@vthokie83 and @trivema - Unfortunately, I do not have the Denafrips Pontus II DAC with an Iris DDC to include as part of the comparison, or any Denefrips DAC. I have considered trying a Terminator (in whatever iteration) several times but the timing or opportunity were never just right. I did try the Hermes DDC in my system for a couple of months but I had integration and performance problems getting it to work properly. I will say the Denefrips USA support team was very helpful and eventually sent me a new unit that worked, but I ended up selling it. I do like the idea of using a DDC (for having a variety of output options and lowering jitter out) and I currently use the Singxer SU-6, which I found to be a basic plug-n-play unit that has worked perfectly since I installed it.
Six DAC Comparison
I am in the middle of comparing the sound of six different DACs in my system. I own them all (I know weird) but one of them is still within a trial/return timeframe.
Not to share specific comparisons today, but a couple of observations so far are that first, they all definitely sound different from each other. On one hand, they all sound pretty good and play what is fed to them without significant flaws but on the other hand there are definite sonic differences that make it easy to understand how a person might like the sound of some of them while not liking others.
Second, raises the observation that most of them must be doing something to shape the sound in the manner the designer intended since one of the DACs, a Benchmark DAC3 HGA, was described by John Atkinson of Stereophile as providing "state-of-the-art measured performance." In the review, JA closed the measurements section by writing, "All I can say is "Wow!" I have also owned the Tambaqui (not in my current comparison), which also measured well ("The Mola Mola Tambaqui offers state-of-the-digital-art measured performance." - JA). The Benchmark reminds me sonically of the Tambaqui, both of which are excellent sounding DACs.
My point is that if the Benchmark is providing "state-of-the-art measured performance," then one could reasonably presume that the other five DACs, which sound different from the Benchmark, do not share similar ’state-of-the-art" measurements and are doing something to subtly or not so subtly alter the sound. Whether a person likes what they hear is a different issue.
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It was more challenging than I anticipated to choose a small group of music selections that were both representative of music I listen to, and also suitable to highlight attributes of the of DACs being compared. I started by creating a new playlist in Roon, where I could accumulate and compare tracks, and I eventually chose a smaller group of selections that I have grouped and listed below. Music Selections (Title, Artist, Album) Jazzy,
Vocals
Rock
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@mitch2 and @vthokie83 and @trivema I have a few questions about some of the equipment in the study. Mitch do you know the DAC chip used in the SMc Audio DAC? Also is part of the purpose other than correcting timing of a DDC to be able to change inputs? Many DAC's do not have an optical input such as the SMc audio and Mojo Audio, because of this I am not able to connect the TV to watch movies etc. |
@brbrock -
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