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How Many DACs Have You Owned? Your Journey


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After putting this list together, it appears I need to enroll in a 12 step program. Luckily, it appears that Yggy may help me break the grip of DAC upgradeitis

 

I bet this is not the first time you thought this?

 

Just admit it, you are a dacoholic.

And always keep in mind: Cognitive biases, like seeing optical illusions are a sign of a normally functioning brain. We all have them, it’s nothing to be ashamed about, but it is something that affects our objective evaluation of reality. 

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Since 2009 in rough chronological order

 

April Music Stello DA-100 Signature - (Adaptive USB :) )

Halide Design Bridge

Audiophilleo 1 (sold)

Accuphase DAC 30 (in preservation)

Grace Design m920 (in use)

Playback Designs MPD-3 (in preservation)

Sony PHA-1 (in preservation)

Sony PHA-2 Portable use

Grace Designs m920 Portable use

Korg DS-DAC-10 (in preservation, occasionally connect to comply with Audiogate 3)

Accuphase DP-720 (in use, currently main DAC, part of SACD player)

AS Profile Equipment List        Say NO to MQA

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Since 2009

PS Audio DLIII w/ Cullen upgrade

PS Audio PWD v1

Linn Akurate

Linn Klimax DS/1

Teac UD-501

Benchmark DAC2 HGC

Ayre QB-9

Ayre QB-9 DSD <-- still own

Audio Research Ref Dac <-- still own (for now)

Schiit Yggdrasil <-- still own

 

After putting this list together, it appears I need to enroll in a 12 step program. Luckily, it appears that Yggy may help me break the grip of DAC upgradeitis

 

Thanks, I'm feeling a bit better now ;-)

Mac Mini (+Tidal +Roon) -> WiFi -> Lyngdorf TDAI1120 ->JM Reynaud Lucia (Tellurium Q Black v2)

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Ayre QB-9, since upgraded to DSD version

ODAC, to hear what all the hype was about and to use while the QB-9 was visiting Ayre being upgraded

Cypherlabs Solo -dB, transportable use, work and travel

 

Still have all 3. Kind of feel like I might be losing the race....

Main System: Mac mini (Audirvana+, MMK, JS-2) -> ISO Regen (LPS-1) -> Icron 2201 (Rex LPS-1.2) -> ISO Regen (LPS-1.2) -> Ayre QB-9 Twenty -> Headamp GS-X Mk2 -> Classe CT-M600 -> KEF Reference 201/2

 

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Chris-

 

Don't keep us in suspense. As one of the first owners of a Ydddrasl - how does it sound? Just good, or a "Giant Killer"? As good or better than the more expensive DACs in your list. For instance compare it to the QB-9 DSD. BTW, have you played DSD downsampled to PCM through the Yggy? How's that?

 

Since 2009

PS Audio DLIII w/ Cullen upgrade

PS Audio PWD v1

Linn Akurate

Linn Klimax DS/1

Teac UD-501

Benchmark DAC2 HGC

Ayre QB-9

Ayre QB-9 DSD <-- still own

Audio Research Ref Dac <-- still own (for now)

Schiit Yggdrasil <-- still own

 

After putting this list together, it appears I need to enroll in a 12 step program. Luckily, it appears that Yggy may help me break the grip of DAC upgradeitis

Main listening (small home office):

Main setup: Surge protector +>Isol-8 Mini sub Axis Power Strip/Isolation>QuietPC Low Noise Server>Roon (Audiolense DRC)>Stack Audio Link II>Kii Control>Kii Three (on their own electric circuit) >GIK Room Treatments.

Secondary Path: Server with Audiolense RC>RPi4 or analog>Cayin iDAC6 MKII (tube mode) (XLR)>Kii Three .

Bedroom: SBTouch to Cambridge Soundworks Desktop Setup.
Living Room/Kitchen: Ropieee (RPi3b+ with touchscreen) + Schiit Modi3E to a pair of Morel Hogtalare. 

All absolute statements about audio are false :)

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Hello there

 

lindemann dac 24/192, Since 2012, when I first to really start getting in Computer Audio.

 

Am thinking about upgrading, looking at what Chord are bringing out, have been told they maybe bringing out a stand alone Dac along the line of the hugo without a head phone amp.

 

 

Cheers Frank

PC>JRiver> Lindemann USB-DAC 24/192> White Bird Amplification VIRTUS-01> Sennheiser HD650 headphones

PC>JRiver> Lindemann USB-DAC 24/192> Cyrus 6VS> Dali Zensor 1

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It's called the 2Qute and it's already out.

 

Thanks for that, I thought it wasn't coming out till end of May, anyone heard one yet?

PC>JRiver> Lindemann USB-DAC 24/192> White Bird Amplification VIRTUS-01> Sennheiser HD650 headphones

PC>JRiver> Lindemann USB-DAC 24/192> Cyrus 6VS> Dali Zensor 1

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Thanks for that, I thought it wasn't coming out till end of May, anyone heard one yet?

 

April 23rd was the release date for NA distribution; I don't know if any dealers have it yet. My local Chord guy doesn't have it on his site.

Mac Mini (+Tidal +Roon) -> WiFi -> Lyngdorf TDAI1120 ->JM Reynaud Lucia (Tellurium Q Black v2)

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Chris-

 

Don't keep us in suspense. As one of the first owners of a Ydddrasl - how does it sound? Just good, or a "Giant Killer"? As good or better than the more expensive DACs in your list. For instance compare it to the QB-9 DSD. BTW, have you played DSD downsampled to PCM through the Yggy? How's that?

 

I've had it powered up now for just under a week and have deliberately only listened a couple of hours per day since Mike Moffat says that it needs to be powered up for about a week for the chips and other electronics to reach their full potential. And this doesn't appear to be BS.

 

Of course I had to listen to it as soon as it arrived at the house. Out of the box, Yggy is bright with not much of a low end. About 90 minutes into the first listening session, the low end suddenly appeared and the timing improved quite a bit. Still bright, though, but not a digital, fatiguing, bright. Hope that makes sense.

 

Over the course of this week the sound has continued to change and the word I'm using is "maturing". Up until Wednesday I wasn't sure if it was going to be all that its been cracked up to be, but Thursday evening (powered up for about 130 hours) the brightness all but went away; even on hot recordings.

 

I didn't have a whole lot of time yesterday (Friday) to listen, but I thought, ok, I'll play a couple of songs and see what's what...well, that turned into almost an hour's worth of listening. the bass is now punchy, mid-range is very good - voices sound very natural...it doesn't sound digital and all I'm playing are Redbook rips...today is day 7 and we'll see how it sounds later this afternoon. According to Moffat on the HF forums, this is when the "DAC just disappears"...this will be interesting, I've never had an invisible DAC

;-)...seriously, though, it sounds very good and it is very musical.

 

To date, I haven't compared it with either of the other two DACs in the house - Ayre QB-9 DSD or ARC Ref DAC - but I like the sound very much. As for DSD, I'm not in that camp, so I don't have any recordings to play.

 

As for comparisons to other DACs I've had in the house...the QB-9 resides in my desktop system, the ARC is in the big rig. Both of them are here because I thought they were better than what came before, so if Yggy tops either or both, then IMO, it is better than the rest of them.

 

Hope this helps.

ChrisG

Bend, OR

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Thanks Chris, that was interesting. Give us an update some time when you've gotten a good grip on how good the DAC is.

Main listening (small home office):

Main setup: Surge protector +>Isol-8 Mini sub Axis Power Strip/Isolation>QuietPC Low Noise Server>Roon (Audiolense DRC)>Stack Audio Link II>Kii Control>Kii Three (on their own electric circuit) >GIK Room Treatments.

Secondary Path: Server with Audiolense RC>RPi4 or analog>Cayin iDAC6 MKII (tube mode) (XLR)>Kii Three .

Bedroom: SBTouch to Cambridge Soundworks Desktop Setup.
Living Room/Kitchen: Ropieee (RPi3b+ with touchscreen) + Schiit Modi3E to a pair of Morel Hogtalare. 

All absolute statements about audio are false :)

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Sticking with the bargain basement brands then... Just teasing. Is dealing with Theta and Classe type brands more important to you or are you willing to consider more boutique "garage" brands in equipment?

 

I'm not sure what boutique "garage" brands you are referring to. I have generally purchased what I considered to be the best sounding equipment that I could audition and afford at the time.

"Relax, it's only hi-fi. There's never been a hi-fi emergency." - Roy Hall

"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." - William Bruce Cameron

 

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Since 2011:

 

Hegel HD2

Schiit Bifrost (returned)

AudioQuest DragonFly

Resonessence Concero HP (returned)

Meridian Explorer

Geek Out 720

iFi Nano iDSD

iFi Micro iDSD

LH Labs Pulse XFi

 

I still have all of these except the Schiit and Resonessence devices which I returned for technical issues. Looks like I need to have an audio "garage sale" ;)

John Walker - IT Executive

Headphone - SonicTransporter i9 running Roon Server > Netgear Orbi > Blue Jeans Cable Ethernet > mRendu Roon endpoint > Topping D90 > Topping A90d > Dan Clark Expanse / HiFiMan H6SE v2 / HiFiman Arya Stealth

Home Theater / Music -SonicTransporter i9 running Roon Server > Netgear Orbi > Blue Jeans Cable HDMI > Denon X3700h > Anthem Amp for front channels > Revel F208-based 5.2.4 Atmos speaker system

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I only started getting into computer audio about 2 years ago, so have (and still do) had the following DACs:

 

Fiio E07k

Fiio X3 and X5

Meridian Explorer

Peachtree Decco 65 integrated amp

Ifi iDSD Micro

LH Labs Geek Pulse

 

My listening is very headphone-centric, so it's easy to hear differences between all of the above. Lately I've been using mostly the pulse and the iDSD. Two very different sound sigs, but I really like them both. While I also really like the Sabre 9023 implementation in the Decco 65, its hp amp is subpar, especially with my planars, so I mostly use it for speaker listening and tv/movies. Although both the X3 and X5 can be used as stand-alone DACs, I've never used them as such. I may give my son the E07k, but I will likely keep the rest as I can't improve on them with my current budget ($0).

Vinyl is a hugely overpriced way to get flawed sound. Digital is an inexpensive way to get less flawed (though flawed nonetheless) sound.

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I only started getting into computer audio about 2 years ago, so have (and still do) had the following DACs:

 

Fiio E07k

Fiio X3 and X5

Meridian Explorer

Peachtree Decco 65 integrated amp

Ifi iDSD Micro

LH Labs Geek Pulse

 

My listening is very headphone-centric, so it's easy to hear differences between all of the above. Lately I've been using mostly the pulse and the iDSD. Two very different sound sigs, but I really like them both. While I also really like the Sabre 9023 implementation in the Decco 65, its hp amp is subpar, especially with my planars, so I mostly use it for speaker listening and tv/movies. Although both the X3 and X5 can be used as stand-alone DACs, I've never used them as such. I may give my son the E07k, but I will likely keep the rest as I can't improve on them with my current budget ($0).

 

Very similar to my experience. I currently have both the Pulse and the Micro on the table beside my chair and switch between them as the mood strikes. I really like the Micro, but the Pulse is growing on me - either I'm getting used to it or it's (shudder) breaking in ;)

John Walker - IT Executive

Headphone - SonicTransporter i9 running Roon Server > Netgear Orbi > Blue Jeans Cable Ethernet > mRendu Roon endpoint > Topping D90 > Topping A90d > Dan Clark Expanse / HiFiMan H6SE v2 / HiFiman Arya Stealth

Home Theater / Music -SonicTransporter i9 running Roon Server > Netgear Orbi > Blue Jeans Cable HDMI > Denon X3700h > Anthem Amp for front channels > Revel F208-based 5.2.4 Atmos speaker system

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Distributed audio system: HRT Music Streamer

Headphones: FiiO Olympus then AQ Dragonfly

Desktop: AQ Dragonfly

Listening room: Wyred4Sound DAC-2 upgraded to DSD SE last year.

Magnepan 3.7i speakers, REL S/3 sub, PS Audio BHK250 amp, Wyred4Sound DAC2 DSDse, Server - Atom N2800 motherboard, 4GB RAM, 500GB SSD running Windows Server 2012, Audiophile Optimizer 1.40 and JRiver MC 21.

 

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I was hooked into computers back in 1982 when my uncles "forced" me to study programming on a Radioshack TRS-80 and go with them in their work to play with their company's System/36.

 

Contented to play Price of Persia, Doom, Wolfenstein on my Adlib and later Soundblaster card hooked up on my Sony components. Or listen to music using Winamp or WMP as player.

 

My sort of first Audiophile experience is when I bought an Indigo Echo IO PCMCIA card back in 2007. Since I am always on the road, and I need something good for music. Maan, it brought smiles on my face. And the convenience of having a dedicated volume thumb wheel was just awesome. It is on this time also I began lurking on computeraudiophile.

 

JmGWNGj.jpg

 

Technologies evolved and need something more smaller. 2-3 years ago bought an M2Tech Hiface USB and an Arrow 4G for my music in the road.

 

OW1pAUg.jpg

 

Now using my Geek Out 1000 on my Note tablet for video and music.

Hopefully also along with other desktop products that i have crowdfunded.

 

3Qa5Nhr.jpg

 

Was limited for this 'modest' setups for I have other 'hobbies' to fund to.

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Since 2009 in rough chronological order

 

April Music Stello DA-100 Signature - (Adaptive USB :) )

Halide Design Bridge

Audiophilleo 1 (sold)

Accuphase DAC 30 (in preservation)

Grace Design m920 (in use)

Playback Designs MPD-3 (in preservation)

Sony PHA-1 (in preservation)

Sony PHA-2 Portable use

Grace Designs m920 Portable use

Korg DS-DAC-10 (in preservation, occasionally connect to comply with Audiogate 3)

Accuphase DP-720 (in use, currently main DAC, part of SACD player)

 

 

That sir is a serious list - I have a lot of respect for Playback Designs.

A little intrigued that you prefer the Accuphase.

Custom Win10 Server | Mutec MC-3+ USB | Lampizator Amber | Job INT | ATC SCM20PSL + JL Audio E-Sub e110

 

 

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That sir is a serious list - I have a lot of respect for Playback Designs.

A little intrigued that you prefer the Accuphase.

 

As a mini shootout, the system of comparison was like this:

 

DP-720 coax out -> MPD-3 Coax input -> XLR output -> Amplifier

DP-720 XLR output -> Amplifier

 

I let the player just play CDs (the 'LCD' :) ) for a few days, A/B'ing every so often. It was very, very close between the two, the MPD-3 DAC would upsample to DSD128 and then convert, that's its nature. The DP-720 preserved the natural state of the CD and was not as analytical as the MPD-3.

 

Both DACs did not perform well on USB. There's now a Mutec MC-1.2 converter feeding the Coax input of the DP-720 for computer audio, works very well indeed. The details of the current system config is here.

AS Profile Equipment List        Say NO to MQA

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As a mini shootout, the system of comparison was like this:

 

DP-720 coax out -> MPD-3 Coax input -> XLR output -> Amplifier

DP-720 XLR output -> Amplifier

 

I let the player just play CDs (the 'LCD' :) ) for a few days, A/B'ing every so often. It was very, very close between the two, the MPD-3 DAC would upsample to DSD128 and then convert, that's its nature. The DP-720 preserved the natural state of the CD and was not as analytical as the MPD-3.

 

Both DACs did not perform well on USB. There's now a Mutec MC-1.2 converter feeding the Coax input of the DP-720 for computer audio, works very well indeed. The details of the current system config is here.

 

Read your post on there and looked up some more on the DP-720. I have to say I am impressed.

Although I am a bit puzzled on your USB experience.

Custom Win10 Server | Mutec MC-3+ USB | Lampizator Amber | Job INT | ATC SCM20PSL + JL Audio E-Sub e110

 

 

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Main system

 

modded Adcom GDA-600 (retired)

PS audio Dlink III (sold)

Metrum Octave I (current)

 

very happy with the Octave, preferred over Bryston DAC in audition, no "digititus", will eventually buy a DSD capable DAC that proves itself

 

USB dacs for headphone

 

HRTStreamer

AQ Dragonfly 1.2 version

iFi Nano DSD

 

still looking for a good portable streamer/ USB headphone DAC/amp combo... iPhone 6 could have been the streamer if Apple didn't suppress

external DAC integration with iTunes

Regards,

Dave

 

Audio system

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some i remember: Wadia X32 , Wadia 25, WADIA 9 , JADIS JS2 , AUDIO AERO DACMKII , PASS D1 , WEISS DAC2, WEISS 202, Acustic arts tubedac SE, Burl B2 dac, Berkeley alpha1 , TOTALDAC A1..

 

if ihave to regret one it will be the WADIA 9 all the others are crap or So-So

PC audio /Roon + HQPLAYER / HOLO Spring 2 / / DIY AD1 SET tube amp  /  DIY Altec 2 way horn Speaker

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A big pile of them. Off the top of my head though...

 

Nuforce Udac

Musical Fidelity A3.24

PSA DLIII w/ Cullen Stage IV

CI Audio VDAC2 w/ power supply

Dragonfly

Cambridge DAC Magic

Peachtree Dac-it w/ Teredak power supply

Entech Number Cruncher

Fiio E7

Soundblaster Live USB

Maverick and a few others

 

At one time a few of the local guys gathered for a dac shootout with about 9 different DACs. The group's winner (PSA DLIII) was not my first choice, it was my 2nd. I loved the CI Audio but others hated it. I personally hated the Dac Magic and another guy there bought it from me as he thought it was excellent. All this proves is that you have to trust your own ears.

 

I later bought the DLIII Stage IV and then sold it in favor of the Dac-it which I still have. I love that thing, if it broke today I'd buy another before I shopped around for a replacement.

 

Oh and yes I'm a bit nuts over all of this:) I did the same thing with phono stages.

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