Absolute top tier DAC for standard res Redbook CD

paul79,

Yes, the shortcoming you are stating were there and yes, there are taken care of. It sounds nothing like the QBD76 sounded.

jwm,


I like what Dan Wright does and his modified Oppo is very good. However, when you compare Oppo as a stand alone unit vs using it as a transport for another DAC, the second scenario always has big disadvantage due to the crappy SPDIF output of Oppo. If you look inside the unit, the coaxial output is directly coming out of the board. I have spoken to lots of digital engineers and even though they claim that their DACs are immune to transport output quality, they all eventually admit that it is not entirely true. 

I am familiar with one single product that is completely immune to the source, and that is the Empirical Audio Synchro Mesh. I have put countless digital sources in front of this product, and they all sound equally good using the Synchro Mesh after each and every one of them.

I am not saying it is the absolute best digital source I have heard, but it gets pretty damn close using anything you want in front of it. That is a stunning achievement in my book.

Hi all. 

Sorry for the long lag. I'm enjoying a day inside with the family thanks to almost 20" of snow.... Stay inside and stay safe everyone. 

Wednesday I had the opportunity to hear a Lumin T1, and compare it to my neighbors Aurender N10. It showed enormous potential, but lacked complexity and depth compared to the N10. I want to hear the comparably priced Lumin U1 as I think it may compare favorably with the N10. I'm intrigued. Hopefully the Lumin dealer I'm working with can get a hold of an S1 or U1 (just an S1 without the built in DAC) to audition. 

A friend also brought over a home made fan'less Chinese PC running Windows 10 and for $600- it sounded pretty darn good. I thought it lacked midrange bloom and depth but excelled at accuracy and detail. I would imagine a better power supply would go a long way to helping it out. 

I reached out to Neal of Music Vault and spoke with him at length. His new linear power supply is in the final phase of creation and once ready, I will acquire one to audition. I'll keep everyone updated as that gets closer. 

I acquired a license for Roon. I'm going to compare that to JRiver to hear which sounds better. Curious to hear that. 

To those in the Northeast, stay warm. 

The absolute best buy is the  $2300 Schiit audio s new dac .I cannot spell it but Yagsdradall is close ,go to Computer Audiophile review no $15000 dac is better. If you only gave half that 
The  $1,200 Multibit Gungnir is 90% as good  
Which I own. If I can afford theit flagship later in the year 
I will buy it. Both are class leaders and exceptional huys.

Audioman, you should find a dealer for the new Ayre Codex at 1500 or so and bring in your DAC to listen side by side.  I have heard the Yagsdradall (which is a nice DAC for the price IMHO) vs the Codex and to me the Codex seems to be in a different league.  The Schiit guys do a wonderful job and offer great value as you stated, but the new Codex is to me a game changer.  No pre or post ringing, dynamic and just a great buy.  I heard them both in a very revealing system that costs around 80k or so.  I listened to a few other under 5k DAC's that day in that system (the Schiit unit happened to be there as it belonged to a customer who wanted to hear it vs the Codex.  The Schiit unit was on my very short list until I was able to buy the Empirical OSDE/SE which is a killer DAC in it's own right and maybe the best 'value' DAC made right now (again IMHO).