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Thinking about getting a R2R DAC

Dear community,

I currently have a chord qutest DAC. I like it a lot, very full sound, accurate detailed and exciting.  However, whenever I go back to vinyl (with a well-recorded nice pressing) I find the sound so much more satisfying.  There is a warmth, yes, but there is a presence, a 'there-ness' that I just don't get with the digital.  I'm wondering if an R2R DAC would get me closer to that?  my budget would be around the same as the qutest.  I was looking at the MHDT Orchid or the Border Patrol.  Don't get me wrong, I really like the Qutest.  I am thinking of putting it in the upstairs system to pair with the Node2i I have up there.  Any thoughts?  Will analog always just be a different animal than digital?

Currently in the main system I have a Sonore uRendu feeding the Qutest which is going to a LTA MZ2 going to a Pass XA 30.5

thanks!
adam8179
thyname's avatar
thyname
3,107 posts
 
And Dannad, I am going to sleep now (yeah, believe it or not, I do work for a living), but before I do, I will leave you with what another member said about you back then when you were posting as AtDavid:

——-

He's not doing these sorts of threads because he cares about audio or high end audio or the people who desire quality audio in their lives. 

Hes trying to crash it, he's trying to tear it down, he's trying to force it to follow HIS dogma. Every post he makes screams this point, either openly, or subtly. 

See it for what it is.
arafiq's avatar
arafiq
1,726 posts
 
I didn't say it would. I said you can use EQ to get a fairly good mimic of vinyl. I didn't say it would sound exactly like vinyl or a R2R dac, I suggested the Border patrol which distorts more than any other I have seen so it might come close.

Of course you did @djones51 ...

EQ would work as well as an R2R DAC, perhaps better at trying to mimic vinyl.

So let me repeat my question again. If you can EQ to get the same impact or better why are we seeing a resurgence of R2R DACs? Is it because the designers don't understand the magic of EQ, or are they just pulling wool over our collective eyes?
phantom_av's avatar
phantom_av
326 posts
 
Coming from a MSB R2R Dac to a Playback Design DAC i would say the FPGA is on par and sounds smooth and musical Satisfying as any R2R.

Whilst MSB make very good dac overall the Playback Design is less fatiguing smoother and easier to listen too.


georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
EQ would work as well as an R2R DAC

Every good R2R dac that I've listened to and measured is flat, and not "like" it's been EQ'd.
Good ones have more body to the mids, slam to the dynamics and impact to the bass. They don't EQ for this, it's how good ones sound compared to DS dacs

Cheers George
 
decooney
2,334 posts
 
@adam8179
6moons review, page-2, MHDT Orchid, ...how it sounds :) 

https://6moons.com/audioreview_articles/mhdtlab/2/

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