hurry. It will probably take weeks if not months to audition at least top contenders.

It would be nice to hear it during the meet. Look forward to it.

 

[arj]

If you primarily want a DAC my suggestion is to get a DAC and the cost of a transport section just adds on.

Try to see if you can listen to the AP Thiyaga..it is really good .

there is a W4S Dac2 2 available on Agon form Hong Kong as well.

 

[ranjeetrain]

If you primarily want a DAC my suggestion is to get a DAC and the cost of a transport section just adds on.

Try to see if you can listen to the AP Thiyaga..it is really good .

there is a W4S Dac2 2 available on Agon form Hong Kong as well.

I have decided to take a trip down to Hongkong to audition some stuff. Any suggestions as to which places should I check out? Any stores dealing in good front-ends where I can do some serious listening without wandering from post to pillar?

While I am there will definitely try to connect to the seller if he gives a good price. Else open to buy new. Also will try to audition other DACs prior to committing. I am open to auditioning stuff in USD 1000-5000 range. Unpredictable as I find myself, I might end up picking up something not even discussed here!

 

[reignofchaos]

^^Check Radar Audio. They have lots of interesting digital front ends.

 

[arj]

I have decided to take a trip down to Hongkong to audition some stuff. Any suggestions as to which places should I check out? Any stores dealing in good front-ends where I can do some serious listening without wandering from post to pillar?

While I am there will definitely try to connect to the seller if he gives a good price. Else open to buy new. Also will try to audition other DACs prior to committing. I am open to auditioning stuff in USD 1000-5000 range. Unpredictable as I find myself, I might end up picking up something not even discussed here!

Great Idea , dont know much about Hong Kong other than spending hours at the international airport lounge couple of time tasting Single Malt

There are 2 places which have a lot of Hi Fi concentrated and you could google more details..ideally try to get the name of some Hi Fi Shops (2nd Hand and dealers) in advance. I hear they are a lot more hospitable than in Singapore.

Do listen to a Benchmark DAC also there if you can..it does sound different to different people

 

[panditji]

1 Dudell Street and the area around it in Central Hongkong has almost all the dealers of hifi equipment......Mongkong is the place to go to if you are looking at cheaper deals or used stuff....Email me at [email protected] and i will send you the list of all dealers in Central HK and Mongkok...

Would be grateful if you could listen to the benchmark DAC 1 as well as Wyred 4 Sound DAC 2 ....There are a couple of people selling the W4S as well as the Benchmark ... let me know if it is possible for you to pick one for me as well....

 

[ranjeetrain]

^^Check Radar Audio. They have lots of interesting digital front ends.

Cool! Will google details.

Great Idea , dont know much about Hong Kong other than spending hours at the international airport lounge couple of time tasting Single Malt

There are 2 places which have a lot of Hi Fi concentrated and you could google more details..ideally try to get the name of some Hi Fi Shops (2nd Hand and dealers) in advance. I hear they are a lot more hospitable than in Singapore.

Do listen to a Benchmark DAC also there if you can..it does sound different to different people

Single malt will be a sure "not-to-miss" item :licklips:

That's my objective. I am trying to have the names and addresses of some dealers where I can just go and get down to business. As I will have only two days.

I have heard the Benchmark extensively. On very revealing systems it sounds bright and lifeless. But since it's a "Benchmark" for mid-level DACs, it will serve as a comparison tool very well.

1 Dudell Street and the area around it in Central Hongkong has almost all the dealers of hifi equipment......Mongkong is the place to go to if you are looking at cheaper deals or used stuff....Email me at [email protected] and i will send you the list of all dealers in Central HK and Mongkok...

Would be grateful if you could listen to the benchmark DAC 1 as well as Wyred 4 Sound DAC 2 ....There are a couple of people selling the W4S as well as the Benchmark ... let me know if it is possible for you to pick one for me as well....

Yeah, will surely be interested in used stuff, if I come across any deals.

Will try to pick up for you, situation permitting.

 

[ranjeetrain]

Made some progress!

--> Weiss DAC can be auditioned at Dream Audio in Kowloon. The address of the showroom is - 3 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. The same dealer also sells this USD 78k speaker online. Pretty cheap eh?

--> Very tempted to audition (and pick?) KEF X300A available at Shop 301-3, Level 3, Star Annex, Star House in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong.

--> Luxman DAC can be heard at Wise Audio located at 60 Hoi Yuen Road in Kwun Tong, Hong Kong.

--> Nuforce can be heard at BO Acoustic in Kowloon (Mongkok), Hong Kong. I'd be tempted. I am really eager to know if they can make relatively great DACs at USD 100-500, what their DACs would sound like at USD 1000-2000. They also carry OPPO. Who knows they might have one or two pieces of BDP-105 "for demo". Guess what will happen if they do.

 

[Rajiv]

Hi,

An interesting option. Several pages of detailed discription.

DDDAC 1794 NOS DAC - Non Oversampling DAC with PCM1794 - no digital filter - modular design DIY DAC for high resolution audio 192/24 192kHz 24bit

DDDAC 1794 NOS DAC - Non Oversampling DAC with PCM1794 - no digital filter - modular design DIY DAC for high resolution audio 192/24 192kHz 24bit

Seems to have impressed a few people,not your regular HiFi review crowd but guys who tread a different path .

TWOGOODEARS - ??????????: Eau de Cologne Winter 2012


Viren has built the 1543 DDDAC which is pretty good.


Regards
Rajiv

 

[ranjeetrain]

Came across some pre-owned deals. Goods are in 90%+ condition. Posting to get some opinion:

1. Benchmark DAC USB Non-USB asking INR ~ 55k
2. Wadia X3 asking INR ~ 55k
3. W4S DAC2 asking INR ~ 85k
4. Ayre QB-9 asking INR ~ 98k
5. Weiss DAC2 asking INR ~ 150k
6. Antelope Zodiac Gold asking INR ~ 170k with Voltikus INR ~270k
7. Weiss DAC202 asking INR ~ 340k
8. Prism Sound ADA-8XR asking INR ~ 650k

Which ones are worth considering?

 

[prem]

The Prism Sound ADA 8XR is multi channel. For 2 channel you need the DA2.

 

[ranjeetrain]

Hi Prem, yeah true. I checked the Prism site. It's a multichannel. Just listed here some of the interesting ones I found. I do want DA2, but its a bit on the expensive side. If buying new Lyra-2 was more comfortable for me. Let's see. Trying my luck, if there is an acceptably good deal there....

 

[Staxxx]

Dear Ranjeet - I lived for years with the Weiss Jason transport and Medea DAC....amongst the best digital source that I have ever heard at any price. I strongly recommend Weiss' products. Daniel Weiss is very accessible and will respond to your emails even if he is very busy with the professional side of his business.....

 

[ranjeetrain]

Hi Suraj, the Medea is way beyond my reach as of now. But I can imagine how they might have sounded. They are certainly in a different league. Weiss DAC2 and 202 are however within my reach (if available at a good price pre-owned), so that will be worth a shot.

 

[ranjeetrain]

Update 01-01-13: DAC around INR 100k

Today I went to audition Audiolab 8200 CDQ. Unfortunately it was not on demo and they were not willing to open one for demo for me. The only one they had on demo was Audiolab CDP8000. Auditioned it.

Amplifier was new to me; Myryad Z142 FWIW. All cables were Sil-world USA. The combo played cleanly. Very neutral. Good details but not great, not wow. Just okay. I guess this is what happens when you audition downstream components after getting used to upstream components. I am sure they were fantastic components in their own right, but didn't sound impressive to me, specially given the kind of DACs that are available at US$ 500 mark nowadays.

There was nothing for me to take away from the audition wrt my goal of auditioning 8200CDQ. As I think the news ones would (should) have much improved sound (if the Audiolab 8200 is as good as it is said to be).

On the shortlisting front, there is a new contender Luxman DA-200. I am yet to know this DAC better, i just know that this DAC sounds exactly like a US$ 5000 SACD player from Luxman, whatever that means. The reason for me to put this on shortlist is - this won't burn a big hole in my pocket for auditioning. The location of audition would be convenient, so I can audition, pick if liked and back in a weekend without much load. Unlike many other DACs for which only reasonable place to buy seems to be the US. And added cost for flying to US if only to pick up a DAC makes it a bit prohibitive.