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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
melvinjames
416 posts
 
You didn't answer the question.

FWIW I used a Chord Qute EX DAC for years and, while it's getting long in the tooth, I still think it's a terrific DAC. I must enjoy artifacts considering an MHDT Lab Pagoda replaced it. Sounds great with Redbook.
audio2design
1,351 posts
 
It sounds wonderful to you and that is all that matters and yes you very well may enjoy those artifacts though depending on age may not hear the bulk of them. It gives a light and airy sound to redbook. Some love it.  Embrace it but don't confuse it with accurate.
mahgister's avatar
mahgister
13,208 posts
 
Accurate: meaning an engineering measured number...

accurate: meaning a natural timbre, a feeling of the real instrument for the human ears...

Accurate?

Or these 2 meaning of accurate we conflate them and accurate means first and last a number on a measuring tool...

My nos dac cost me 25 dollars new on a bid and the idea to upgrade it seems ridiculous to me ....

After 2 years i cannot fathom his limit they were not audible to me....This dac improve with my speakers and amplifier embedding controls installation...

I dont doubt that there is better dac than mine, i will call them not more accurate but more musical if they are better, for example the Denafrips pontus in NOS mode is certainly better than my actual dac at his price........ Accuracy without musicality is without interest for me....



« I have 2 masters et they serve me well: my ears» -Groucho Marx


« They are not masters nor servants brother, they are your friends»-Harpo Marx
melvinjames
416 posts
 
I can assure you I'm not confused.
mahgister's avatar
mahgister
13,208 posts
 
I am sure you are not..... accurate in the technical sense is a good thing.....

accurate for my ears is also a good thing....

It is not a matter of confusion, it is a matter of assimilation between the 2 significations....

Nos dac does not mean inaccurate, unless we reduce accurate for my ears to accurate by numbers....
 
And sometimes techical improvement are not the "crux of the matter"  for audiophile experience, especially at moderate cost....Saying otherwise and reducing  the 2 sigification of "accurate" is  misleading....

My best to you....


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