DAC Upgrade

OP you should check out the recent review of the Ifi Dsd pro, which was compared to the Yaggy and the Holosprings, Herb Richert was blown away by the Ifi which has a big warm sound.

We read the review and have requested a sample from Ifi.

If you check out the Sixmoons review and the What Hif review this sound like a true giant killer for $2,500.00

https://www.stereophile.com/content/ifi-audio-pro-idsd-da-processorheadphone-amplifier

It sounds like what you are describing to a tee. I am looking for a DAC that is transparent, extended but smooth highs, 3D midrange and tight bass.

"In previous reviews I’ve praised the HoloAudio Spring "Kitsuné Tuned Edition" Level 3 and Mytek’s Manhattan II for precisely those traits. I can now add the Pro iDSD to this short list of DACs that recover an enjoyable illusion of dense bodies playing music.

I’ve also noticed that audiophile DACs vary widely in their ability to transmit a believably natural-feeling transparency. My beloved HoloAudio Spring reproduces empty spaces that feel completely and uniquely nondigital, and that surround performers with a sense of breathable air that makes the forms of those dense bodies seem more three-dimensionally there. While the Pro iDSD’s air didn’t feel quite as naturally oxygenated, the iFi did consistently surpass the HoloAudio Spring in generating expansive soundstages that directed my attention toward the positions and corporeality of the performers and/or their instruments. This dramatic, wide-open clarity was the Pro iDSD’s most distinguishing characteristic.

Bottom line: iFi Audio’s Pro iDSD lived up to the hyperbole of its owner’s manual. It did actually play music like "a ’state of the art’ reference digital to analog converter." It did indeed sound like "an all-out assault" on what is possible in DACs today . . . and it did both of those good things at a ridiculously low price. Highly recommended."

Read more at https://www.stereophile.com/content/ifi-audio-pro-idsd-da-processorheadphone-amplifier-page-2#8xxPGm...

Herbs references are the Yaggy, the Mytek, the Holo so this review might be the perfect thing.

and for our detractors NO WE ARE NOT IFI DEALERS AT THIS TIME.

We read the review and were really impressed by Herbs findings for such an inexpensive little dac.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ

OMG! He's right! I reversed phase and now my Magnavox CDB-650 sounds better than Fremer's Continuum Caliburn! Mikey was shocked!
"Who knew???!" He said.

George S. Louis, Esq., CEO, that's who!

@mickeyb 
 
Did you just describe a tube DAC as transparent?
🤨

@audiolouis

If both channels are inverted, they now are in-phase, and sound identical.

Or, are you talking about how balanced cables work? Or are you saying since music isn’t recorded in one session with all the vocalists/musicians on one mic, that absolute polarity isn’t preserved?

Stereophile has an article on absolute phase, and basically calls it baloney.

For what it’s worth, since DAC choice is very subjective as is the choice of most equipment, my reference DAC is the Schiit Yggy. It is as you described in what you are searching for. I am in process of comparing the following additions to my collection to it: Bryston BDA-3 and the SMSL VMV DAC1. We will see how that shakes out. But I don’t think you will be unhappy with the Yggy if your goals are as you stated. I first got turned on to Yggy by the initial great Yggy reviews and then demoing the Yggy fed to Ragnarok to MrSpeakers Ether headphones at Axpona. Wow even in a noisy hall!