Nearly: I listened to the Orchid, but not your Valab. The sound was euphonic,, fluid, pleasant, "musical".
However I happen to have a different R2R (MSB) and there is no comparison, not even on a different level, considering the amount of detail, dynamic contrast, and "naturalness".I also found that the Orchid was no match for my smaller Ideon dac, in frequency extension (bass in particular) and dynamics (impact, etc).This is not to say the Orchid is poor, just that I preferred the other devices.
Why not try a contemporary chip-based dac, just for comparison? Good luck!
However I happen to have a different R2R (MSB) and there is no comparison, not even on a different level, considering the amount of detail, dynamic contrast, and "naturalness".I also found that the Orchid was no match for my smaller Ideon dac, in frequency extension (bass in particular) and dynamics (impact, etc).This is not to say the Orchid is poor, just that I preferred the other devices.
Why not try a contemporary chip-based dac, just for comparison? Good luck!