Dac shootout. Hex vs Vega vs Yggdrasil

[prem]

Arj, Auralic Mini though it's co axial will work wonderfully for you

 

[prem]

I also heard the expensive Astell Kern server and the Auralic Aries with its Femto clock and LPS. Differences if any were very minor. A wee bit solidity may be.

I would be perfectly happy with the Mini with its LPS. Don't know how it compares to Pi raspberry or a Aurender or a fully tweaked Mac or Windows or Linux set up

 

[prem]

I also heard Tidal streaming supposedly cd quality. I much preferred my wav files of the same tracks. If one is not looking at streaming or DSD playback co axial would be a good option with the Mini

 

[afj]

Surprisingly, there are very minor differences between a USD 3000 dac and a USD 10000 dac. This is not the case with a CD player or a turntable.

surprisingly??? i would say unsurprisingly. at $2000-3000 a well designed dac is so spot on that theres very little room for improvement, how much higher you go in cost

 

[prem]

Afj, I think it's because the USB implementation is still not fully evolved. Once that happens, one will probably hear differences

 

[regeHA]

I heard all the dacs with USB and co axial. In most cases I preferred the co axial. In case of Yggdrasil I preferred the optical over all other connections. But that could be a case of the USB circuit not breaking in

+1 to optical. I find it the best with my Schiit's too.

Afj, I think it's because the USB implementation is still not fully evolved. Once that happens, one will probably hear differences

Nothing much to do other than external fixes. Galvanic isolation is never going to be accomplished in the PC because USB is used for power in the PC setting. External HDDs, smartphones, keyboards, mice, etc. all draw power from the USB bus. There is never going to be a USB only for data scenario.

Unless the audio industry adopts a common standard that's separate from USB, I don't see a way out of the present predicament.

 

[square_wave]

I'm holding on till I hear the Mytek, its also got excellent reviews, otherwise I'm sold on the Yggy myself.

The Brooklyn ?

 

[square_wave]

I heard all the dacs with USB and co axial. In most cases I preferred the co axial. In case of Yggdrasil I preferred the optical over all other connections. But that could be a case of the USB circuit not breaking in

Toslink ? Coaxial won't be optical right ? Doesn't optical have some limits for the sampling rates ?

Interesting to note that you preferred this over the usb.

 

[arj]

Optical is actually very good if done well.most sources don't pay attention and put a cheap converter . If done well it is pretty good especially if you use a glass cable as it does not get impacted by RFI


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[regeHA]

The Brooklyn ?

Yup, Manhattan is way out of budget, but I'll audition it too.

Toslink ? Coaxial won't be optical right ? Doesn't optical have some limits for the sampling rates ?

Interesting to note that you preferred this over the usb.

Optical is actually very good if done well.most sources don't pay attention and put a cheap converter . If done well it is pretty good especially if you use a glass cable as it does not get impacted by RFI

My observations on Toslink are the same. I've achieved near perfection (at least in terms of galvanic isolation) using wireless + Toslink (using Glass Toslink cable). The best thing is it's easily achieved with budget devices like Pi and CCA at the source.

You are right, it's limited to 24/96, but for most folks doing redbook and FLAC/WAV rips that's more than enough and it's really audio nirvana once you start hearing the darkest blacks or rather start to hear the music without the electrical noise.

 

[prem]

Square wave, optical has limits. So do aes and co axial. Which is why USB is popular since it does not have limits. However through USB, music loses its focus, drive and becomes duller. It was very evident in all the dacs I heard. That immediate lose of focus sounds like there is an added bloom and u get the feeling it's more relaxed. But I think it's actually electrical noise and it's at the cost of realism.

So I guess USB needs some more developments. Maybe when we have USB 4 or 5, these things will get sorted out.

As Arj said, maybe the rf and EMI immunity of optical cable helped.

Last night, I read a few threads about the Yggdrasil. Some of the experts clearly prefer the coaxial to the USB. On the thread, aes was the most preferred connection. This was something the shop guys were also telling me. I did my audition at addicted to audio at Melbourne. Those guys knew their music. They were very clear if I was serious about the quality of sound, aes was the way to go. Which is why I did not get the Aries Mini too even though I liked it since it does not have aes. So will have to do some more reading before I finalise anything.

 

[sidvee]

Last night, I read a few threads about the Yggdrasil. Some of the experts clearly prefer the coaxial to the USB. On the thread, aes was the most preferred connection. This was something the shop guys were also telling me. I did my audition at addicted to audio at Melbourne. Those guys knew their music. They were very clear if I was serious about the quality of sound, aes was the way to go. Which is why I did not get the Aries Mini too even though I liked it since it does not have aes. So will have to do some more reading before I finalise anything.

Not sure about the Yggdrasil, but I have noticed the same. In my case I use a external usb/spdif converter with the Aes/ebu connection. Three higher end dacs I tried sounded best through aes/ebu. Unfortunately I believe most of the DACs can do DSD/DXD only via usb, so for this resolution there is no option but usb.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[prem]

Agreed Sidvee. I think aes connectivity is the best regardless of the dac

Square wave, both Chris Connaker and Mike prefer aes on the Yggdrasil.

Mike Moffats preference is

1. Aes
2. Bnc
3. Coaxial
4. Optical
5. USB

 

[afj]

+1 to optical. I find it the best with my Schiit's too.



Nothing much to do other than external fixes. Galvanic isolation is never going to be accomplished in the PC because USB is used for power in the PC setting. External HDDs, smartphones, keyboards, mice, etc. all draw power from the USB bus. There is never going to be a USB only for data scenario.

Unless the audio industry adopts a common standard that's separate from USB, I don't see a way out of the present predicament.

on of the fm, nikhil, had taken a usb cable and cut the wire that carries power. he mentioned it somewhere on the forum as well. said that it eliminated some noise

 

[srisaikat]

I am begging your pardon if my post derailing this thread. Here is a nice video of Schiit Multibit Bifrost shared by an Indian (not personally known to me) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPZyBvsn2q0

Sound Quality is quite engaging, hope you will enjoy...

 

[prem]

Srisaikat, no issues whatsoever. Pl feel free to add any videos you wish

 

[jls001]

AES/EBU is without doubt a great interface, but usually found only on high end CDPs, CDTs or pro-grade sound cards and will usually be limited to 24/192. So it won't do native DSD (if that matters) but will do DOP.
BTW, there are implementations of TOSLINK that go upto 24/192 though 24/96 is the more commonly found implementation.

 

[prem]

Jls001, Auralic Aries has a aes connectivity. Not the Mini though. And yes if I want to go DSD, USB is the only option.

 

[Nikhil]

Last night, I read a few threads about the Yggdrasil. Some of the experts clearly prefer the coaxial to the USB. On the thread, aes was the most preferred connection. This was something the shop guys were also telling me. I did my audition at addicted to audio at Melbourne. Those guys knew their music. They were very clear if I was serious about the quality of sound, aes was the way to go. Which is why I did not get the Aries Mini too even though I liked it since it does not have aes. So will have to do some more reading before I finalise anything.

Prem,

+1 on AES.

The Mutec MC-3+USB might be of some interest to you.

Regards.

 

[spandan414]

My observations on Toslink are the same. I've achieved near perfection (at least in terms of galvanic isolation) using wireless + Toslink (using Glass Toslink cable). The best thing is it's easily achieved with budget devices like Pi and CCA at the source.

Hi regeHA,

Sorry if I am going off topic. But I was wondering how you got a Toslink cable working with a Pi. The Pi doesn't have any digital outputs. I am not too satisfied with USB and agree with the impressions about USB by others. I would love to get a Toslink connection between the Pi and my DAC.

Thanks,
Sam.