This is the review I found it on the web for this dac...
Okay so here it is, my humble conclusion, or should I say verdict, of the sound quality of the dam1021-01 after it has been running for more than a week straight.
I have only been using the isolated I2S in via the Amanero board and I have tested both the balanced XLR outputs and the raw SE rca outputs at J7. Havent had the chance to use the other inputs yet. Also Im still on the original firmware (not that it matters in terms of SQ).
Various sorts of music have been played, acoustic jazz and classical, rock, pop and some electronica. Some of these are regarded as audiophile material and some not. Some material are genuine stereo miked recordings, others are typical modern studio layered recordings. A lot of well known music that I use when I test the SQ of different equipment. Uncompressed 44.1, 88, 96, 192 and even some higher res. as well as mp3 320Khz.
In his first post Sren aimed high, hinting at R2R-ladder dacs as totalDac and MSB. So naturally my hopes were high having owned a non-oversampling Discreet Monica R2R-ladder dac myself, as well as having heard the absolutely outstanding totalDac.
Now, the first thing that struck me with this dac was the harsh digital sound it produced. Okay, it had only been running for a few minutes so that was to be expected. Unfortunately this still hasnt changed to a degree I had hoped for.
Most music sounds quite flat, the image is 2D, lacking depth and calmness. Not at all the 3D sensation or holographic image which are the trademarks of an R2R dac. There are however, a lot of details. But it doesnt transcend into the sense of the acoustics of the recording room or the texture of the instruments or the sensation of space between the instruments.
Lots of details yes, but when presented with complex multilayered music such as Carl Nielsens' 5th it can't keep the grip and the composition sort of collapses. It's hard to really decipher the instrument groups and the notes each group is playing. At times the 5th sounds somewhat chaotic. The dac fares better with smaller ensembles, though the placement of each instrument is not always crystal clear. The soundstage is simply too wide IMO - very left-rightish.
With both my old Discreet Monica and the totalDac you instantaneously go Yes, there it is! Your heart is at rest. There is really no need to describe the experience of those dacs much further, as music is being played as it should be, effortlessly and naturally. Dacs like these make all other dacs, including dam-1021, sound like they are struggling. Youre listening to music while with the dam-1021 I still find myself listening to a piece of equipment.
To my ears the frequency spectrum is not flat. I hear an emphasis on the upper mid and treble region that makes, for instance brass and horn sections, and even sometimes solo saxophones, sound metallic. Very unpleasant to my ears.
Another thing that really bugs me with this dac is the aggressive in-your-face signature. I suspect there is a connection between its forwardness and the biased frequency spactrum? Maybe exchanging the caps would help in this respect?
It does however, seem to benefit from a tube amplication. I would like to hear how it performs swapping the ceramic(?) caps and maybe another clock than the Si514 if its applicable. Also different output stages, a Lundahl trafo or a tubed one.
Its still not really clear to me whether there is a default FIR filter installed or if its bypassed? And will it be possible to deactivate oversampling altogether although Sren advises against it?
Is there anyone here whove tried to mess around with different FIR filters with this dac?
Anybody in this forum who have heard or own a totalDac (or any other R2R-ladder dac) are welcome to chime in after hearing the soekris dac.
Im sorry to drop this bomb but my hopes are that well all end up with a product that can really compete with the totalDac & MSB, for the benefit of all diyers who cannot afford a totalDac or the like - and enjoy tailormade electrical toys.
I got my board earlier after building I felt the same it didnot had that lucious midrange or solid bass and all the focus was on highs and not that pleasant to the ears. I felt AD1865 is better.
After reading some posts on the diy site there are numerous flaws on the board including the digital filters and power supplies like peaking at 12khz as such.
I tried to mod the board but eventually its dead by some mis solder. My personal feel is its built for the manufacturers than the diy side as firmware, power supply, I2S/usb issues to be addressed I bought a premium version but lol it was fireworks.
My personal choice would be AudioGD DAC or any AD1865 is a better alternative.
