is there a Life after a T+A DAC8 DSD

[juanitox]

 having sold  my T+A Dac8 DSD by mistake  thinking that my digital crossover will do the task ..  fatal error ! 😕

so now i'm on the run again for a new dac so is there new challengers for the T+A Dac 8DSD in the same price and performance ballpark ?

HOLO spring 2 , denafrips Venus . others ?

 

thanks !

[murphythecat87]

ec designs fractal?

[murphythecat87]

Id take a hard look at Rockna wavelight or vene better the wavedream

https://www.audio-design-sound.fr/2020/08/25/dac-un-trio-de-tete/

[juanitox]

thank you for the advice , the Rockna wavelight seems to be a fantastic machine , but at the moment it s not in my budget so i have just ordered a Holo spring2 Dac to stay in the same " sounds family"  at cheaper price.

[murphythecat87]

13 minutes ago, juanitox said:

thank you for the advice , the Rockna wavelight seems to be a fantastic machine , but at the moment it s not in my budget so i have just ordered a Holo spring2 Dac to stay in the same " sounds family"  at cheaper price.

would have tried the ifi pro idsd. Ive read quite often that the holo is not a really good machine. the fractal dac fron ec desings would also have been my chocie way before the holo!

[fds]

18 minutes ago, juanitox said:

so i have just ordered a Holo spring2 Dac to stay in the same " sounds family

Excellent, please let us know how things will turn out. Looking forward to hear your listening experiences with the Spring 2.

[juanitox]

27 minutes ago, murphythecat87 said:

would have tried the ifi pro idsd. Ive read quite often that the holo is not a really good machine. the fractal dac fron ec desings would also have been my chocie way before the holo!

 

you can read all sort of craps on forums , i just trust my ears , i had a EC design Dac before the T+A DSD8  and it didn"t make it , sounds lifeless for me same for Total DAC A1 .  so all R2R dac sounds not the same.   just hope the HOLO will make it or i will resell it , by the way it's just machines...

[murphythecat87]

1 minute ago, juanitox said:

 

you can read all sort of craps on forums , i just trust my ears , i had a EC design Dac before the T+A DSD8  and it didn"t make it , sounds lifeless for me same for Total DAC A1 .  so all R2R dac sounds not the same.   just hope the HOLO will make it or i will resell it , by the way it's just machines...

definitely agree, cant trust too much what others say

but I thought you loved your Mosaic T, by your own description, finding it the most analog sounding unit until you tried the T+A. lifeless is the last thing id describe ec designs sound.

 

[juanitox]

I loved it as much as my total dac A1 but after the experience with the  T+A with Hqplayer in DSD512. i would not buy them again . 

[blue2]

5 minutes ago, juanitox said:

... after the experience with the  T+A with Hqplayer in DSD512. i would not buy them again . 

Please explain?

[juanitox]

Explain what?🤔

[guiltyboxswapper]

19 hours ago, juanitox said:

 

you can read all sort of craps on forums , i just trust my ears , i had a EC design Dac before the T+A DSD8  and it didn"t make it , sounds lifeless for me same for Total DAC A1 .  so all R2R dac sounds not the same.   just hope the HOLO will make it or i will resell it , by the way it's just machines...

This is the problem I've had with other DACs I've tried, everything basically sounds dull and lifeless compared to the T+A.  Especially when the source quality goes up!

[matthias]

23 hours ago, juanitox said:

i had a EC design Dac before the T+A DSD8  and it didn"t make it , sounds lifeless for me 

 

Just curious, did you try the latest one (Fractal DAC)?

Thanks

 

Matt

[juanitox]

no , and reading the Audiophile BlahBlah  what i can read on it  don't encourage me to try one again.

in France we say ' Chat échaudé craint l'eau froide'   or once bitten, twice shy .

 

Quote

The Fractal DAC is the end result in the quest for the holy grail in digital audio: realistic music reproduction. So here it is, the DAC that finally accomplishes what many have been waiting for since the introduction of digital audio in October 1982. When looking for a new DAC it is obvious that one looks at technical specs. Better specs must surely translate to better sound .... or not? Do we really capture all relevant DAC parameters with the tests we carry out? Why does every DAC with similar superb technical specs still sound so different? Why are we still tweaking our digital audio sets, and why does everything seem to have some impact on sound quality? With digital audio we expect superior music reproduction and since we are using only one's and zero's the music reproduction quality should be absolutely consistent. So what's so different about this Fractal DAC compared to the many existing DACs? First of all it uses the ElectroTos low jitter protocol that no other DAC has, it eliminates known jitter issue like no other DAC can. Next problem is interface switching noise spectrum, you know, everything seems to change the sound, the source, the interlink, applications running on the source, Wired LAN and so on. This is the noise problem we have to tackle. The Fractal D/A converter has a parallel interface that feeds all audio data bits to the D/A converter simultaneously (very low noise). Existing DACs feed the D/A converter bit for bit (serial) this produces much higher switching noise. This leaves D/A conversion, the fractal DAC, as the name implies. is based on fractals or ever repeating patterns instead of bits. This is a fundamentally different conversion method for digital audio that has not been used before. So what are the advantages of a Fractal multi-pattern D/A converter compared to conventional multi-bit R2R converters? First of all it maintains much lower switching noise as we are switching complete patterns (quiet) instead of single bits (noisy). The patterns also offer much higher accuracy with the same component tolerances. Finally the Fractal D/A converter offers much lower output impedance compared to multi-bit converters. This eliminates the need for adding active buffers or converters and eliminates related distortion. The Fractal DAC is externally powered by a matching mains power supply that prevents ground loops and provides very clean 5V/100mA power. The Fractal DAC only understands ElectroTos low jitter protocol and accepts 44.1/16 ... 96/24. DC-coupled passive outputs offer 1.27V rms and fixed 375 OHms pure resistive output impedance. The Fractal DAC is a NOS DAC and relies on the natural 20KHz or lower brickwall filter characteristics of the human auditory system.

 

[shahed99]

I owned the T+A DAC8 DSD twice. Each time I had seller's remorse. I've never bought a same audio component twice in my life.

 

There is no shortage of great PCM dac these days. But I'm yet to encounter a DSD dac as good as T+A DAC 8. There really hasn't been a worthy DSD contender to this dac around its price point. Someone on this forum posted an impression of Holo May vs T+A DAC8 DSD performance and if I recall correctly their sound signature was little different but not necessarily better. By all accounts, Holo May is a fantastic DAC, might be one of the best under $5K and for PCM Holo May is possibly better than T+A if I had to guess.

 

I wish T+A came up with a worthy successor to DAC8 DSD.

[guiltyboxswapper]

So like many here, I tried looking elsewhere.

 

In the end I returned (once source + cables + vibration control improved a lot).

 

I managed to get hold of one of the last "copper + panzerholz" kits for the T+A, which closed any deficiencies with other modern DACs down no problem, whilst retaining the T+A house signature.

 

Looks great too.

 

 

[juanitox]

Nice looking 🙂

[guiltyboxswapper]

It's the oldest component I've got (bar the Kef Blades).

[mevdinc]

2 hours ago, shahed99 said:

I owned the T+A DAC8 DSD twice. Each time I had seller's remorse. I've never bought a same audio component twice in my life.

 

There is no shortage of great PCM dac these days. But I'm yet to encounter a DSD dac as good as T+A DAC 8. There really hasn't been a worthy DSD contender to this dac around its price point. Someone on this forum posted an impression of Holo May vs T+A DAC8 DSD performance and if I recall correctly their sound signature was little different but not necessarily better. By all accounts, Holo May is a fantastic DAC, might be one of the best under $5K and for PCM Holo May is possibly better than T+A if I had to guess.

 

I wish T+A came up with a worthy successor to DAC8 DSD.

I have been waiting for a successor too and hope it happens soon. They have some great 1024 DSD capable DACs already. 

[Argopo]

On 11/11/2020 at 2:09 PM, guiltyboxswapper said:

So like many here, I tried looking elsewhere.

 

In the end I returned (once source + cables + vibration control improved a lot).

 

I managed to get hold of one of the last "copper + panzerholz" kits for the T+A, which closed any deficiencies with other modern DACs down no problem, whilst retaining the T+A house signature.

 

Looks great too.

 

 

 

Do you have a link to this? Very curious to read about this mod. It appears the top and bottom are replaced with pure copper plates with drilled holes?

 

Personally, I have no intentions of selling my T+A DAC8. I alternate between Roon + T+A for DSD512, and JRiver + Schiit Yggdrasil for PCM. Works for me.

 

 

 

 

[guiltyboxswapper]

@Argopo I don't - its a one off batch by Taiko Audio, I don't think they have any left at all now.  The copper plates have a bedding of panzerholz that the PCB "sits" on.