Absolute top tier DAC for standard res Redbook CD

07-11-15: Mattnshilp

I've had a crazy amount of speakers going through the room and seam to be narrowing it down nicely. My issue is that the pair I really really emotionally bond with are crazy expensive and the pair I'm comparing them with (which are exceptional but I can't quite seam to connect with as much) are way less expensive.

Now that's a problem. How much is that speaker? Who is the CFO of your household? Do you have a secret audio account which would enable you to slide it by the wife? My wife is the CFO so there is no chance in hell of that sort of thing coming to pass....

Matt, have u looked at the Trenner stuff out of Austria? They are designed to be used in standard living spaces and may be an option for your room. I have looked into their speakers with the idea of using them in a second system in a standard living space....

I agree with George and Al 100% about MSBs approach (and Totaldac for that matter). It seems to be the optimal approach for PCM.

I know another approach that some use that I agree with is hacking digital filtering (http://www.dddac.com).

Norman, when is Lucas going to develop chipless PCM?

I have and love the OSDE/SE. I run them on the Treo's and Ayre AX 5 Twenty. I get all emotion when it's there, but it's not even close to vinyl. I've heard most of these DACS in my system except for the Lamp...I personally have heard them a few times and they don't do it for me. It's a personal thing and I'm not attacking any of you who have and love them. I also am not a PS Audio guy, but plenty love them too.

I like the Totaldac gear a lot and I like Bricasti a ton too. I've heard and love the full DCS stack, but it's still not good vinyl yet. It just isn't as relaxed as vinyl. I would bet that Matt is making much of his decisions on vinyl since I know how much he loves and listens to vinyl.

Good vinyl has at best 30-40db of channel separation at 1khz, either side of this it's much worse 10-20db, compared to Redbook over 100db all across the audio band.

If you put L&R channel bleed network on the output of a cd to mimic the channel separation of vinyl then cd becomes much like vinyl to listen too, more "monoized" for want of a better word, for those that like vinyl better.

A good thing would be a switch on the back of a cd player/dacs to mimic the channel separation of vinyl.

I've done this, but with a simple crude network that destroys the separation to 30db channel separation right across the band, and to my listening it made many recordings easier to listen to (especially older ones like Beatles ect).
It's not right, but it can be much more pleasing to vinyl lovers, as it doesn't tax the brain as much, and adds a richness to the sound.

Cheers George

Actually guys, about 95% of my listening is digital. Very little is vinyl. I love it and it's special to me, but Its just not as convenient as my computer and my Iphone. Sorry to disappoint.

I looked at Trenner. Their reference speaker requires 4 monoblocks or two stereo amps to drive. I can't imaging buying another two 911mk3's! Oy!