Yeah this whole thing took a very negative turn which wasn't my intention and I do regret that.
To @thyname , my current dac is a Metrum Pavane, prior to that I had a Metrum Onyx. I am very partial to Metrum dacs in so far as they just sound really, really good. But like most of us here I suspect, we are always thinking about what's next, what's even better. And unfortunately Metrum doesn't have anything higher end. There is absolutely nothing at all I am missing currently, but my mind wonders regardless.
So the next targets are really Rockna Wavedream Balanced, Chord Dave, Mola Mola Tambaqui, or even the MSB Discrete. But current situation doesn't allow me to go to a dealer and audition these side by side. It was already hard to do that prior to covid. Speaker auditioning is easy, electronics is tougher as single dealers just don't carry that many brands. And I am uncomfortable getting 4 dacs in for home audition knowing I have to send 3 back. Hence dealer auditioning is preferable to me, I know my test tracks well and I know what musical queues I am looking for. But hopefully situation is normalized and I can audition some of these early next year.
@jjss49 , yes we are on the same page. So these new r2r modules are laser trimmed. They are made very well. And I personally don't have preconceived notions that a integrated r2r chip is worse, as people absolutely adore their old 90s dacs by Theta etc (even in this thread and elsewhere the Tubadour is lauded which is made from Analog Devices chips). Newer r2r dacs are just linear enough for 20+ bits, yielding SNR of 110 dbs, which is basically way beyond what we need. So the peace of mind is there. I have never liked a D-S dac for long, but even then I am highly curious about the Matrix Sabre Pro dac, which is relatively cheap, and measures flawlessly. There's a reason for this, a $300 Matrix mini was the first dac I heard that blew my mind with price/performance ratio. Even back then I knew that tiny, cheap dac was doing something magical. I have heard far more expensive D-S dacs that just didn't sound as good.
To @thyname , my current dac is a Metrum Pavane, prior to that I had a Metrum Onyx. I am very partial to Metrum dacs in so far as they just sound really, really good. But like most of us here I suspect, we are always thinking about what's next, what's even better. And unfortunately Metrum doesn't have anything higher end. There is absolutely nothing at all I am missing currently, but my mind wonders regardless.
So the next targets are really Rockna Wavedream Balanced, Chord Dave, Mola Mola Tambaqui, or even the MSB Discrete. But current situation doesn't allow me to go to a dealer and audition these side by side. It was already hard to do that prior to covid. Speaker auditioning is easy, electronics is tougher as single dealers just don't carry that many brands. And I am uncomfortable getting 4 dacs in for home audition knowing I have to send 3 back. Hence dealer auditioning is preferable to me, I know my test tracks well and I know what musical queues I am looking for. But hopefully situation is normalized and I can audition some of these early next year.
@jjss49 , yes we are on the same page. So these new r2r modules are laser trimmed. They are made very well. And I personally don't have preconceived notions that a integrated r2r chip is worse, as people absolutely adore their old 90s dacs by Theta etc (even in this thread and elsewhere the Tubadour is lauded which is made from Analog Devices chips). Newer r2r dacs are just linear enough for 20+ bits, yielding SNR of 110 dbs, which is basically way beyond what we need. So the peace of mind is there. I have never liked a D-S dac for long, but even then I am highly curious about the Matrix Sabre Pro dac, which is relatively cheap, and measures flawlessly. There's a reason for this, a $300 Matrix mini was the first dac I heard that blew my mind with price/performance ratio. Even back then I knew that tiny, cheap dac was doing something magical. I have heard far more expensive D-S dacs that just didn't sound as good.