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DAC Event in Phoenix AZ August 24th

Hi Folks,

For those curious about DACs, the Arizona AV Club is partnering with a number of manufactures and dealers to produce a Dac shootout on Saturday August 24th 11am to 3pm. The event will be held at Acoustic Designs 16074 N. 78th Street, Suite B104, Scottsdale, AZ 85260.

The following dacs will be present:
  • Schiit Yggdrasil
  • Chord Hugo TT + M Scaler
  • Benchmark DAC3
  • iFi Audio Pro iDSD
  • PS Audio DirectStream
  • Holo Audio Spring DAC2
  • Jolida Glass FX DAC
  • NuPrime Evolution DAC
  • L.K.S. DAC MH-DA004
  • Line Magnetic
The dacs will be played in an acoustically treated room on a reference system consisting of Focal Maestro Utopia Evos driven by SAE and Acoustic Research gear.

If you have any interest in hearing well regarded dacs on a top tier system don't miss this event! There is a $10 entry fee. RSVPs are appreciated due to limited seating; multiple sessions will be available. There will also be a speaker from Chord present to talk about their technology.

More information here: www.AZAVCLUB.COM or PM me.
prighello
gandalf's avatar
gandalf
55 posts
 
Ironically I had narrowed it down to a used Chord Qutest and or Black Ice Audio Glass. Well your little blind test might have narrowed it down more. ;) Thanks for the write up and info! 
audionoobie's avatar
audionoobie
357 posts
 
Where does one purcahse the Black Ice Audio? I only see a few on eBay and Jolida's website mentions nothing about dealers or purchasing options. Very strange.
toneranger58
130 posts
 
Sorry if I missed it somewhere, what were the Test tracks?

Thanks. 
prighello OP
53 posts
 
@audionoobie, Black Ice sells through dealers as far as I know. Underwood Hifi is one of them. For the event, I just contacted them directly via the website information.

@toneranger58 , the test tracks are not listed anywhere. I am going to see if we can get them listed on our webpage somewhere. Off the top of my head some of them were:

  • Norah Jones - Come Away with Me
  • MOD - Skyrim Age of Oppression
  • Jack Johnson - Wasting Time
  • Turtle Island Quartet - Julie O
  • Andreas Vollenweider - Pyramid (Live Zurich)
  • Bastille - An Act of Kindness
  • Erich Kunzel - Robin Hood Theme
  • Thomas Bergersen - Final Frontier
  • Ottmar Liebert - Fireopal
  • Hall & Oats - Out of Touch
melm
1,068 posts
 
Thank you very much for holding this demonstration and for your reporting of it.  It's going to be one of the more popular readings on this site.

I would add my voice to that of toneranger58 and inquire about the tracks.

My second question is about the methodology although it may convey a misunderstanding.  It looks as though you had three initial sessions, each ranking 3 DACs.  You then took the three winners and had a 4th session choosing a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place overall winners.   A DAC that took second place under the winner in one of the initial three sessions was then, in effect, knocked out of consideration for the final listen.  Logically, though, a DAC placing second (or even third) in one of the initial three sessions might have been ranked above one of the three initial session winners--if given the chance.

Have I got that right?
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