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Please help me find perfect dac for me

Hello,

I am looking for a new dac, and i hope you can give me some suggestions. I find dac world is so competitive, and moving so fast... It is difficult to know where to "start"

Here are my constraints
- Budget : ~2K Euros - 2.5K USD
- No tube
- Pure dac, no preamp 
- Silver color
- Bonus : small form factor, 10" width (25cm) max would be ideal but not mandatory

Now for sonic, i want something that sound live, not too much analytical (i don't like when i heard too many details), large soundstage in width and depth, with neutral tonality
Here is a list of what i have heard / owned and what i did not like. (Unfortunaly each listen was with different system, so my judgment may be biased)

- Audio research DAC 9 : i love this dac, probably my favorite I heard, but way much out of budget. If you have cheaper alternative which sound like it and without tube i would like to know !
- Audio GD (don't remember which one 7) : Sound is too smooth and slow.
- Mytek DSD : sound is too bright and dry. maybe pro stuff is not for me
- McIntosh D100 : sound is flat. I just find it boring
- Lampizator DSD (currently owning): details retrieval is perfect, I really like the sound of this dac, except i find soundstage too narrow. higher model (atlantic, lite 7...) are out of budget. Besides i want to get rid of tube in my dac

I read lot of good thing about yggy, but i am affraid it may be too clinical for me, and seems hard to get. HOLO is black so i have to pass on this one ...

Any suggestions ?

Thanks :)




sphilia
sphilia OP
4 posts
 
PCM only is fine (95% of my collection is PCM, and i can convert my 5% DSD to PCM with HQPlayer)

thanks for the list will definitly do some research on each of them tomorrow (quite late here)

erik_squires
5,268 posts
 
I had the ARC DAC 8, and replaced it with the Mytek Brooklyn.

The 8 was waaay too laid back for me. The Mytek is fantastic.

I've read reviews of the previous Mytek, the DSD and the Brooklyn sounds nothing like those. I highly recommend it. 

Best,

E
rhljazz
1,117 posts
 
Chord Hugo2 meets all of your requirements or for less money the new Qutest but it only comes in black.  Reviews in UK magazine Hi Fi Choice.  
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
4,966 posts
 
sphilia OP1 posts06-03-2018 7:44am
PCM only is fine (95% of my collection is PCM, and i can convert my 5% DSD to PCM with HQPlayer)

thanks for the list will definitly do some research on each of them tomorrow

Just be careful with R2R Multibit, do some reading/reviews/test ect.

Just because a dac may have this type of R2R Multibit conversion, isn’t an automatic thumbs up for magic PCM/Redbook sound.

As after that R2R Multibit converter circuit (chip or discrete), there is an I/V stage (current to voltage stage) and after that an output buffer. The I/V has also got to be a good one to allow the R2R to shine through and give it’s best from PCM/Redbook music.

Here is an AD844 I/V stage I started, an it’s been very popular especially approx half way through it’s 120 pages, when I started to parallel (stack) them up.
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/digital-line-level/227677-using-ad844.html

Cheers George
audioengr
3,282 posts
 

I recommend a used Empirical Audio Overdrive SE. Includes great volume control, balanced outs and selection of interfaces.  No DSD, but one of the best sounding DACs for 16/44.1.

You can convert it to an SX when you can afford this later.  One of two DACs that won the PCM DAC shootout on Audiogon.

Steve N.

Empirical Audio

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