Battle of the Entry Level DACs escalates

[buonassi]

On 2/3/2018 at 12:09 PM, bigbob said:

 

I determined that while all digital files are binary, the analog interpretation of those files varied greatly. In the head to head comparison, I liked the 'musicality' of the Schiit Modi 2 over the iFi nano LE.

 

I determined that the headphone amplifier stage in the nano was making the sound 'different'.

 

 

I'd add that DACs are also affected by the below.  I think this is what "implementation" refers to and they all cause differences in final sound:  

 

DAC Chip itself

DAC architecture and components - (Resitor to Resistor ladder, delta sigma)

Power source

digital input chips (USB, I2S, Spdif, etc).

Oscillators/Clocks

Digital Filtering Scheme

Analogue stages (including analogue filtering for NOS dacs)

PCB, any other components in series, even solder!

 

Whether you or I can actually hear a difference based on the above is not the point, rather we must accept they are empirically different despite having the same DAC chip, just like identical twins will act differently depending on how they are nurtured.  

 

Higher End DACs that have a built in headphone amp, usually separate it from the RCA outs so that the unit can truly be used as a standalone DAC without the head stage affecting the sound.  Doesn't sound like this is the case with nano.  

 

[buonassi]

@bigbob, are you going to be climbing the ladder to the next level DACs at CAOTC?  I'd love to follow that as well.  Personally, I'm ready to make the next leap, but can't quite wrap my mind around spending 1-2K for a truly respectable high end DAC just yet.  Why?  I'm so impressed by what these $200-$350 units can do I have a hard time believing I'll be as impressed when I make the next leap.  I'd love to see what a $600 unit gets me.  But there doesn't seem to be a broad market for units in this price category.  It's either cheap(ish), or go for big money.  

 

irdac2 by Arcam was on my shortlist, but is not any longer due to a linear phase, time symmetrical FIR filter, that can't be changed.

[buonassi]

I'd like to throw the audioquest dragonfly red in the hat for "entry level" consideration.  It too has a headphone amp, but Man is this thing on point.  Linear in FR, min phase in its digital reconstruction filter, which makes for snappy and CRISP transients.  

 

Art Dudley at stereophile used it as a line level DAC (2.1 volts fixed) in his testing and was thoroughly impressed.  I have yet to do that because I don't have a good 3.5 to RCA cable, but have used it as a dac/amp on several sources (ipad/ipod/mac mini/windows laptop) and found it to perform better than my DAP (Fiio X5iii), so I'll be selling my Fiio now that I've heard the DFR.  

[buonassi]

1 hour ago, Ralf11 said:

Where does the DAC built into my 2017 IMac rank on the iFi, Schiit, Dragonfly scale?

 

it's a little pricey for this entry level comparison and seems like overkill when all one needs is a DAC.   

[buonassi]

 

48 minutes ago, exdmd said:

Not trying to derail the thread but I would hate for anyone to think they should buy Wyrd over Eitr. I use Eitr with my Brooklyn DAC+ and the more expensive DAC+ even has better SQ using an Eitr.

I've heard similar claims and don't doubt the sonic abilities of SPDIF over USB.  However, for those of us wanting higher than 192 sample rates and DSD capability, we need USB.  

 

For this reason I'm using the nano iUSB 3 by iFi - it's a wyrd competitor - inline between my mac and my iDAC2.  Not only does it have ANC and is a USB reclocker, but it comes with a iFi's own $50 low noise power supply (iPower).  It separates the power from your computer and instead drives power to the DAC using the upgraded power supply - like the wyrd.  Only the music bits are carried over from the computer after they are reclocked and cleaned.  

 

Whole kit costs $200.  Not sure it's better than wyrd, but it's another option.

[buonassi]

@bigbob, another thing to consider is your player software.  Perhaps this thread is growing into a "best digital chain for the least" given the eitr, wyrd, ipurifier etc additions.   

 

I can't make any claims, but have read that the player software can make a difference especially if it can bypass your core audio from your OS and interact directly with your DAC.  Players like Audirvana+ for Mac can work in 'direct mode' as well as 'integer mode'.  I have to think there is something similar for Windows.  

 

I want to say I heard a difference with integer mode enabled when I had the mimby.  But I can't recall.  I haven't really been in the mood for crazy critical listening but will update my findings if I ever find anything.... ha ha.  

[buonassi]

On 2/25/2018 at 8:12 PM, jhwalker said:

 

I don't know that's a "general" consensus:

 

https://samplerateconverter.com/educational/r2r-ladder-dac-vs-sigma-delta

bookmarked.... excellent read when I can properly devote the attention to it.  FWIW, I prefer my current DS dac to my previous R2R.  

[buonassi]

7 hours ago, trl said:

 

P.S.: Hope you don't mind much about the OT, but just my 2 cents: might worth building a simple device like the one attached. It took me few minutes to build it and most of the parts were already in my shelf.

 

One switch is for the 6.3mm jacks and the other for the RCA plugs. It's very effective, especially for me that I totally don't trust my audio memory when testing a newly purchased/borrowed equipment.

 

 

 

If you're not electronics savvy, Sescom makes switches that do this - and they're not expensive that I recall.  

http://www.sescom.com/productlist.asp?cat=Audio-Switchers