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Thinking about getting a R2R DAC

Dear community,

I currently have a chord qutest DAC. I like it a lot, very full sound, accurate detailed and exciting.  However, whenever I go back to vinyl (with a well-recorded nice pressing) I find the sound so much more satisfying.  There is a warmth, yes, but there is a presence, a 'there-ness' that I just don't get with the digital.  I'm wondering if an R2R DAC would get me closer to that?  my budget would be around the same as the qutest.  I was looking at the MHDT Orchid or the Border Patrol.  Don't get me wrong, I really like the Qutest.  I am thinking of putting it in the upstairs system to pair with the Node2i I have up there.  Any thoughts?  Will analog always just be a different animal than digital?

Currently in the main system I have a Sonore uRendu feeding the Qutest which is going to a LTA MZ2 going to a Pass XA 30.5

thanks!
adam8179
arafiq's avatar
arafiq
1,729 posts
 
I didn't say it would. I said you can use EQ to get a fairly good mimic of vinyl. I didn't say it would sound exactly like vinyl or a R2R dac, I suggested the Border patrol which distorts more than any other I have seen so it might come close.

Of course you did @djones51 ...

EQ would work as well as an R2R DAC, perhaps better at trying to mimic vinyl.

So let me repeat my question again. If you can EQ to get the same impact or better why are we seeing a resurgence of R2R DACs? Is it because the designers don't understand the magic of EQ, or are they just pulling wool over our collective eyes?
phantom_av's avatar
phantom_av
326 posts
 
Coming from a MSB R2R Dac to a Playback Design DAC i would say the FPGA is on par and sounds smooth and musical Satisfying as any R2R.

Whilst MSB make very good dac overall the Playback Design is less fatiguing smoother and easier to listen too.


georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
EQ would work as well as an R2R DAC

Every good R2R dac that I've listened to and measured is flat, and not "like" it's been EQ'd.
Good ones have more body to the mids, slam to the dynamics and impact to the bass. They don't EQ for this, it's how good ones sound compared to DS dacs

Cheers George
 
decooney
2,358 posts
 
@adam8179
6moons review, page-2, MHDT Orchid, ...how it sounds :) 

https://6moons.com/audioreview_articles/mhdtlab/2/

tonix
29 posts
 
Post like this put me into confusion, because it looks like my idea that older DACs work better is not that bad.
It's a lot of years that people says that my system sounds very natural, not like others, and I'm completely satisfied with how it sounds. So, after a lot of time, I discover that my thirty y.o. EAD 7000 is R2R, uses an AD1862N-J like the Mojo Audio Mistique v3, has impressive power supply, great jitter control. I've put it to work magnifically with liquid music thanks to a Yellowtech PUC-2 unit and a normal foobar player (downsampling to 16/44.1khz or 16/48khz).
So I really enjoy music and I'm only willing to try a better EAD (like the 9000 III) or something like a Mark Levinson 30.5.
What am I missing?
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