2. digital
  3. 161488-147734

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
fuzztone's avatar
fuzztone
5,635 posts
 
NONE.
Like trying to get a banana that tastes like a lemon.
The ONLY thing you can do is pay up for the digital that sounds best to you. We can’t do it for ya.
And then please try to be happy with the universe of fantastic recordings that are only available outside of our solar system of analogue.
Give up on trying to find a wheel that is a perfect circle. Not gonna happen.
Ever.
I'm happy with both.
BFD
Ag insider logo xs@2x
cleeds
5,993 posts
 
audio2design
Where you hear MORE elasticity, MORE tonal density, MORE plankton, MORE concentration to the point, MORE light-footedness ...
Huh? Elasticity? Plankton? I don't hear those things at all when listening to LP.
... I hear MORE wickedly high noise floor, MORE compression, MORE distortion, MORE loss of low level detail, MORE loss of tonal balance, MORE fake "space" coupled with LESS instrument separation, and more unwanted/unnatural sibilance ...
Huh? Wickedly high noise floor? Fake space? Unnatural sibilance? I don't hear those things from LP either.
As for compression: I've found most CDs are much more compressed than their LP counterparts.
c_avila1
185 posts
 
The MHDT Orchid has a lot of good reviews for it's musicality.

I had an MHDT Pagoda DAC. It's sound is detailed but the Jupiter HT caps @ 1uF made it sound musical with an even balance of detail. It was a perfect combination. 

Swap out cheap output coupling caps in any DAC for Jupiter HT caps.

VCap ODAM will make the soundstage more expansive with higher resolution. 
jjss49's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
jjss49
6,612 posts
 
@barrista0611

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/thinking-about-getting-a-r2r-dac?page=3

that thread will help you... a lot of info you want gets covered in it

in the thread, you will note that there is one person who got highly disruptive and argumentative in the thread, he was booted after complaints by several longstanding members, thus the numerous notes of deleted threads and some threads calling him out

you should also note that person is back here, with a new usersname, in this thread and in the other i referenced... he/she is the only person who is repeatedly argumentative (this is fake, that is fake etc etc), posts several replies in succession... won’t name names here... read through and it will be obvious

this having been said, the reading, if you are patient, will yield useful info to you as you upgrade dacs

good luck
audio2design
1,351 posts
 
Cleeds,

The quote with Plankton in it was me quoting someone else.


My comment about wicked high noise floor, etc. was in relation to the link the op posted. That is the sound he wants. I stand by my comments the recording at that link. CD is not inherently compressed. If it is, that was a mixing/mastering decisions whereas on vinyl that was often a necessity. 


 Vinyl is a "sound" and it is desired by many audiophiles especially those that grew up with it and young people increasing feeling less involved and a less and less tactile world.  However, you would be hard pressed to find a serious recording engineer who went through the transition from 80's analog to 2000's digital who will not tell you that digital sounds like what comes off the microphone, tape and digital do not.  I mean people who worked in mid-high end studios with access to good quality analog and digital gear.  That does not mean they will like the digital sound better. It just means it is accurate.
More to discover