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
I did a blind shootout between the Mojo V2x and the Orchid and my updated Ayre QB-9 Twenty.  I kept the Mojo- my wife and kids liked it best too.     
There is a lot of talk here about R2R w tubes and I have had both Delta Sigma and many R2R's. I have an Audio Note DAC 5 special and my wife and I am quite surprised as to how similar it is to my vinyl rig. It took a lot of learning and setup to get my digital rig where it is at and was far more difficult learning curve vs getting great vinyl sound. Literally everything or anything can effect digital and usually to a negative degree. 
The Delta Sigma DAC's seem to be more tolerant of conditions but do not seem have that elusive sound potential regardless of what I did. 

My friend has a Technics SP1200MKii with a fairly cheap cart and it is astoundingly good for what it costs.
In the mid-1980s I often did head-to-head comparisons of the same recording on vinyl (VPI+Grado Arm+Grado cart) vs a heavily modded Magnavox CD player (excellent in its day). There was never any contest. Analog won every time.

All these years later, I’ve worked my way through delta-sigma DACs and fully switched over the R2R & NOS. My NOS DAC is the MHDT Labs Orchid--excellent sound. My R2R is the modest but legendary Audio GD DAC-19. Either one is preferable to delta-sigma for me.

I know R2R & NOS don’t measure well, but so what? Vinyl never measured as well as CD players, and we all know how that ended up. I listen with my ears, not measuring devices.

If I had a big 2-channel system, I would of course test my 2 DACs in that system. And I might (in italics) hear the somewhat diminished soundstage that others describe with R2R/NOS. But in my relatively high resolution nearfield desktop system, soundstaging, no matter how excellent, will never be as audible as in a larger, better-placed system space.

I’m happy with digital now that I have R2R & NOS...I couldn’t have really said that before.

Note: You don’t need to spend mega-$$ to get good sounding R2R/NOS DACs. If you want to, go for it (my dream DAC is the Holo May). But it’s not essential for good sound...
Post removed