Most vinyl-sounding DAC?

From packaged processed food to buying term papers, to expectations of instantaneous internet response, the lust for convenience consumes the modern world.
True - yet, isn't the inconvenience of playing an LP an ineluctable part of its attraction?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Republicoftexas69
Or it could bring to the table another world of music one would never listen too...

While I am not as "blessed" as many members on this forum monetory wise, I do enjoy vastly what my ANK 5.1 Pro DAC does for me. I will not compare it to vinyl.

Each format has its different deficiencies, and attributes as well, but comparing V to D? Not a comparison IMO. They are different animals.

That said, there are many aspects I prefer on the ANK versus vinyl and vice-versa. The ANK does music justice IMO/IME paired with the right tubes and corresponding system/system configuration/components.

Much of getting a DAC to sound like vinyl is what one's choice is in their vinyl rig versus their own digital rig. IMO/IME

Tom
THat ANK 5.1 looks like a pretty nice DAC...I am sure it is quite musical sounding and at least somewhat analog like.

Design wise, it is not world's apart from an Aries Cerat DAC. The same DAC chip (although AC uses multiple in parallel), tube power supply, transformer IV conversion and tube/ transformer output. Oh and no oversampling/upsampling.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DasguteOhr
THat ANK 5.1 looks like a pretty nice DAC...I am sure it is quite musical sounding and at least somewhat analog like.

Design wise, it is not world's apart from an Aries Cerat DAC. The same DAC chip (although AC uses multiple in parallel), tube power supply, transformer IV conversion and tube/ transformer output. Oh and no oversampling/upsampling.
If you're handy, you can listen to music digitally at a very high level for little money. If you have two left hands you pay €1000 more for finished kits.
 
I like the way you approach your perceptions of digital and vinyl in the link. There are days I am happily playing digital. And others analog. I don't waste time comparing them to each other. I just play them and enjoy them both. Either work very well.

Comparing same performance on digital to analog is NLF.

Analog should be used to play analog era records, or good records if any from later era. Those who keep comparing the two media are NLF, because it means they haven’t got their heads around the recordings. If they compare a good recording from analog era and their digital sounds almost as good or better, they should get a new system because their analog is deeply being held back by the downstream.
 
I agree. The media is the key. I have a bunch of albums on Qobuz that I love. I have nothing bad to say about them and enjoy sitting and listening. Same for Vinyl. I have some records that sound great. I have others that would make better coasters. I play what is appropriate for the source.
 
Comparing same performance on digital to analog is NLF.
how is being enamored with tube rolling any different?

i tried the Lampi and tube rolling and it was not my thing. but respect that it's a great thing to be into.

neither are bad or good.....and everyone ought to have at it. but tube rolling dwarfs format comparing as far as broad based energy committed. it's a deep hole people go to hide in. whoever dies with the most tubes wins.

just that there is not any right or wrong attached to tube preferences. mostly just encouragement. format opinions are like politics. and strong righteousness attached. "you should do this, and then that". ok.

trying to marginalize parts of the hobby is wrong thinking.

i do enjoy the nice tubes in my EMIA phono corrector. and probably have 4 or 5 dozen tubes upstairs and a new unopened tube analyzer. but don't think about them much.

still don't like your acronym.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Lee and DasguteOhr
how is being enamored with tube rolling any different?

i tried the Lampi and tube rolling and it was not my thing. but respect that it's a great thing to be into.
It’s very different. It is comparing things on the same platform. Like cartridges can be compared on your TT. Valves can be compared in a phono, amp, Dac. I am not addressing the comparing hobby at all.

Comparing digital to analog with the same performance doesn’t make sense unless you are purposefully picking up a bad sounding vinyl recording. Would you do an amp compare purposefully compromising one amp?

comparing digital to analog is like comparing low watt SETs to high powered solid state amps. You cannot do it on the same speaker without compromising one oF them.

if you want to own low watt sets and high powered SS amps, you need two different systems. Digital and analog are two different systems.

if someone’s vinyl is not sounding superior to the digital, either the recordings are not good, or there is some serious flaw downstream. Not saying that means one cannot enjoy digital independently without comparing
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Lagonda
comparing digital to analog is like comparing low watt SETs to high powered solid state amps. You cannot do it on the same speaker without compromising one oF them. ... if you want to own low watt sets and high powered SS amps, you need two different systems.

Maybe. I wasn't comparing amps but when I reviewed the WVL SON field-coils I used 18W SET and 110W solid state. While I preferred the sound of one combination over the other, I found no compromise in any of the components.

But I understand your broader point about same system vs different system compares. Speaker+amp is a special dependency relationship. Maybe pre+amp, not as sure there. I don't think source is in such a relationship with other components. When you talk comparing digital to analog I take that as format driving the platform.
 
But I understand your broader point about same system vs different system compares. Speaker+amp is a special dependency relationship. Maybe pre+amp, not as sure there. I don't think source is in such a relationship with other components. When you talk comparing digital to analog I take that as format driving the platform.
I was not talking about the drive, but more about making conditions appropriate for a compare.

So, it is pointless to read a report that compares a 2w 45 amp with Krell on Apogee Scintilla and says I prefer Krell. Similarly, it is pointless to read a report where someone places a poor recording on the table and says the digital sounds better (or close). On the other hand, if you put a good vinyl recording on the table and it does not sound better than the digital, my suggestion is to change the system
 
  • Like
Reactions: Lagonda
how is being enamored with tube rolling any different?

i tried the Lampi and tube rolling and it was not my thing. but respect that it's a great thing to be into.

neither are bad or good.....and everyone ought to have at it. but tube rolling dwarfs format comparing as far as broad based energy committed. it's a deep hole people go to hide in. whoever dies with the most tubes wins.

just that there is not any right or wrong attached to tube preferences. mostly just encouragement. format opinions are like politics. and strong righteousness attached. "you should do this, and then that". ok.

trying to marginalize parts of the hobby is wrong thinking.

i do enjoy the nice tubes in my EMIA phono corrector. and probably have 4 or 5 dozen tubes upstairs and a new unopened tube analyzer. but don't think about them much.

still don't like your acronym.
From a technical point of view, it only makes sense to take a tube that leads to the circuit and its operating point (anode voltage and quiescent current). Only then can you achieve the lowest distortion and maximum dynamics. Otherwise you just play with different levels of distortion to create a special sound. That's why i prefer where the designer relies on a tube to get the most out of it. It's the same in the analog world. Example There is only one point at which a catridge will deliver the greatest dynamics only with the correct VTF, when the cartridge output voltage is at its highest. Whether it suits your personal taste is another matter.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Argonaut
I was not talking about the drive, but more about making conditions appropriate for a compare. ...So, it is pointless to read a report that compares a 2w 45 amp with Krell on Apogee Scintilla and says I prefer Krell.

So was I talking about compare conditions. I think we agree.

Sure a 1 or 4 Ohm speaker with a 2W amp is almost apriori going to be a poor match.

That's my point -- on many/most speakers there is a dependency relationship to an amp and in many cases it is fairly narrow in terms of speaker requirements, but it is not always narrow as with the SONs. You can drop in tubes with the same electrical specs into a unit to compare tubes. It is the the electrical spec equivalence that allows such a compare. But maybe you don't want to drop in a really low compliance cartridge into a really high effective mass tonearm to compare with a high compliance cartridge. Sometimes no compare is better than a mismatched compare in terms of information value.
 
I love vinyl for its sound; dislike it for its relative lack of convenience. Looking to emulate the sound of vinyl in my digital set up and build a new system from scratch with this goal in mind.

Of course, it's ultimately a matter of total system synergy, but isolating the DAC as a single component, which DAC most lends itself to a vinyl-esque sound?

Some options I am looking at based on reputation:

- Mola Mola Tambaqui
- Playback Designs MPD-8
- Lampizator Horizon

Thank you!

SS DAC : Vitus MP-D201

Hans Ole Vitus designed this DAC to get LP sound from CD.

Tube DAC : Audio Note DAC5
 
  • Haha
Reactions: Argonaut
The sound of vinyl is different to CD but what we hear from different DACs is not equal. Some DACs like Weiss Medus , dCS Vivaldi are different to some others like TAD D600, Vitus MP-D201, Audio Note DAC5. The second group are more similar to Vinyl playback.
there are many many parameters in designing DAC and I can not say what parameter make a DAC more similar to LP but my expereince shows the time domain response is one of important factors.

NOS DACs like Audio Note DAC5 have perfect time domain response without any overshoot. TAD D600 and Vitus MP-D201 both have perfect time domain response.

TAD has his own digital filter Legato Link (for best time domain response).
Vitus uses Anagram Technology for best time domain response.
Audio Note is NOS DAC without any filtering and has perfect time domain response.
Bidat use adaptive digital filtering for having both time and frequency domain response.
It seems Wadia and Playback design also have perfect time domain response.

I guess the Wadax has perfect time domain response but I am not sure. I did not have Wadax and this year Wadax will come to my showroom.
 
Last edited:
I love vinyl for its sound; dislike it for its relative lack of convenience. Looking to emulate the sound of vinyl in my digital set up and build a new system from scratch with this goal in mind.

Of course, it's ultimately a matter of total system synergy, but isolating the DAC as a single component, which DAC most lends itself to a vinyl-esque sound?

Some options I am looking at based on reputation:

- Mola Mola Tambaqui
- Playback Designs MPD-8
- Lampizator Horizon

Thank you!
I'm afraid creating a completely analogue sounding digital front end without considering your source and network will lead to a road of expensive pain that no DAC will be able to resolve.

What streaming source and network setup do you intend to use?
 
Glib take: I rip all my vinyl as I play them at 192/24. Playing those digital rips gets my digital system sounding closest to vinyl :D

Ok, quite a facetious comment, but this actually proves quite useful for tuning the digital side of the system, because you know what the vinyl should sound like and now you have a benchmark sound to work to playing the vinyl rips...
 
  • Like
Reactions: Republicoftexas69
I thought a Holo May KTE in NOS mode was easy enough to listen to for long periods without causing listener fatigue. While it had other sonic virtues, the lack of listener fatigue set it aside from many I’ve heard.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Campo007

Conclusion and final words​

To briefly conclude the differences between sharp and slow DAC filter responses:

  • Sharp filter; Default option because it is technically superior and one of the reasons oversampling DACs with filters are used. It measures better and requires less from the analog filter at the output, or in some cases it can be left out completely.
  • Slow filter; Alternative option. Technically not as good but some claim it sounds more natural. In a way it is a step towards (backwards) NOS DAC.
  • NOS DAC without any filter is technically the worst case. However, still some people like the sound of them.
Time and frequency domains are two sides of the same thing. Optimise in one domain and you face a trade-off in the other.


 

About us

  • What’s Best Forum is THE forum for high end audio, product reviews, advice and sharing experiences on the best of everything else. This is THE place where audiophiles and audio companies discuss vintage, contemporary and new audio products, music servers, music streamers, computer audio, digital-to-analog converters, turntables, phono stages, cartridges, reel-to-reel tape machines, speakers, headphones and tube and solid-state amplification. Founded in 2010 What’s Best Forum invites intelligent and courteous people of all interests and backgrounds to describe and discuss the best of everything. From beginners to life-long hobbyists to industry professionals, we enjoy learning about new things and meeting new people, and participating in spirited debates.

Quick Navigation

User Menu