DSD DAC Suggestions

[Rastapopulus]

Hi Fantastic
You hit the nail right on the head (I was unable to articulate it correctly)
Yes I am looking for the wee bit of distortion which is why I looked into the Class A type when I got the monos and coupled them with an analog pre amp.

This should be another workable alternative as well would you say?

Buying a tube pre-amp will be a dangerous move with the wife as I just got a stereo pre-amp even though I had a HT pre amp already.


With today's placement, I managed to get a reasonably decent front to back 3D soundstage (omnipolar effect I guess)
The imaging is also pretty decent.

Only short comming (which was there before as well) is the audible roll off in the upper midrange.
Could this be caused by caps gone bad in the crossover?

 

[Fantastic]

the audible roll off in the upper midrange.
Could this be caused by caps gone bad in the crossover?

Usually crossover caps don't degenerate so easily. Mirage would have used good quality types. It is most likely the behaviour of the speakers or the room acoustics. I'm sure you could correct that with an equaliser if everything else fails. Note that if the problem is on both sides then it surely is not a capacitor failure. Crossover components do not fail at the same time on both channels.
Keep looking for practical causes. You might have overlooked something.....we do it all the time.
Cheers.

 

[asliarun]

I have been hearing very very good things about Auralic Vega.

 

[panditji]

Chord 2Qute...plays RBCD very well and also does DSD 128..

 

[Rastapopulus]

Thanks all for the suggestions.
After much thinking, have decided to park the DAC purchase for the moment.

Reason being,
1- let me optimise on current setup for which I need to do more listening.
2- going out and auditioning DACs will be necessary and with a broken arm, that's gonna be tough.

Let me revisit this in a month.

 

[Rastapopulus]

Update
***Grin***
Got my plaster removed today.
Could not help it.
Went and auditioned dacs n purchased the Teac UD 501.

There are ups and downs with SQ.

 

[Naturelover]

Hi ROC, good, simple, logical methodology. I have possibly about half of my music in CD and half in FLAC format. What type of DAC would you suggest? Do give some suggestions if you can in the $2000 to 3000 range.

When I was buying a DAC, the first thing I looked at is to see what files are the majority of my collection and make sure that your DAC is optimized to play those first. I realized that 95% of my music collection was 16/44.1 CD.

Taking this into view, I made sure I get the best possible playback for CD audio and also great playback for the remaining content. The more I read about DACs, the more I was convinced that for PCM content, a multibit ladder is the way to go. During the search, I got a good deal on my current DAC thanks to a friend who lives in SG (he's also a member of this forum) and I pulled the trigger.

Needless to say, I've been exceptionally happy since then.

 

[panditji]

Just got my Chord 2Qute today...Superb DAC with fantastic details retrieval...The SQ is supposed to be the same as the Chord Hugo ...the UK price is 995 GBP and it does DSD 128 as well.... Do check the reviews as I am extremely happy with it and for the price it is a no brainer especially if you are using the USB input....

 

[Fantastic]

Good news for the experimenter. Ebay has started putting up DSD capable DAC's . From under $100 to about $170 with USB input. That's inexpensive compared with commercial offerings at $2000+ .

My experience has been that some DAC's on eBay are superb. As good as the Benchmark1 that I've heard.

I will eventually get the DSD DAC after I read some feedback on it ! It's not a kit. It's fully soldered and tested.
Of all the eBay DAC's that I tried most are quite nice but I like the DAC9 and the SMSL Sakthi most. Both need opamp replacement !

They do offer casings for some but they are another +$100 . I could try out another DAC with that !

Did you guys see opamps prices on in.element14.com ? Price is in rupees and I thought slightly lower than the end price after paying for it by credit card from the US site. But it comes from Singapore. So shipping and customs is a variable. If you have someone who can carry it over from Singapore it might be cost effective.

EDIT: Just noticed that the element14 prices are ' inclusive of customs duties ' and if the purchase is over Rs7,000/- ( about US$ 110/- ) it is ' free shipping '. Better than buying from the US ! If a few guys ( preferably from the same city) get together then they can easily buy $110 worth of parts.

 

[Naturelover]

Congratulations! Awaiting your review.

Just got my Chord 2Qute today...Superb DAC with fantastic details retrieval...The SQ is supposed to be the same as the Chord Hugo ...the UK price is 995 GBP and it does DSD 128 as well.... Do check the reviews as I am extremely happy with it and for the price it is a no brainer especially if you are using the USB input....

 

[panditji]

Sir, I cannot write an audiophile review as I am not very good with words..I can only say what is good or not good and can use a comparison with other DACs I have heard...

But in the 2 hours I have been listening to it, it surely beats the M51, M2Tech Young which I heard in my system a couple of months ago when I decided to sell my Meridian Director as these DACs were much better...But the 2Qute beats them hollow even though I heard them in March ..

The details it is bringing out have made me change my opinion about all DACs sounding the same...Also the bass is tight and quite pronounced...

I hope other owners as and when they buy it should post a technical review...

 

[Fantastic]

Sir, I cannot write an audiophile review as I am not very good with words..I can only say what is good or not good and can use a comparison with other DACs I have heard...

I think most of us are more interested in just " what you hear ". So you don't have to apologise. No one wants to hear about techie details unless they are going to meddle with it, which most FM's won't. You don't need technical specs when you listen to it. You either like it or you don't . That's all that's important.
"Musical enjoyment" is the name of the game !

 

[panditji]

Oh yes, it is musical allright but what stands out for me is the excellent bass (which was non existent in my system for whatever reasons) and the superb retrieving of details..

It is definitely better than the NAD M51 which for me was the reference DAC earlier. However there is a new reference from NAD so would be fun to compare both...

 

[Naturelover]

Panditji, thanks a lot. Great for you. [emoji106] Enjoy. Now you have Benchmark, Ayre and Antelope available in Delhi. Have you tried any of these? Or any other ones owned by FMs or others?
I think you can expect some of us lining up to get a listen[emoji6]

 

[panditji]

Most welcome sir...will try and call a few FMs this weekend and get to know their views as well.... I did hear the Benchmark and did not like it but that maybe had something to do with amplifier matching...I don't know but I did not like it...

Ayre and Antelope would be great to hear and compare but they would be way too expensive when compared to the price of the 2Qute...In the end, the price does matter and if the 2Qute gives 90% of the performance at half the price, I will save that extra money....

Also I mentioned in another thread, there are very few good recordings available of good real music and I do not listen to the audiophile sounds which various labels are selling (they are really sounds and not music).

 

[Rastapopulus]

Any one knows how to control the music player when using PC from a smart phone?

I mean, if using a PC to play the music via USB to a DAC, can the player be controlled using a smart phone or only via the PC directly?

 

[manniraj]

Any one knows how to control the music player when using PC from a smart phone?

I mean, if using a PC to play the music via USB to a DAC, can the player be controlled using a smart phone or only via the PC directly?

It depends on which player you are using like Foobar, JRiver etc as these have official mobile phone apps both for the iOS and Android which you can configure. If you are using a player which does not have a official mobile app then you can use the universal app called "Monkey Mote" which normally works with any kind of software player. You can google them on how to configure.

 

[Naturelover]

You can also use Splashtop.

 

[Rastapopulus]

Ahh ok. That's good to know [emoji2]

 

[Rastapopulus]

Pondering of building a media PC.
Do I need a sound card if I plan to connect the PC to an external USB DAC?