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Does a Tube Dac make sense?


I’m  in the market for a dac since I bought a Musical Paradise MP701MKII Tube Preamp few months back, does it make sense to buy a tube dac? The seller Garry is suggesting to get the Musical Paradise MP D2 MKIII which is a tube dac with a AK4490 but can be upgraded to AK4499 but I’m leaning towards the RME ADI2 which is almost the same price as the MP tube dac. I’m finding it hard to justify a $1k dac but I have read a lot of forums that suggests the RME or the SMSL M400 and Denafrips Ares II but I’m a sucker for vu meters and spectrum analyzers but if the MP tube dac is a good match for my MP tube preamp I’m willing to give it a go.
stibin
dletch2
455 posts
 
My personal opinion having a DAC with only a tube based output is like having a preamplifier with the tone control set non-flat and no way to ever change it.  Tone controls are a great idea, and only stuffy audiophiles killed them, not because they were bad, but through their own hubris.  A tone control can help a recording sound the way you want to sound, help to tune a room a bit, or can set flat so it does nothing.


I am all for the option of the tube output on a DAC. I have no doubt for many people, on many recordings, that it will provide them with something that sounds better to them. However, just like tone controls, I doubt it would be ideal for all recordings, but if that is the only choice for output, you are stuck with it. 
melvinjames
416 posts
 
@dletch2 .. how is it any different with a tube-free DAC? Every DAC has one signature sound unless it includes different filter options (tone controls). I've heard quite a few DACs over the years and each one sounds unique. Neutral? Free from distortion? No sound of it's own? Yeah, not so much. IMHO of course.
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
@melvinjones,
Precisely! 
There's no neutral audio device. If a tube is a so called "tone control" so is a transistor. Just different versions of distortion. The idea that solid state is the default neutral choice is not logical.  Listen to a half dozen solid state DACs and each is different sonically from another. Same outcome with tube DACs in the same scenario. 
Charles 
rsf507
2,336 posts
 
Tube dacs make sense if you want a bit of coloration to the sound not a bad thing if that's what you are after. I had a Lampi Big 6 and IMHO was too colored only realized it after an audition of a Bricasti M1. Once heard and understanding what the tubed dac was doing I had to have a more neutral and even sounding dac, if this makes sense.
djones51
4,947 posts
 
Every DAC has one signature sound
No they don't. If a DACs noise and distortion is so low it's beyond human audible threshold it's considered transparent. I've heard quite a few DACs over the years and when sight was removed from the equation I couldn't tell one from the other as long as were not DESIGNED to have a signature sound.
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