For a bit more money than the Gumby I’d suggest the Denafrips Pontus. The Pontus is a definite step up from the Ares and will give you warmer (and fuller) sound. Definitely not digital sounding.. I’ve owned all three of these units and much prefer the Pontus that I still use in my headphone system. My suggestion also would be to use something besides the Oppo for your source, which imo is the weak link in your system right now. I also think the “digital” sound you’re hearing now is more attributable to the Oppo than the Ares.
A reasonably priced DAC upgrade from Schiit Gumby
Hello everyone. Looking for a reasonably priced DAC upgrade from the schiit Gumby I have now. Which I absolutely love but feel could be a bit more open. Source is Oppo 105. Amplification is Schiit Ragnarok 2. Speakers are Reference 3A de capos. The Schiit Gungnir does NOT have the upgrade.
I had the Denafrips Aries 2 and liked it, but it was a bit too, well, digital for me. So I guess I’m looking for a warmer sound. I use CDs maybe 5% of the time and Tidal max for the rest.
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Not sure what your budget is. Have you looked into a Musetec-lks-da005? https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/musetec-lks-mh-da005-dac/post?postid=2320113 |
If you want to have a clear upgrade, with all aspects improving then you will probably need to spend at least 2x to 3x. Even this still puts you in the budge DAC range. But I would not upgrade until you could jump to something like a Yggdrasil… used would be fine. If you stay in the same price area you will be trading one set of weaknesses for another. |
@soix good questions. Budget is no more than $1500 used. I'm streaming through the mconnect app via tidal and my Oppo.
@ghdprentice thank you for the perspective |
The Schitt Yggi+ Less is More is now my reference DAC in my office system. It is the best sounding DAC I have owned. I tossed the shipping box so I cannot sell it even if I wanted to. Other DACs include (all these DACs are in the price range specified except the X1), - Benchmark DAC3B (still have it) - Gustard X26 Pro (good for the price) - Topping D90 (bought it a few times, ended up disliking it each time) - Audio Mirror Tubadour III (tube) - Matrix Audio I-3 Pro - Lumin X1 (very nice DAC) - Musetec 005 (very nice DAC)
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