Best DACs comparison test result [[My Subjective Opinion]]
- Thread starter Esotar
- Start date
You are very lucky!
You use Aqua [Formula xHD] ~!
I think Formula xHD is only one that has great quality and cost-effective.
I wrote that the best cost-effective DAC is Terminator, but Formula xHD is much better than Terminator.
Your choice is very wise~!!!
These are very interesting results. I have listened extensively to the Manhattan and Analog DAC and I have found the DirectStream to easily better those. Perhaps that is dependent on my use of the companion Memory Player.
Dear Esotar,
Have you had a chance to compare these DACs to the new Nagra HD dac (with MPS and battery supply), the top of the line EMM labs model & top of the line Esoteric as well ? I wonder...Thanks so much for sharing your amazing experience....
Regards
Have you had a chance to compare these DACs to the new Nagra HD dac (with MPS and battery supply), the top of the line EMM labs model & top of the line Esoteric as well ? I wonder...Thanks so much for sharing your amazing experience....
Regards
I'm Meitner DA 2 first orderer in Korea.
And I used DAC2X for long time.
As my thought, DA 2 is much better than listed delta-sigma DACs.
But DA 2 is too expensive.
DA 2 is good DAC, but I recommend Formula xHD instead of DA 2.
Nagra HD DAC is no. 1 delta-sigma DAC, I think.
But HD DAC is also very expensive.
Instead of HD DAC, choosing Pacific DAC is reasonable.
This is just my thought.
In Korea, almost audiophiles love multibit ladder DACs.
According to DARKO index, Directstream is ranked in the best no. 1 class.
But I'm Korean, and I don't like delta-sigma DACs.
My ranking list is very prejudiced.
Please read it for fun~!
Dear Esotar, Thanks for your reply and for sharing your experience... Have you actually compared the Nagra HD to the converters in your comparison? I am talking about just pure sonic performance and not discussing a price/value ratio... Thanks again...
Also, for curiosity's sake, if by any chance you have access to the older Goldmund Mimesis 10 dac, or Meta Research Convert One ... ( I owned Goldmund and still use Meta Research). These use Goldmunds proprietary multi bit (secret) dac modules.... Frankly very few modern day dacs have matched these in organic musicality and wholeness of the sound... I ve compared quite a few dacs from your (except for the MSB and the Trinity which are rare even in NY) list to these two, and frankly most sounded somewhat mediocre compared to the two legacy Goldmunds.... You should try to compare any dac on your list to the IFI Micro IDSD BLACK ( with all its extra features disabled, in the bit perfect mode, with the King Rex U craft blue USB double headed cable).... You would be surprised ( I was, and I heard most popular DACS that dealers carry in the New York City market).... Just listen with your ears not with eyes, and set your prejudices aside
. Regards.....
I don't like delta-sigma DAC.
But I think there are great delta-sigma DAC brands.
I like to praise Mytek Digital, Playback Designs.
HD DAC is made by Andreas Koch, and Nagra's special know-how.
As the result, HD DAC become world champion DAC.
HD DAC's quality is same to great multibit ladder DACs.
Though I didn't do HD DAC A-B test, I think it is the best DAC.
Very nice~!
As good as the DAVE is (I had one on a day long demo at home) it is not on the Kassandra level on realism and sounding less digital. The DAVE is hard to beat at 8K but beyond that things start to change IMO. I also heard the DAVE with and without the Blue transporter at Can-Jam last year, and met Rob Watts on that stand.
Thanks, I'm very much enjoying it! BTW - I have yet to get the xHD upgrade and will do so soon. It's supposed to make a nice sonic benefit.
If you upgrade Formula to xHD version, you will be impressed by Formula xHD.
Formula xHD doesn't have wide playback range. Its sound quality is much better than normal Formula.
The upgrade fee is not expensive. I recommend xHD upgrade as soon as possible.
Formula xHD is no. 1 best DAC that is cheap relatively and great quality DAC.
Very fantastic~!!!
Kassandra II LE Sig is not imported in Korea yet.
Although I tested it, I think it is the world-best DAC.
A Korean distributor tried to import Aries Cerat, but because Kassandra II LE Sig is too big and heavy, they gave up to import it.
They said Kassandra II LE Sig is too big to be impossible to install some audio-racks.
Is that true?
I am sure you could have Aries Cerat ship to your location, why not call them.
The Kassandra LE Signature is a 2 box at 60 kilos each box. It can be shipped no problem though. Mine came very well packed and took 6 days.
I have the single box Ref II, and although big and also 60 kilos is not a problem for me. I wanted the best sound above fitting in a rack.
I do agree the Formula xHD is a significant improvement over the original Formula, which was already an exceptionally good DAC for the money.
The gains were mostly in the low end, much firmer and better defined, as well as in the overall "flow" and attack/decay of the notes. This latter part is probably due to the new FPGA programming (software).
The gains were mostly in the low end, much firmer and better defined, as well as in the overall "flow" and attack/decay of the notes. This latter part is probably due to the new FPGA programming (software).
I have the opportunity to hear few high end DAC , namely Dcs Vivaldi , MSB Select ( used to own it ) , Aeris Cerat Kassandra LE . Since it’s in a different syst , it’s just a subjective opinion .
To me , when it was paired with Audio note M10S , Kassandra LE really float my boat . It’s so analog sounding , I dare say that it’s as closest to vinyl as I have heard in my Audio journey & I am a die hard analog guy even though I have digital set up & R2R .
To me , when it was paired with Audio note M10S , Kassandra LE really float my boat . It’s so analog sounding , I dare say that it’s as closest to vinyl as I have heard in my Audio journey & I am a die hard analog guy even though I have digital set up & R2R .
Kassandra LE size . Yes it’s so big for a DAC . Probably bigger & heavier than most amp in the market . Anyway if the sound is good & u can afford it , I am sure a custom rack should be able to handle it . By the way , I heard it with the DAC stack up & on the floor with cheap IC & yet it sounded fabulous
Thank you for this insight on the Aries Cerat top level DAC, the LE. I have 'only' the `Kassandra Ref II but from the first bar I knew it was a special DAC. I think what Stavros has done here, many would not dare to try. It is really a different approach, ignore all constants such as chassis restrictions, weight, component size. And the size of the power supplies and caps he has used, it is incredible, really a refreshing direction IMO. Really, anything that he believes may impact or reduce performance is avoided.
So, yes, big, heavy but as a trade off they look beautiful in the flesh, the build quality is superb. Maybe not so rack friendly, but... I have my DAC sat on a big Marble faced stainless steel desk for example, it works great, and dominates my setup.
The standards of finish is also superb, for example the curved side cheeks, they are solid metal, not hollow. The stainless steel plates in the chassis are very thick, no thin mild steel bend chassis here. The faceplate is not thin perspex or metal, it is really thick dark glass that allows enough who through to light up the custom display tubes, which BTW he also designed. It looks really great especially on an evening! The name is etched into the glass face, not printed. He also used a lot of absorption and decoupling materials in mounting the transformers and PCBs to the chassis to negate any vibrations. Even the back plate is stainless steel. Interestingly my DAC gets barely warm for a tube DAC, which in Spain is handy. It is basically built like an M1 Abrams tank.
I would like to see more Aries Cerat owners on here voicing there experiences for sure, as IMO AC gear is both near the top of what is possible in audio today, and being a fairly new company, many have not seen or heard what they can do.
Besides this, I have spoken to Stavros many times, probably drove him nuts before my DAC landed, and he is a real audio enthusiast allied to a gifted engineer and obviously very creative, IMO a killer combination. I would ring him if any on here have questions about his designs or products, he is most approachable.
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Very fantastic indeed Esotar.
I’m burning in my XHD as we speak and with only 100 hours it already has me gobsmacked.
I’ve never heard digital sound this Analogue which pains me in a way being a 100% digital guy but the level of detail, soundstage presentation and tonality is magical.
I’ve taking advice from Ed (Eurodriver) and upsampling pcm to 705/768K and converting DSD to 705k in the SGMS2015 to get a baseline of what to expect before delving into bitrate/buffer settings and trying DSD direct.
The XHD outclasses the, stunning for the cost, T+A DAC8DSD in all aspects and for what it’s worth I thought the T+A (fed DSD) was better than the Terminator.
I’ll look to isolation footers, fuses and damping products after substantial burn in.
OAN, the optologic XHD now joins my optocoupled Java preamp. Sounds like synergy.
Cheers
Blue58
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