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Worlds best DAC

Went to CES this year to work on my transition to high Rez digital. I've heard many of the highly regarded players in my room or in others systems in the past. I'm actually very happy with my current cd based sound. As I listened to various DACS playing CD then high Rez, I was not bowled over. High rez was better, but only slightly so. The best (and most different) sound I heard happened to have one similarity. They were 2 non oversampling DACS with tube analog stages(Zanden and Ypsilon). These were without question the most natural sounding digital systems I heard at the show. They made CDsound miles ahead of high Rez. What gives?

PS: I understand the limitations of show auditions.
bflowers
wisnon
700 posts
 
Bill, dont forget the other side of the equation. Jitter is NOT the be all and end all of good digital. There is also a matter of waveform distortion of the digital and resulting analog signal, which is more in the domain of power supply construction and RFI/EMI pollution. that carries equal weight in my mind. Of course the best Dacs deal with that well.
mrtennis
3,295 posts
 
hi bhobba:

thanks for making my case, that there is no perfect dac,. your logic also supports the premise that there is no perfect component or stereo system.

after all listening to music is a subjective experience.
lloydelee21
1,202 posts
 
Hi Mr. Tennis...just curious, do you still like Zanden? I still love mine...and have spent countless hours on elements which, for me, have continued to take the 4-box further and further. It is in fact amazing for me how well it responds to these things, and continues to deliver even more of what I love about Zanden. Specifically, I have NOS tubes throughout (Mullard 1950s rectifiers, Amperex 7308, EAT Tube dampers), independent HRS M3 or Stillpoints Ultra 5s under each box, plus HRS, Ultra, dampers on top of each...to create an 'isolation sandwich'...and finally Purist Audio Dominus Power cables.

6 years running and no desire to look at further digital, and I have been fortunate to hear: Metronome Kalista Ref/C2A, ARC CD 3,5,7,8, Stahl-Tek, TAD D600, Esoteric X-01SE, Emm CDSA, Audio Aero La Source, Weiss Medea, Krell 505, Meridian 808.2, Wadia s7i, DCS Scarlatti full stack and Vivaldi full stack. I'd love to hear the new Trinity DAC and Light Harmonic DaVinci. But otherwise, perfectly happy.

Just curious on your end if you've discovered other digital you like better.
jwm
908 posts
 
I heard from someone that the Trinity Dac has the typical cold brighter German sound. I will listen to this and the DaVinci at CES.
lloydelee21
1,202 posts
 
Interesting JWM...I am most interested in reading more about this particular DAC. Until I can hear for myself, it is always good to collect different opinions...every now and then, certain 'themes' surface from all the varied opinions. I look forward to your own opinions here. What have heard about the Light Harmonic DaVinci DAC in terms of any particular 'character'? I do like the fact that they do separate DSD and PCM architecture inside...which is consistent with the techno guys who say that each architecture is different and excels at different formats. It is either jack of all trades...or truly best of both. I am hoping the latter of course!
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