Absolute top tier DAC for standard res Redbook CD

Hi lalitk, concerning MQA. Do you like MQA, then? Some very well respected designers I know do not regard it with any seriousness. To them it's more of a commercial exploit. What's your take on it? Roon, is another matter and is being taken up by designers I respect.

Instead of MQA , perhaps what is needed is a better A to D at the recording stage?

Mola has been touting their stand alone DAC for well over a year and yet it still doesn't exist. Their engineering skills are very well documented but they seem to have some issues delivering a finished product to the marketplace.

Hi guys

My recommendation for a world class dac would be the Mola Mola designed by Bruno Putzeys from the ground up using their own discrete dac chip. The claim is that the design totally isolates jitter. 

The dac is only available at this time incorporated into their preamp. Sometime early next year a stand alone version will be available. Cost including the preamp is £11,000. The preamp can also come with a phono stage if required as an optional extra.

Matt, you're such a tease! ;~) No need to apologize, all of your effort to share your impressions on this thread is greatly appreciated. We'll look forward to further updates as your schedule permits, thanks!

sorry guys. Been busy. I'll try to get a report up when I can. 

@toetapaudio,

Thanks for sharing the info. I would be interested in Mola Mola stand alone DAC only if it has MQA decoding on board. 

Hello everyone,

I have not had the chance to read all the posts yet, but has anyone mentioned how absolutely brilliant the DAC is in the Mola Mola preamp? Very open and natural sounding. And they will be coming out with a stand alone DAC shortly. I understand that there will also be a streamer, perhaps with both combined?

Matt, I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the Lumin S1 vs the others. I am currently using the S1 with digital out (waiting for the U1) into the Mola Mola. The built in dac is very good but not as good as the one in the Mola Mola. The Mola Mola has more space around the instruments, much better tighter bass and a more natural balance to my ears.

Disclosure: Mola Mola and Boenicke dealer in the UK

So many awesome product out there. Why wait. Pick something now, and enjoy the hell out of it for a few years. 

All good guys.  All the politics get cleared up pretty quickly.  Yes, an amazing thread and now that Matt has the Davinci burning in and a few cool (expensive for many) servers, it will be interesting if the Aurender N10 can stay at the top of the heap.  It's not even the most expensive by miles, so it's already a great value/buy for the high end.  It's still on my personal short list if I can ever afford it, unless something better comes along.  

How many of you guys are waiting out the server war's that is about to start as you think the future will be MUCH brighter with advances in timing and lessening digital noise?

Minus the ridiculous political diversions ...

+1 ... and I thought this is an audio forum.

Thanks Lordcloud. Ive put a lot of effort into this thread. And we are lucky to have such great contributors!!!  

Some good stuff coming. Stay tuned. 👍🏻

Minus the ridiculous political diversions, this is an amazing thread.

I particularly love that it has survived (audio related) diversions and been nothing but informative and entertaining. I’m very much wanting to hear more of everyone’s opinions and experiences with their dacs. My Balanced Pagoda isn’t up there with the big boys, but it’s still great to hear what everyone’s opinions are on differing face and the like.

Thanks guys!

Luxman D08U.

Only one sea story.  In 1984 (march 10th I think it was) I was in my rack (about 10pm local time somewhere in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Iran).  I had just gotten off of watch (I am a surface warfare officer or ship driver) on the USS Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier and we ran over a Soviet Victor Class sub.  I was also the ships Repair Officer and was in charge of the repair efforts.  Just crazy.  

The guys now are so lucky as they can use their phones with a Mojo or Hugo2 and can's of their choice to get outstanding music.  I would have been able to lay down in my hidden hammock I installed on the fantail of the ship. I used to love sleeping out there if I didn't have the night watches.  I only got about 3 or 4 hours at a time so I wanted to max out what I had.  Even at night it was hot and humid out there, but the fresh air was great.  I used to use my cassette walkman out there, lol..WE have come a long way guys.

Dave, thanks for understanding.  Yes, you know my background, lol.  

BTW, I must share that when I was out to sea for 11 months at a time, I owned a pair of Stax Lambda Pro's with their portable, battery operated or plugged in amp that plugs into a 1/4" jack (the amp is for sale if anyone wants it, lol) and the first ever CD, Sony ES 501.  It was bliss at the time.  Bought the CD player at ships store (told my buddy who ran the shop to go get one, lol).  I bought every CD that was released for that whole cruise. I didn't have much time to listen, but I sooo appreciated having that to help me get through those years.  

Guys, there is no doubt that some mods can elevate the performance a great deal. That said, it's not going to beat out any of the DAC's that are being discussed in the thread as he's looking for the best and not just good ones.  There are many really good DAC's 5k and below right now and they are there for every taste.  Again, a new thread for that would probably take off. Plenty of DIY's on the boards and it would be very interesting to talk about the mod and how it sounds vs XYand Z.  This just really isn't the thread for it is it?  

Dave and byang, please don't take this wrong, but I honestly come read the threads to get away from the political stuff.  I'm a retired Navy Commander and stay well versed on things, but this place shouldn't need to have to deal with that. I'm sure you guys understand and I hope you aren't made at me for bringing  it up.  I was emailed and messaged by two lurkers on this thread and it's only been within an hour or so of the back and forth.  Thanks

Dlcockrum,
Humm,cnn.  Who‘s owner of cnn? He dumped his chinese wife right? You think i agree anything nonsense little  Cumo makes on cnn?

Regarding mod, as mr chen claimed, only good judgement should be based on golden ears,if and only if, no other way. Money is not, approach is not (tube vs solid state), feature is not even a fact for audiophilers. I perfect ok that none of my amps and lp turntables have remote control. So, why some device makes bettet sound? In dac case, in dgital domain, once power is clean, clock is acurate, data stream just feed the same dac chip w/o any difference (nowadays, chip makers reduced to very few anyway).
So the answer is how analog signal get filtered and amplified from dac chip analog output pins.cheap approach is ic based low quality circuit used in tv and computers, those design should not used in high end audio. But selling audio equipment is a buisiness, cnn like media feed all kinds of crab to confuse consumers. Use your ears, not looking at price tag to decide which one is better.

As oppo dac goes, it is my attempt to play both cd and dsd lp achieving files with a mobil phone app. I actually would be happy if it is half good as my assemblage. Now it exceeds my expectation:it has latest dac chip, it uses one of my fav voltage amp ic 4562, its usb interface is decent.i just fixed the weak spots of power supply and coupling crab(good preamp should never use capacitor coupling unless western electric ultrapath design for tube amp).
Btw, my korg dsd recording has same issues and more(bad ic chips in signal path), so i have some experience to deal with unnecessary coupling. In korg case, i just short the caps. My phono stage line out is transformer coupled, no reason why recorder needs coupling caps in front.

Klh007,
Thanks for your suggetion.i will try transformer based mod for sonica dac,
Replace iv and buffer ic circuit with high quality microphone transformers.
Tube mod in such a small package is very challenge. I built all my tube preamps and power amps, the key for a good pre amp is regulated /shunt power supply, which take a lot of space.

Btw, the hidden gem of redbook cd dac is old bbrown 1074 dac chip based assemblage dac. I have one heavily mod w blackgate/silver mica and opa637s. Chinese audiophile writer mr chen had high praise for it(w/o my mod version).

It's easy to see why Dan Wright has chosen to mod w/tubes both the OPPO 205 and Sonica, great foundation for advancements. You might want to start a thread detailing your mods and experience with the Sonica.

Klh007,
This is my own mod after open the dac up and figure put why factory version has compressed and slow high frequency response. Oppo used cheap diodes and capacitors in a 800 dollar retail price dac which is understandable.  I introduced fast diodes and 6800p silver mica bypass caps in power supply which make sound much smooth and faster.  I want to remove all those unnecessary coupling caps w/ shunt circuit and replace rca plugs with telflon ones which require majr surgery. For now, just bypass cheap couling cap w/ cooper coil and teflon caps, resulting fast and coherent sound for my violin concerto cd and dff collections. Total cost so far including above components and teflon post, crazy glue and teflon 22ga wires is about $250. Of course labor and research is free for myself.

byang12, What mods were applied, and who did them?

Consider Wadia 521. It does not have Hi Rez capability hence perfect for Red Book CDs. It is the last of the Wadia models before Fine Sounds took over and has the great Wadia sound. Terrific bass with midrange and tops to match. Solid sound and build

After a $250 upgrade of oppo sonica dac,its redbook playback tops $5000 plus dacs like manhatan etc.  I am shocked...

T&A makes awesome stuff. The MP 3100 HV appears to be an SACD/CD Player/DAC that also streams Tidal and such. I don't see Roon ready on its web page/reviews/manual.  The dealer who sold me my Davinci 2 is a T&A dealer I'll ask him about the MP 3100 HV. Thanks. 

If you are still looking, check out T+A music players. The best CD I have ever heard, and by a wide margin is their PDP 3000HV. Simply crazy it is so good. My MacBook Pro and my Aurender also sound phenomenal through it. It is the only digital product that surpasses my vinyl set up. T+A also has a new music player that streams Tidal (and others) and is Roon ready with flawless performance, the MP 3100 HV. 

The battery powered phono stage that CT is referring to above is from Sutherland: http://sutherlandengineering.com/home/

Matt, I'm down with that, lmao.  Seriously, this is exciting.  

Wison, thanks.  the butter thing isn't true.  I look into everything as you can imagine.  There is hardly anything that helps with myelin.  I'm about to start a new drug that was just passed.  It's a twice a year infusion.  Hope it works.  Anything else you are spreading Matt?  LOL...

Guys, I've heard two battery run units. One was a phono. I can't remember the name right now..wait, ti's Sunderland. No dynamics compared to other SS phono stages.  Very low noise floor.  The other was a preamp and I can't remember the name. I do remember not loving it at all.  It was like plugging your mono amp into some of the power strip deals on the market.  JMHO, but I haven't heard many of the units out there.

The new Playback Designs DAC series coming out looks really intriguing. The Merlot was excellent. But you can see where budget held him back from bringing it to the next level. A cost no object DAC from Playback will undoubtedly be a player! (No pun intended). 

My Shunyata upgrade is complete. All new Sigma NR power cords throughout and a new Denali D6000 grace my racks and outlets. 

The Davinci 2 is resting on my rack as well, as is the Lumin S1 with the N10 just below it. 

I'm burning the Davinci 2 in for 500 hours and letting the S1 settle in for a week. Will compare the S1 and N10 late next week. And then when the Davinci 2 is fully cooked I've got a treat for you guys. How about a shootout between the Sound Gallery SGM server, Baetis server, Aurender N10, Lumin S1 and a fully loaded 32 Core Memory Player with built in SoTm USB card and reclocker!!!! Oh yeah baby!!!!! 

I heard a rumor about butter.....

but im not going to spread it!

😂😂😂😂😋

Sorry. Couldn't help myself! I'm a dad! Couldn't pass up the dad joke opportunity!

Cstooner soorry to hear about the surgery, but even more so about the MS. For the latter, I hear that eating farm fresh organic butter may help with the re-myelination of the nerves? Worth a shot and if nothing else is healthy and delish.

McDude, the argument is that battery power kills dynamics and that there is no free lunch.

But i believe that proper conditioning and good cables can compensate for a lot of the hash from the AC line.

I went that route with Entreq gear. The best power conditioner I’ve ever used, and still use.

And the Ziro Disclosure power cord - mind blowing what a power cord can do, when it addresses RFI/EMI.

Still when I installed the Bakoon DAC into my system, I was blown away at the noise floor and lack of distortion.

I read about the Japanese audiophile who had his own electrical pole installed. Sounded crazy at the time, but not so much anymore.

Matt, that's actually kind of funny and a great analogy, lol.  Thanks for the laugh.  
Yes, everything makes a difference in digital.  

Wisnon, I wish I could be there, but I have knee surgery in Sept and won't be cleared to travel anywhere for at least two months. Having MS really slows down my recovery times.  Plus, being the Fall, I'd be in OK for football if I could travel, lol....It's too bad as I've love to hear that demo.  

Charlie Hansen told me on CA that there will be a Roon server that's non computer based being released in the Fall.  I'm going to find out more.  It's not going to be an Ayre, but we will see.  

Looks like there will be a lot of servers coming out in the next couple of years.  Things will need to shake out a bit for servers.  

MacDude - you make a good point. But i believe that proper conditioning and good cables can compensate for a lot of the hash from the AC line. I don't think that battery power is the panacea that some think it to be. But your point that the same DAC could sound very different with different conditioning or source voltage is correct and well made. 

Jh901 - if Budweiser is the king of beers then pretty much ANYTHING would be the king of CD players. Budweiser adjusted the definition to lower the bar significantly! 😂😂😂

There is not a "king of all CD player". Please be considerate. This is an epic thread. Read it over a few days.

-Josh

chord blue mkii is the king of all CD player. and work also as upsampler 

I feel digital is so dependent upon the quality of our mains power. So we are all hearing different things from the same exact DAC based upon our power quality.

I have a Bakoon DAC-21 that is off the grid.

It has the lowest noise floor and distortion I have heard in my system.

And it seems a bit silly now to have spent tens of thousands of dollars on power and ground conditioning. When in the end it still doesn’t stack up to a well designed DAC that’s off the grid.

Hopefully we will get more DACs like the Bakoon or the LIO DAC that is completely decoupled from the A/C with its dual capacitor bank design.

Thanks Wisnon. Looks like some tasty bites. Let us know how it is!!!

Maybe Lucasz could redirect them my way after for a 1 or 2 week "detour. " 😇