All DACs sound the same...

[Anderson]

FiiO Taishan D03K @ £30

 

[Vladimir]

Add the XDA-1 in the UK. I presume you can order the XDA-2 as well. Google up other dealers in the UK for finding the best price.

 

[Frank Harvey]

P.S. Is there a DAC that sounds the same as Chord Hugo? Which one and how much?

Yes, the 2Qute. Although that doesn't run on a battery, so will slightly lose out to the Hugo.

 

[davedotco]

The Beresford Bushmaster has a very novel way of dealing with the 'analogue stage' and the 'voicing' thereof.

It doesn't have one...!

The analogue output from the chip is fed directly to the output, no 'designer' analogue stage at all. Impedance matching needs a little thought but otherwise it sounds great, both as a dac and as a headphone amp. I have had hands on a Mk1 and thought it pretty transparent. Outstanding for the money.

 

[Vladimir]

Which is what every CDP tweak started with back in the 90s and early 00s. Just bypass everything straight to the RCA jacks.

A lot of really useless electronics were added in the analogue section just to maintain certain published specs IIRC.

 

[ebentjerodt]

Put an Audio Research DAC8 up against a Chord Electronics QBD76 and I can guarantee that you would not consider any longer that all DACs sound the same. Chalk and cheese. Completely different sound.

Hi Gazzip,

I just to have the QBD and sold it due cashflow issues a year ago. Now I am thinking in get a new reference DAC. which is better in your opinion? The QBd or the AR DAC8?

thnak you in advance for your input

 

[SteveR750]

you have 3 choices if you value yoiur wallet

QBD76, Qute or a cambridge dacgmagic +

 

[matt49]

So... A more accurate way of putting it is that all compentently designed DAC's that are audiably transparent (even the very cheap ones) will sound the same.

All hifi components that are audibly transparent will sound the same by definition. That's what 'audibly transparent' means! Really ...

 

[Gazzip]

Put an Audio Research DAC8 up against a Chord Electronics QBD76 and I can guarantee that you would not consider any longer that all DACs sound the same. Chalk and cheese. Completely different sound.

Hi Gazzip,

I just to have the QBD and sold it due cashflow issues a year ago. Now I am thinking in get a new reference DAC. which is better in your opinion? The QBd or the AR DAC8?

thnak you in advance for your input

Better is subjective, but to my ears and in my setup the ARC DAC8 was a more refined experience. There is no doubt that the Chord QBD76 does some things better. Bass for example I found to be particularly powerful with the Chord, as well as detail retrieval which was also incredible. However the way that those strengths are presented by the Chord I felt to be the DAC's weakness. It seemed almost too eager sometimes to show you everything at once, leading to a sound that I found wearing and sometimes even ascorbic. A bit like going eyeball to eyeball with a freshly sliced onion.

The ARC on the other hand just seems to know when to use the information it has processed to paint a more musical picture. There are tracks for example where I know without doubt that the Chord had way more bottom end clout, but to me it wasn't bringing anything to the party. Paul Cezzane vs Claude Monet in art terms I suppose. The Chord is possibly/probably more accurate and complete but I somehow prefer the ARC sound which I believe to be more musical. More glass of wine and dim the lights for a few hours than race you off the line at the traffic lights and then head to a strip club.

 

[steve_1979]

So... A more accurate way of putting it is that all compentently designed DAC's that are audiably transparent (even the very cheap ones) will sound the same.

All hifi components that are audibly transparent will sound the same by definition. That's what 'audibly transparent' means! Really ...

True. I could probably have worded that better than I did.

In the rest of that post (not shown in your quote) I explained the reasons why some DAC's may not be audibly transparent which was the main point that I was making.

 

[ebentjerodt]

Put an Audio Research DAC8 up against a Chord Electronics QBD76 and I can guarantee that you would not consider any longer that all DACs sound the same. Chalk and cheese. Completely different sound.

Hi Gazzip,

I just to have the QBD and sold it due cashflow issues a year ago. Now I am thinking in get a new reference DAC. which is better in your opinion? The QBd or the AR DAC8?

thnak you in advance for your input

Better is subjective, but to my ears and in my setup the ARC DAC8 was a more refined experience. There is no doubt that the Chord QBD76 does some things better. Bass for example I found to be particularly powerful with the Chord, as well as detail retrieval which was also incredible. However the way that those strengths are presented by the Chord I felt to be the DAC's weakness. It seemed almost too eager sometimes to show you everything at once, leading to a sound that I found wearing and sometimes even ascorbic. A bit like going eyeball to eyeball with a freshly sliced onion.

The ARC on the other hand just seems to know when to use the information it has processed to paint a more musical picture. There are tracks for example where I know without doubt that the Chord had way more bottom end clout, but to me it wasn't bringing anything to the party. Paul Cezzane vs Claude Monet in art terms I suppose. The Chord is possibly/probably more accurate and complete but I somehow prefer the ARC sound which I believe to be more musical. More glass of wine and dim the lights for a few hours than race you off the line at the traffic lights and then head to a strip club.

Thank you Gazzip, that looks like has Chord Dac sound. Seem´s that de AR has a more relaxed sound.

any expirience wiht the new Wadia 321?

 

[Native_bon]

I have blind tested different amps & tone controls swtiched on/off. Was barely able to distinguish between amps. Could not distinguish tone control on/off on my amp. Got two dacs, Audiolab M dac & musical fidelity V90-dac. I can tell the difference between both dacs blind any day. V90 dac cleaner bass & more musical. The Audiolab M-dac more fuller sound, not at detail & relaxed as the V90. For me yes dacs do sound different.

 

[wilro15]

I have also had the opportunity to switch quickly between two DACs in my system, the SuperNait DAC and the DSpeaker Anitmode DAC. I just change inputs on the SNait to do it and they do sound different.

SNait is warmer, more bass and slightly more detail (you can hear reverb trails more so).

The Antimode DAC sounds lighter, colder and a little bit harsh - less enjoyable.

 

[CnoEvil]

Better is subjective, but to my ears and in my setup the ARC DAC8 was a more refined experience. There is no doubt that the Chord QBD76 does some things better. Bass for example I found to be particularly powerful with the Chord, as well as detail retrieval which was also incredible. However the way that those strengths are presented by the Chord I felt to be the DAC's weakness. It seemed almost too eager sometimes to show you everything at once, leading to a sound that I found wearing and sometimes even ascorbic. A bit like going eyeball to eyeball with a freshly sliced onion.

That pretty much sums up my experience of Chord DACs (and indeed amps).

 

[matt49]

I have also had the opportunity to switch quickly between two DACs in my system, the SuperNait DAC and the DSpeaker Anitmode DAC. I just change inputs on the SNait to do it and they do sound different.

SNait is warmer, more bass and slightly more detail (you can hear reverb trails more so).

The Antimode DAC sounds lighter, colder and a little bit harsh - less enjoyable.

I agree with you about the Antimode DAC. I've been switching between an Antimode and a modded MDAC: the modded MDAC is just a more pleasant listen. I think I'll be using the Antimode in pure digital mode in future.

Matt

 

[playback]

I use an Arcam rLink which has coax and optical inputs but i have no idea where it competes against the already mentioned DACs. Probably bottom of the pile.You can find the for £100 roughly.