Higher End DACs

David Ten hit the DCS vs T+A sound differences perfectly.

We have heard many DCS setups and they do tend to be extremely clean and detailed, a lot of air as well. 

The T+A offers similar levels of clarity, also a huge soundstage, the T+A house sound does hit a warmer full bodied balance whiich is why the HV series is called that, HV stands for High Voltage, which is  a technique where the internal rail voltages are run at the same kinds of voltages seen in a tube amplifiers, T+A engineers have found that by running their internal rails at high voltages produce a much more liquid sound. 

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ T+A dealers

audiotroy do you sell dcs ? 

@mikelavigne

thanks so much for your kindness and time in helping me think through these decisions - ill be sure to reach out via email (thanks, again)!

I understand exactly where you are coming from on the CD vs file/streaming, as that’s where I am sort of coming down in the digital domain too.

I think I want to optimize, say, 25k-50k in a digital source/front end that gets me overly excited now and allows for logical upgrade pathways (should I feel the full bite and want to pursue further) in the future.

@david_ten

thanks for the further clarification - and I DO realize its all personal preferences at a certain point vs absolute truths.

What I find interesting is I have found basically very positive comments about the DCS range, however, when there do seem to be less than stellar comments they line up with essentially what you were indicating from your own experience.

Perhaps those are just the characteristics that tend to not work for someone when they don’t love a particular brand and its just inherently what brands may potentially struggle with when it comes to digital (ie more a potential inherent aspect of digital that some brands do better or worse for a particular individual’s ears).

The thought has crossed my mind that perhaps my Mcintosh amps are not the most revealing and transparent - so, maybe from a synergy perspective a more articulate and detailed and clean source might actually be a really good fit...something more for me to think about!

Playback Design Merlot Dac & Streamer is top.

My impression of DCS mirrors David’s sonic description. However  I acknowledge there are listeners such as 4425 who find DCS  sound quality simply  superb. This is an expected and logical outcome. Different presentations appeal to different ears. This is why High End audio is gratifying. Something available for every conceivable taste.
Charles