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Which DACs are known to be sweet/rich/relaxed?

Problem
System is nicely transparant and detailed, but tends to get bright and harsh with certain (rock) recordings and at higher volume levels.

Objective
Nudge the system towards a sweeter, richer, more relaxed presentation.

Proposed solution / first step
Upgrade to a (tube based) DAC, budget $25-40k.

Current chain

  • ROON Nucleus
  • Mola Mola Tambaqui
  • Gryphon Essence pre amp
  • Gryphon Essence monoblocks
  • Focal Stella Utopia EVO
  • Full loom of Triode Wire Labs cables
  • Dedicated power line straight into Puritan PSM156 mains filter
  • System resides in the living room with some diffusors but no absorption other than sofas, chairs, and some rugs.


On my radar
Lampizator Pacific (or Golden Gate 2 since I heard it's more "tube-like")
Aries Cerat Kassandra 2 Ref or Sig

— What other DACs should I consider?
— Do you think upgrading to another (tube based) DAC will achieve that sweeter, richer, more relaxed presentation?

robert1976
pedroeb
493 posts
 

I'll probably be castigated for this recommendation.

Before you do anything, install a dedicated grounding system and connect it to every metal case with a separate lead back to the grounding point rather than creating a daisy chain between pieces of equipment.

That should make a massive improvement, but to completely fix the issue, you'll need to do that same with all speaker drivers. Sometimes just grounding the frames or baskets isn't enough and it's necessary to also ground the magnets.

It that fails, then and only then consider changing equipment.

chopandchange
44 posts
 

I’m going to re-iterate that changing your front end streamer is most likely to take away the edginess with your existing excellent DAC.

The aforementioned Grimm MU1 is my favourite for achieving this and it’s all in one box with the Roon "NUC" included in the tin (so you don’t even need to worry about finding a separate Roon Server).

It’s a stunning piece of kit.

Someone mentioned earlier that they replace their dCS stack with it.

cakyol's avatar
cakyol
940 posts
 

One of the BEST for the money = Chord Qutest

And if you want to spend RIDICULOUS amounts of money = dcs Bartok

tennisdoc56
128 posts
 

I really loved the Aqua audio la scala dac.  The roon player was a lumin, I don’t recall the model, their entry level.   I would describe the sq as sweet and relaxed, like a fine Italian dinner and wine pairing.  If I wasn’t closing in on retirement,  would swallow the cost.  Currently using sonore ultra rendu player and audio gd r7.  Combined 3700 dollars.  I call it my high quality knock off.

gavin1977
55 posts
 

Going back to the suggestion of cables - I can really recommend Sommer Epilogue, XLR or RCA.

It’s a really high end construction, but bargain price. It really helped me achieve a smoother & richer presentation, but still just as detailed. The change was not subtle. Epilogue is used in High End studios and also with B&W for their testing for 802D speakers etc.... so really worth a go for the cost of entry.

I have had the Mola Mola Tambaqui in my system and this would be my suggestion before you consider switching DACs.

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