DAC Talk

[Jasonovich]

My first love was my Topping E30 budget DAC, shame it got cooked when we had a power outtage, that's another story!

Topping caught my eye lately with their DX5 II DAC, this hybred design has a lot going for it.
Topping always gave you great value but the neutral linear and transparent sound may not appeal to people who prefer warm colouration to accuracy.

If you have something to share about DACs, love to hear 🙂

View: https://youtu.be/TDgSMFbDJ2A?si=cG81We3si0RjfHss

 

[davidf]

One day I'll set up a demo day for the Chinese "DAC of the day" compared to A.N.Other DAC. I'm not saying these budget DACs don't sound good, but I'm not convinced they're the 'be all and end all' that many seem to think. Many rave about the Eversolo DACs, but from my own experience, they're 'not all that', as some would say. Completely uninvolving. I think too many relate ultra low distortion to 'transparent'. Yeah, low distortion is great, but if the DAC doesn't engage you with the music, it doesn't matter how low the distortion is.

 

[Gray]

My first love was my Topping E30 budget DAC, shame it got cooked when we had a power outtage, that's another story!

Topping caught my eye lately with their DX5 II DAC, this hybred design has a lot going for it.
Topping always gave you great value but the neutral linear and transparent sound may not appeal to people who prefer warm colouration to accuracy.

If you have something to share about DACs, love to hear 🙂

View: https://youtu.be/TDgSMFbDJ2A?si=cG81We3si0RjfHss

I like the look of that new Topping.
Reasonably priced too - great for someone that needs a DAC or headphone amp - and especially someone in need of both.

My first DAC was the original O-DAC (objective DAC) Its designer set out to prove that a good DAC does not need to be expensive.
It tops out at 96kHz, but I've never found that to be a problem.
I still use it, to feed a Topping A50S headphone amp.

ODAC Released

CAREFREE ENJOYMENT: I’ve been listening almost exclusively to the ODAC for several weeks now and I’ve been smiling a lot—not so much at the...

nwavguy.blogspot.com

 

[Jasonovich]

One day I'll set up a demo day for the Chinese "DAC of the day" compared to A.N.Other DAC. I'm not saying these budget DACs don't sound good, but I'm not convinced they're the 'be all and end all' that many seem to think. Many rave about the Eversolo DACs, but from my own experience, they're 'not all that', as some would say. Completely uninvolving. I think too many relate ultra low distortion to 'transparent'. Yeah, low distortion is great, but if the DAC doesn't engage you with the music, it doesn't matter how low the distortion is.

I think I'm going to say something you'll agree. One special component doesn't necessarily transform the sound.

It isn't only about the DAC, it's holistic.
The signature is etched onto the canvas, once you match it up with the right speakers and amp and this means nothing if you don't feed it with a quality source. Dealerships are best place to go for mixing and matching 😊
You hear a lot of DACs and your feedback adds great value to the forums but I do think the Chinese make some excellent HiFi.
Not a bad thing, competition is always good.

 

[RoA]

DAC's 🙂

I have built in amplifier ones from AKM, ESS, a Chord, another one in my FiiO headphone amplifier and a lowly stand alone, tiny dongle one, also ESS I believe, which I bought years ago. That one is now doing duty in my speaker system for streaming (it is imho 'better'than the much newer AKM in my streamer and 'better' than the higher tier ESS's). The Chord is for my CD transport, originally used as headphone amp/DAC.

Saying all this, whilst there are differences they are small and I would be happy to use any for anything.

Amplifier, speakers (and room/positioning) make a bigger difference (imo).

I do not dabble in ladder or tube DAC's.

This Topping DAC looks great but Topping have a history of in field customer software testing which results in initially partially functioning units with bugs and can end in no more updates once a new, similar product is released (in about two months).

 

[Jasonovich]

My FiiO K11 R2R gives a glimpse of the ladder sound, I like it but there's a caveat. Chipset DACs is served with a clear glass of water whereas the water from the ladder resister sound is a little cloudy but the taste is magical.

I think my R2R itch was scratched when I purchased the FiiO. Well I thought that was the case, then I saw the Denafrips entry level DAC on AliExpress and the devil gave me a massive prod, I stared back at him or shim and uttered the words f'Orph!
I just cleared my piggy bank when I purchased Hifiman discontinued He1000 stealth V2, alas, not my dream Susvara but hey-ho proud to be a peasant and not the gentry.

It's pretty odd, or why should the sound of one be the exclusion of the other?
I quite like the sound of FiiO R2R but I also love the micro detail and transparency from my other chipset DACs.

Denafraps Enyo 15th digital audio decoder R2R architecture entry-level DAC With I2S input - AliExpress 44

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

a.aliexpress.com

 

[James105]

I bought a Node Icon with its up to date stereo DACs to compare it with my 6 year old NAD M17v2is differential DAC's, I bought a little bear XLR switch so I could switch between the two easily (its not that easy). I listened for a night, the bear is silent.
I played pink noise from iTunes to level match them.
I was really into this idea and the M17 came out ahead ever time, but it had dirac full range room correction, I guess I should buy dirac for the icon for a better test

 

[Amormusic]

I've had quite a few. Best sound for pound for me is a Deco Transfer (no longer available new so you'd have to find a 2nd hand one). I also tried valve rolling this and the best combo I found was a Telefunken ECC83 and RCA ECC82. As for how it sounded. In a word musical. Forget about kit, forget about everything, then realise you've spent many hours listening to music.

At full RRP these were a bargain. For the money they go for used, circa £400, they are a complete steal.

I was at a bake off and a reviewer I was talking to said that if you'd stuck a big name badge like AudioNote it would have had an RRP over £2k. I'd have to agree with this view. Fantastic things.

But near impossible to pick up.

When I sold mine, I'd advertised it and it sold in about 15 minutes.

 

[Witterings]

I was a huge DAC sceptic believing it was just 1's & 0's but I didn't comment for years as I hadn't compared any myself.
I have a Topping E30 which I'd bought to try against the onboard DAC in my Arcam SA 30 and couldn't really tell much difference.

I home trialed an Atoll IN 300 amp using it's DAC and the 1st thing I massively noticed was how much wider it's soundstage was and thought that was down to the amp and initially it was completely alien to what I'd heard before, I didn't fell comfortable / like it and my trial was way too short.

I tried a WiiM Pro Plus which has a better DAC than their Mini / Pro with RCA and noticed a slightly wider soundstage.

I eventually bought a Chord Qutest with a 2 week return window, my initial thoughts were the same as the DAC in the Atoll as the soundstage was instantly much wider again and I really wasn't sure .... I should point out my speaker's positioning due to room layout is much wider than ideal so anyone with better placed speakers probably won't have the same initial impression.
I adjusted and got used to the "New Norm" and then started back to backing against what I'd had before and over time realised it was definitely a keeper.

Having decided there was a very definate improvement using WiiM streamers with Opt/Coax out, I'd heard the clock can also make a difference so I bought a WiiM Ultra to try USB out which then uses the Chords Clock instead of the WiiM's .... I also thought, maybe I should try Bluesound as well so got a Nano at the same time.

I signed up for a family instead of individual streaming service and bought a KVM switch so I could instantly switch from one to another .... there was an improvement with the Ultra using USB out vs coax/opt ... but there was an improvement again using the Nano vs the WiiM.

I'd been searching for Mecca and not quite being content with my system for 1 1/2 years until I made these changes in Jan this year. I'm listening to it as I type and I'm still completely blown away and have absolutely no intention of making any other changes.

The DAC makes a huge difference and will probably change the signature whatever you're using it, but what feeds it makes a difference as well.

When I went on holiday for 2 weeks I lent my neighbour my Nano so he could trial it against his previous generation Node, he noticed a considerable difference which I'm guessing is possibly down to an improved DAC and it prompted him to upgrade to an Icon.
He also borrowed my Chrod and is e-baying various bits and when he has enough will get a Qutest as well.

A brief summary of the differences I've experienced are, much wider and slightly deeper soundstage but it's the detail and clarity of notes that makes the biggest difference.

I also want to say much warmer / richer, if somome said that to me without hearing it, I'd instantly think stuck down in treacle sauce and muddy and it's just absolutely not ... maybe due to the better seperation.

All I can say is, anybody thinking about trying similar, bide your time until a 2nd hand one comes up at a dealer with a return window.

If you want to try a different streamer, get one from Amazon with a 30 day retun window ... cost you nothing if you don't like it but make sure you have a decent way of back to backing it with instant changes against your current setup.

Every step I took I made sure I had a return window as I wanted to genuinely satisfy myself the cost was worth it as I have a number of other hobbies calling for funds so don't spend money unless I genuinely believe it's worthwhile.

Aplogies for a long post but I didn't want to just give part of my experience.