Denafrips R2R DAC (plays 512 DSD) reviewed as giant killer

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http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews2/denafrips/1.html

 

for those who are interested in these types of DACs, looks very interesting. 

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7 hours ago, Milt99 said:

As much as I eschew much of 6Moons philosophy, it is nice to see an audiophillia site review a piece of Chi-Fi gear

They have gotten much better in the last year or so about pointing out equipment that gives value for the dollar  and sounds as good as more expensive stuff. 

 

If I was DAC shopping, I'd be tempted to give this a try. Web site needs to have some sort  2 week or 30 day return policy, though.

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1 hour ago, tboooe said:

So does this DAC do true R2R for DSD like the Holo Spring?  If so, I am very curious how they implemented it as I am still not entirely sure how Holo does it.

 

Also, from a quick scan of the review, it says this DAC can do up to DSD256 only?

Yes, in one place I read it does DSD 512, that may not be accurate.

Hard to understand from the write ups, but apparently it does does DSD in HW, not a chip. Sounds like it takes the DSD signal directly and filters it. Isn't that sort of what the Lampizator chipless DACs do with DSD? What all that means exactly, maybe someone else can explain. Here's what the manual says:

Quote

 

The Terminator is equipped with 26Bit R‐2R DAC to decode PCM data stream and 32 steps FIR analog filters hardware decoder to decode DSD data stream.

These designs guaranteed the PCM format can be perfectly decoded, at the same time, the DSD format can be

perfectly decoded as well. It is rare in the currently market that a R‐2R DAC can hardware decode both PCM and DSD formats.

 

 

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7 hours ago, barrows said:

The metal foil resistors in the TotalDAC are much better than the thin film resistors in the Denafrips, lower distortion, and lower noise.

The Terminator is supposed to have the second set of resistors acting as a correction for the distortion etc. The claim is that this enables them to use less expensive resistors w/out quality loss.

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1 hour ago, barrows said:

@alvin1118,  any plans for Denafrips to release a really simple, super high quality DAC using only the DSD decoder with the most precise resistors, and leaving out all PCM stuff?  For those who prefer DSD oversampled to 256 in software, a simpler DAC at a more affordable price could be all that is needed.

You can get something like that from Lampizator, I think.

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22 hours ago, Triplefun said:

Schitt used to make the Loki dedicated DSD DAC. The Schitt Loki is now a 'tone control'. Schitt withdrew the Loki in 2016 (?) claiming a lack of native DSD material. I preferred the sabre delta sigma DSD sound to the Loki.

Actually, Schiit said they withdrew the Loki b/c it didn't sell and they couldn't make money on it. They struggled to sell the small inventory they produced. So they saw no reason to keep making it once what they had made was gone. If it had sold decently, I'm sure they'd have kept making it.  

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7 hours ago, Allan F said:

 

It's all relative, Teresa, when you consider that top of the line DACs from manufacturers like EMM Labs list for $30,000. When a DAC that sells for under $5,000 can compete in sound quality with DACs that sell for several times as much, some will consider it to be a "giant killer" despite its cost. OTOH, when you consider diminishing returns and the trickle down effect of today's digital technology, there is no question that modern well designed DACs that sell for a fraction of that amount offer a lot more bang for your buck!

Yep, exactly my intent when I started the thread: maybe spend "only" 4 digit$ instead of 5. 

But I'd be the first to say that there are some $500 DACs that are very good, and the diminishing returns curve is steep after that. And certainly above the $4000 this one costs, you pay LOTS of money for very small improvements. Some people have the cash and are willing to pay that. 

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On 3/16/2020 at 2:19 PM, luisma said:

I guess it is matter of semantics with the title?

It's all relative, and everyone has their perspective. There are $10K $15K and $25K DACs discussed on this site and reviewed in the audiophile press and thought of as state of the art-reference. 

 

Those are definitely Giants.  Some consider this one to be as good or better than DACs double or even quadruple it's price.  Hence the title.