Best DAC ever heard

[kana813]

I've tried four DACs directly connected to the amp:

 

Benchmark DAC1

Lavery DA-11

Weiss DAC202

PS Audio PWD

 

Of these, I prefer the PWD, but wish it had a balance control.

 

Hope to hear the BADA next month.

 

 

 

 

[adhesiv]

I just bought an Ayre QB-9...it's my first DAC and it's not even here yet...BUT...I've heard it in someone elses system and "I" thought it fantastic in his setup so I'm giving it a shot myself. True, it's limited to USB but then it's also specifically built for USB so you know it's operating to the best of it's ability without any guesswork.

 

[wdomeika]

you'd opt for the Porsche.

 

[AudioDoctor]

no contest to what I heard before it, namely the Benchmark DAC1.

 

[AudioDoctor]

for reasons not listed above...

 

[Kevin_O]

Playback Designs MPS-5 as the DAC on a Sonoma

 

[bhobba]

Toss up between the Killer DAC and Level 2 PDX. I know people who have compared both (some directly - others indirectly) to uber expensive stuff such as MSB and DCS, but hands down they preferred the Killer and PDX. Mind you it comes down to this musicality vs accuracy thing - as one person said you pick your poison. Both the Killer and PDX definitely come down on the musical side of things.

 

Thanks

Bill

 

 

 

[blaine78]

Out of the ones i've owned this be the order i rate

 

4. Benchmark DAC1

3. Lavry DA11 (this one actually is quite amazing for the price excellent timbre and sound-stage, wish it had a better USB though!

2. Weiss Minerva

1. And my fav, Ayre QB-9! love it!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[NickG]

Seta, which Lampizator did you listen to? Was it in your system?

 

[Andrew S.]

Synergy has quite a bit to do with "best". And of course whether you need a transport/interface.

 

I'd say dCS (whatever you can afford) with a generous amplifier.

With a more errrmmm accurate beasty I really like AN gear. The 4.1 Sign is a cracker. Really like good vinyl.

Value for money stand alone dac - has to be Audio Gd Ref 7.1. Much prefer it to anything near 2k I have heard.

Best I have owned is my current Luxman D 05 - feed from my Auraliti PK 100 24/96 is on par with SACD. Plus it's nice to have CD/SACD capacity.

 

Other than that:

Lavry Da10/11 but transport is important ie you need a JKeny modded Hiface or similar.

 

Always have a soft spot for the Teradak Chameleon - a gem at $500 or so.

 

Audio GD NB2 is again ridculously good value at $500: much better than the benchmark to my ears. The 24/96 has a good USB as well.

 

Cheers & Beers

A

 

ps Bill Hobba - what are you venturing here for mate? have we scared you off SNA??

 

[seta]

Scroll down for details on the Lampizator (re @Cortes).

 

Yes I have it in my system now, along side Audio Note, Calyx, Young, Tranquility SE, and Weiss Dac202.

 

 

 

[bhobba]

No mate - been posting here nearly as long as SNA. Simply enjoy discussing stuff and exchanging experiences with different people.

 

And you are correct - system synergy plays a big role as well.

 

Thanks

Bill

 

[Andrew S.]

I rarely post over here these days - but occasionally drop in and have a twirl around the ballroom: see if there are any pretty girls.

 

Good to see another Aussie.

 

On Ya.

 

[manisandher]

"I assume that since the Phasure NOS1 is available for a 30-day return evaluation period all those folks with the Pacific Microsonics Model Two ought to compare these DACs before their champion asset declines in price."

 

Not really - the Model Two is an infinitely better ADC than the NOS1 ;-)

 

I think it's such a shame that few people will ever hear a NOS1, just because it's not Mac/Linux-compatible and because it really needs XXHighEnd to sound its best. If you can get over these 'barriers', I suspect you will be rewarded with the best source you've ever heard.

 

This is no marketing BS... just my own personal experience and opinion.

 

Mani.

 

[thotdoc]

Hi-

 

It's pretty obvious that you've never driven a Boxster variant or 911 variant, or you aren't into the nuances of cars as you are into the nuances audio.

 

Why the gratuitous denigration?

 

 

 

 

 

[dummy]

... or just a joke (albeit juvenile), you know, like in sense of humour?!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Paul R]

Those are some pretty formidably barriers to get over, despite from what I hear, it sounding almost magically good.

 

-Paul

 

 

[manisandher]

I've received an email from a CA member, who shall remain anonymous, citing a number of reasons why he wouldn't consider the NOS1. I thought my replies might be of interest to others here (including the sender of course, but also PeterSt):

 

While I would love to consider the phasure, I don't for the following reasons:

 

1)it requires a PC in the listening room. Not just any PC but one using Intel chips(AMD users need not apply). NAS drives do not appear to be welcome, nor are laptops. Added to this is the dearth of information on the phasure website describing exactly what is required in a PC front end.

 

Let me tell you how I have things set up. I have a totally silent PC in my listening room, based on a Zalman TNN300 case and an Intel i7 CPU. All my music sits in my basement on a 5TB Synology NAS drive. The NAS is connected to a LAN switch and feeds 3 music PCs via CAT6 and the rest of the house via wifi. I've had this setup for well over a year now and I'm very, very happy with it.

 

Very recently, there have been a couple of ideas floating around on the Phasure forum about using powerful 12-24 core CPUs, so that XXHighEnd can make the most of individual cores. Of course, this requires 'big' PCs, with necessary cooling. But apparently, you can buy large fans nowadays that are virtually silent (I haven't tried them as I currently have no need for them).

 

All of this is to get the pre-processing done asap. XXHighEnd virtually shuts your PC down during playback (in its recommended 'Unattended' mode) so needs to do all necessary processing (upscaling to 32/352.8, normalizing volume, etc) before hand. (BTW, your PC is brought back to life at the end of playback.) This can take a fair amount of time on a slow machine. You can use a laptop, but it's not recommended - most will take a while to get all the pre-processing done, and it's harder to upgrade hardware than it is with a desktop.

 

I'm aware of the issue with (some?) AMD CPUs, but not sure if it's been resolved yet.

 

I agree that the Phasure website isn't the easiest on which to navigate and find specific information. BUT, people there are generally very friendly and responsive to questions.

 

2)As you pointed out, XXHighEnd is all but a requirement to use as software with the phasure nos1.

 

Yes, pretty much. Although, theoretically, it should be possible to get the NOS1 working on a Mac (I'm not sure if ESI ever produced the necessary Linux drivers), I don't know of anyone ever trying this. And why would you? The NOS1 really was designed to work with XXHighEnd, which currently only runs on a PC.

 

3)Peter's website is not exactly buyer friendly when it comes to a prospective buyer seeking information on the nos1.

 

Agreed. Look, Phasure is a business for Peter, but it's not his day job - he runs a successful ERP software company (and has been doing so for a couple of decades, I think). If Peter were relying on Phasure to 'pay his mortgage', perhaps he would be running Phasure differently... including selling his DAC at 3-5 times the current selling price?

 

4)The phasure is unusual looking, to say the least, and not everyone's taste. Well, at least you can get it in black.

 

My wife hates the way it looks in its 'native' blue colour. However, for a small additional price, you can have it sprayed pretty much any colour you like. Both my NOS1s are now a very pleasing 'off-white' colour.

 

5)the phasure is produced/hand built by Peter and his wife. This is not necessarily a bad thing as this is not unusual in the boutique audio world. On the other hand, there is no company standing behind the product with a vast support network(though I know that companies can certainly go out of business). Software for the phasure is entirely up to what Peter to pull together. A software upgrade, for example, to let one play 24/352 files without upsampling to 384 will be produced and released if and when Peter gets around to it.

 

Yep. I've met Peter in person just once - I visited him at his home just over a year ago. After this visit, I felt that this is a guy who I really liked and who I totally trusted. The visit was important for me.

 

But the trust element goes beyond feeling that Phasure will still be in business in x years time to service my software/hardware. I also trust that Peter is working (very, very hard) on the areas of XXHE and the NOS1 that will give the best returns in terms of SQ. Your point about playing 24/352.8 files natively is a good example. Last time I tried a hirez 2L file, I couldn't get it working. But I have

[PeterSt]

Second attempt for a reply ... :-)

 

Yes, at first I had a longer reply, but I don't think this is an "NOS1 thread", so I'll stick with this short one instead;

 

Please think about why things are as they are, and try to see that all of it is to keep the price as much down as possible, combined with the best sound coming from a DAC ever. I could even stand for this money back guarantee, which is 90 days indeed, by saying that it evens holds when you heard a better DAC anywhere against any $$. That this also needs specific software - blame me, but it is by design.

 

Peter

 

PS: Mani, my first attempt started with "wow" and a thank you for spending this time.

 

PPS: There is no problem with AMD processors, so this must be a misunderstanding. Some Gigabyte mobo's, yes.

 

 

[Audio_ELF]

Instead of worrying that a Phasure NOS1 only works with XXHighEnd and Windows, it's probably best to think of the whole chain In the same way as a stack of dCS components...

 

That is individual parts of a whole... Like a one-box player split for best performance.

 

Would that be apt description Peter?

 

Eloise

 

[manisandher]

"... it's probably best to think of the whole chain In the same way as a stack of dCS components...

 

I think the dCS stack is exactly the sort of level at which the NOS1 competes. The difference between the two though is that the dCS stack will pretty much work out of the box, whereas the NOS1 will require a bit more work to get the best out of it.

 

Maybe there's a business opportunity for someone to build and install PCs dedicated to working with NOS1s, and provide new users with a crash course in XXHighEnd... Such a service would still end up being a fraction of the price of the top-end dCS stack.

 

Mani.

 

 

 

[audiozorro]

There is no problem with AMD processors, so this must be a misunderstanding. Some Gigabyte mobo's, yes. [End Quote]

 

Which Gigabyte motherboards are a problem? As many of us know the computer can make a significant difference. So perhaps while we ponder the best DAC or best digital interface we should ask whether our computer is the weak link in the chain.

 

I have infinitley more 16/44.1 files that XXHE upscales to 32/352.8 and plays back incredibly, incredibly well - to a point where I no longer look out to buy hirez files. [End Quote]

 

Are you concluding that upsampling is sonically better than playing back the 16/44.1 files at their native resolution? I think someone else posted that offline upsampling is far superior to real time upsampling. Have you made any comparisons using both methods?

 

[manisandher]

I really want to avoid hijacking this thread. So a couple of quick responses:

 

"Are you concluding that upsampling is sonically better than playing back the 16/44.1 files at their native resolution?"

 

With the NOS1? Definitely yes... unless you like having a headache. You see, the NOS1 is a totally filterless design (the only one of know of that can play 24/192 and above files) and therefore needs the software player to do the necessary filtering of 16/44.1 files. See http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/Phasure-NOS1-vs-Pacific-Microsonics-Model-Two for more details.

 

"I think someone else posted that offline upsampling is far superior to real time upsampling. Have you made any comparisons using both methods?"

 

No, I've not done any comparisons. But XXHE is a memory player and does all necessary processing before a single note is played, which is kind of 'off-line', in a way.

 

Mani

 

 

 

[dsnyder]

Hello,

 

I've not used many outboard DAC's in my system, but the best sound that I have heard in my room by a large margin occurred this weekend through the following setup:

 

Player: Mediamonkey + ASIO plugin

USB Cable: LAT International USB2

USB to S/PDIF Adapter: Creative E-MU 0404 USB

S/PDIF COAX Cable: LAT International DI-20

DAC: Emotiva XDA-1

RCA Interconnects: LAT International IC-200 MkII

Active Preamp: Emotiva USP-1

RCA Interconnects: LAT International IC-200 MkII

Power Amp: McCormack DNA-1

Speaker Cables: LAT International SS-1000D

Loudspeakers: Legacy Audio FOCUS SE

 

I know it's not much compared to what most of you have had the opportunity to experience, but I never thought my room could sound this good. I'm not going to break out the audio superlatives list since I only have my own experience to this point as a reference. Compared to the analog outputs of the E-MU run into the Emotiva UMC-1 home theater pre/pro, there's an incredible improvement in presence and detail in the midrange and lower treble without sounding harsh. The soundstage is larger in every dimension but with dramatically better localization of each performer and part. I'm hearing melodic and harmonic lines that I've never noticed before in familiar music. Loads of fun. Once I start listening to an album, it's actually difficult to stop until I've heard the entire thing in one sitting.

 

I am looking forward to giving the Wyred 4 Sound DAC2 a try next since the home theater integration looks like it will work much better with my full-range fronts. As long as the sound is no worse than what I'm hearing via the Emotiva sources, I think I'll be delighted (and I won't have to train the family on how to move cables around when they want to use the system to watch a movie).

 

I know that there's better stuff out there, but the best that I've ever heard is good enough for me at the moment and reason enough to explore as much of my favorite music as I possibly can.

 

-- David

 

 

[James1776]

Answering the 'why' the DAC was best would also be interesting...

 

I have a Benchmark DAC 1 that sounds better than any I have had in my system (and in ones own system is the only way to know if the improved sound from the DAC is not really the result of other better gear in the chain...is the DAC magic or are the $20K speakers the cause of the audio magic?)

 

The 'why' in my case...I find the DAC to be absolutely unfatiguing and, more importantly, when I improve other bits in the audio chain, the sound improves...if the DAC was less good, the sound might change but not really improve.