Looking for a vinylesk sounding DAC


I cannot say I wasn’t satisfied with my system.

Laptop (Quobuz Studio) - > Schiit Bifrost 2 - > Ocellia Reference RCA - > Werner Acoustics, Selene (active tube preamp using two VT-231 from RCA) - > passive preamp - > Ocellia Reference RCA - > First Watt F6 dual mono custom built - > HEDD Audio’s "Heddphone" / Hifiman HE 4

From the beginning I started to built it I had a quite concrete idea of what it should sound like in the end: vinylesk without using vinyl. It took me a while to get there and now I really thought I got it: Due to the F6 the outcome is brutally powerful and incredibly fast while the tube stage adds lots of body, depth and a rich organic undertone. Finally the RCA’s from Ocellia were adding the fine raffinement and a nice holographic soundstage. Nothing smears, in just every situation everything stays transparent, well controlled/articulated and the separation is just excellent.

BUT when listening to streamed vinyl I still feel the need for action - I just want EVERY track from quobuz to sound like this. Please take just some seconds and listen to this:

https://musicandvinyl.blogspot.com/2020/08/haruomi-hosono-from-aegean-sea.html?m=1

There is just MORE elasticity, MORE tonal density, MORE plankton, MORE concentration to the point, MORE light-footedness and MORE palpability (compared to a "disdainful" quobuz stream). Do you know what I mean?

I still think and hope a new dac could be the nirvana-solution. But which one would manage the job to sound just like vinyl (99% would be ok...)?

Happy to hear your suggestions!
barrista0611
The fake air of a NOS DAC running at CD sampling rates
Curious - what makes it 'fake' ?
Just going on the many reviews other impressions I’ve read, if I were you I’d gravitate toward a tubed R2R NOS DAC such as the Audio Mirror Tubadour Mklll SE, etc. I believe several companies (AM, MHDT, Denafrips?) offer trial periods, and I think that’s the way to go.

I agree, go with a R2R NOS Dac if you want a more organic, analogue-like presentation. A tube stage adds a sense of realism to music.

"Fake air?" All I hear with my Audio Note Dac is a natural sounding top-end with air and space between instruments.


I agree with oldschool 1948. Have Trubadour connected to cary audio sl80 f1. Play 70% vinyl and am very impressed with sound quality of the Dac. PS look at past conversations here. There was great insights on competitive comparisons between the top 5 dacs below $3k. 
George's suggestion for channel mixing to more center the image (gives a sense of immediacy), and you may capture much of what you love about vinyl.
Not with todays magic digital, only like I said with those bad early CD that had ping pong left and right sounds.
Todays cd blow them away, and there's absolutely no need to bleed left into right, as with the channel separation of 120db you have it all and more with proper sound stage, that even goes outside the speakers now. Which I remember never ever did, no matter how good the vinyl was.  
@barrista0611

well implemented digital can sound somewhat 'vinyl like'... but it will never sound like vinyl as vinyl has its own unique and sympathetic colorations (not mention issues)

but i would agree with posters below suggesting various r2r type dacs, and ones with tube buffering of analog outputs, they head in the tonal direction you seek - there are Delta Sigma dacs and ones w/o tubes that do this as well...

you do not mention your budget for the dac - if you stay in the schiit bifrost range of cost it will be hard to get there

you need to be at least in the $750-1000 price range to get a very nice somewhat tonally denser ’analog sounding’ dac

from the list of gear you mention you seem to be a headphones guy -- there is tremendous discussion on mhdt, audio mirror, denafrips, etc etc on the couple well subscribed hp boards