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Which R2R DAC UP TO 1K: ORGANIC, FULL-BODIED, DEEP SOUNDSTAGE

Hi all and hello George,

I`m new to Audiogon and as I have seen from earlier discussions some of you seem to be THE absolute R2R enthusiasts for many years. May I ask you for some help regarding this topic as I`m out for a new dac which should be R2R?

I`m coming from a Lector CDP 707, which is sold now as I got over to streaming, but I bloody regret it. The Lector had all I ever wanted, tonally he played on the warm, full-bodied side, organically with a lot of flesh to the bone and authority/slam and I loved the expansive soundstage, not overly wide but very deep. Bass was punchy enough even for EDM which I listen to mainly.

For the moment I`m using my former headamp as a DAC, the Questyle CMA 600i, with a DS chip on board, AKM 4490. I wouldn`t call it a catastrophe, but of course the signature is lightyears away from the Lector.

When looking for a new DAC I saw that Lector Strumenti offers some too, but I`m afraid my budget is too small with up to 1K, so this is not an option.

In respect of the Lector using the PCM 1704K I thought about (ab)using some vintage gear, for examle the Denon DVD 5000 with 4xPCM 1704J on board too (the Denon has a digital input and could be used as a stand alone DAC too), but I was told the analog stage is crappy and so I got away from this.

Still on my mind is the old Naim DAC and the Bifrost 2 or a used HoloSpring but for the moment I got no possibilitys to test them in my system (I`m using a tube packed preamp and as a headamp the Emotiva BasX 100 with the jumpers set as my "heddphone" requires some juice) and sure I`m open to any other ideas.

So, what would be your favourite devices when looking at my desired sound and knowing what (tiny amount) I got to spend?


It should be able to handle 24/96 btw, but my main concern would be an extremely deep and wide soundstage and a darker organic tonality.

Would be really glad for some help and input.

Best regards
Michael


barrista0611
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
Pretty much all conventional Dacs these days are delta sigma. These designs used to be very popular in the early to mid 90s but gradually disappeared into obscurity.


DS (Delta Sigma/1bit/bitstream) never disappeared, but it did replaced the last of the R2R chips for two reasons back in the 90's 00's, one was they were a "fraction of the cost" to manufacture compared to R2R and it's laser trimming.
And then they could also do the upcoming SACD's in 99 (today called DSD without the SACD flag.)

 But now discrete R2R is making big noises in hiend audio because it has a musicality, compared to DS. Which DS to me when playing PCM 16/44 or 24/96, DXD recordings is smooth enough, but is a bit of a yawn, there seems to the "boogie factor" excitement missing that get you tapping. 

It's said by MoJo Music DSD v PCM
When a PCM file is played on a native DSD/SACD DS/single-bit/bitstream converter, the single-bit DAC chip has to convert the PCM to DSD in real-time. This is one of the major reasons people claim DSD sounds better than PCM, when in fact, it is just that the chip in most modern DS single-bit DACs do a poor job of decoding PCM.
PCM cd's should to be listened to on R2R dacs for the best bit perfect  presentation.

Cheers George
hg
9 posts
 
Good Morning all my question is what is the best cd front loading or top loading  or is it just preference.
Thank You H  
barrista0611 OP
26 posts
 
Thanks a lot for the ongoing support!

Will definitely check out the Electrocompaniet, while I am a bit sceptic about MHDT as my preamp is tube packed already. Could be too much in addition.

Denafrips, hmmm. Don’t they use the soekris architecture in general? I found their 1421 a bit to thin. Not harsh or cold but not as rich and full-bodied as I wanted.

Can someone comment on the Holo Spring 2? Rare on the used market of course but everything I was reading about it sounded really good by far.

Still open to other ideas of course! 
djones51
4,947 posts
 
Topping DX7 it should drive your headphones and the DAC would work well with a tube preamp.
ianrodger
164 posts
 
Denafrips Ares 2
It has everything you're asking for.
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