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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
barrista0611 OP
26 posts
 
@nekoaudio Thanks for the explanations. I just found those reviews on your website and will get through them!

@ghulamr The Metrum Onyx already is on my list. Hopefully I'll have a chance to try it out soon. Thank you! 
havoc
19 posts
 
Listen to the wyred for sound 10th anniversary dac,it's the warmest most analog sounding that I've ever had in my system and heard. I put it up against the Sim audio $15,000 dac and it left the Sim audio in the dust it was so much better in every area. Cost is $4,500 and I believe it'll go up against anything on the market.
relaks
63 posts
 
First and foremost, Qobuz stream SQ is just adequate, no more than that. I guess you have already bought some Qobuz music. If not, download a good hi res file from them. It should sound way better compared to the streamed one. If you don’t hear a significant difference, the digital part of your system could be seriously improved.
By definition no DAC can can sound like vinyl, but something like Border Patrol DAC would be a big step in the right direction. It has a rich organic sound. (I just checked: it’s on Black Friday Sale atm with 20% off). Next (in fact it should go first) - your laptop. Laptop will never sound as good as a dedicated server, full stop. Elasticity, density, palpability you have mentioned - it all will be improved with a good server, along with dynamics, freq. extremes and sheer blackness of the background. I am using Zen. 
barrista0611 OP
26 posts
 

Thanks relaks!

In the meantime I "accepted" that absolutely no dac will exactly sould like vinyl, not just due to the physical process of a needle touching an LP. So I guess I need to "refresh" my goal and would like to get as close as possible. For the moment I think a good NOS dac is the way to go for me. The Border Patrol definitely got my interest but I`m mainly looking at solid state dacs as my preamp uses tubes already and I spent quite a while with tube rolling.

Black Friday: good idea - hopefully Metrum will join in!

Laptop as a source sucks, I know. I am already heading out for a PI2AES.

Ag insider logo xs@2x
cleeds
5,967 posts
 
relaks
... Qobuz stream SQ is just adequate, no more than that.
Really? What streaming service do you think offers better SQ?
... download a good hi res file from them. It should sound way better compared to the streamed one ...
Why? Aren't the two files identical?
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