2. digital
  3. 166177-146733

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
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
"This is not a whether it is better or not decision, it is a whether you like it or not". Per dletch2.

Agree 100%. Who would buy any audio product (with the purpose /intent of enjoying your music) if you didn’t like the sound it reproduces. That would make absolutely no sense. Measurements of a product are meaningless if you don’t enjoy the listening experience it provides.
Charles
genez
220 posts
 
A Tube DAC softens the sound. A sound that would not need to be softened if the DAC was able to avoid certain digital distortions. Tubes are a band aid....
melvinjames
416 posts
 
A Tube DAC softens the sound. A sound that would not need to be softened if the DAC was able to avoid certain digital distortions. Tubes are a band aid....
Softens? Band Aid? You've obviously not heard a well-executed tube DAC. My Pagoda is anything but softened. 
invalid
1,241 posts
 
A Tube DAC softens the sound. A sound that would not need to be softened if the DAC was able to avoid certain digital distortions. Tubes are a band aid....

Tubes sound more like real music.
pauly
1,012 posts
 
A good tube DAC will produce sound as accurately as a good transistor amp, if not more. Anybody who claims tube amplification is not linear is, to put it mildly, “unfamiliar” with electronics and modern tube amp designs. Go with whichever sounds better to you. 
I’m not familiar with musical paradise but I own a RME. It’s an excellent DAC but it did not perform well driving my amp directly. I added a preamp and now it performs properly. 
More to discover