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A DAC that can make digital sound analog?

Hi All,

I have a ModWright Oppo 105D. It’s excellent....but it sure don’t sound like vinyl or tape.

What DACs have you heard that really work like magic on digital audio files? 

I am interested in DACs that kill that digital glare/blare, that gives you that sense of ‘blackness’ or ‘darkness’ to the audio soundscape, really letting you hear into the mix...ya know that layering, space and depth that is very evident on tape.

Very curious to hear your thoughts.

Thanks!
128x128brettmcee
leemaze
330 posts
 
Perhaps the highest end marantz and ps audio system are the ticket for you? (SA-10; SA-KI Ruby; DirectStream). These upsample everything to DSD and output a 1-bit signal - the idea being a “digital-version” of an “analog” signal. I have the Ruby and only listen to vinyl for the novelty of playing my dad’s records. 
brettmcee's avatar
brettmcee OP
218 posts
 
@sabrejet My ModWright Oppo outputting to/through the Ortho Spectrum AR-2000 might have ended my search.

Its a great combination. 


orpheus10
8,668 posts
 

I can see why they are naming DAC's R2R, because that's the only way you can get CD's to sound like LP's; that's by recording them and playing back on a good 2 track; in reality, you have transformed digital into analog, because there is nothing digital about the playback from tape.
zavato's avatar
zavato
1,403 posts
 
Bricasti M1. It doesn’t merely sound great ‘for digital’. It sounds great with no qualifiers at all. 
ketchup
698 posts
 
I can see why they are naming DAC's R2R, because that's the only way you can get CD's to sound like LP's; that's by recording them and playing back on a good 2 track; in reality, you have transformed digital into analog, because there is nothing digital about the playback from tape.

Technically, they're R-2R DACs, not R2R, and they have that name because of the resistor ladder circuit that they employ.  It has nothing to do with reel to reel tape.
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