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DAC Shootout Starts This Weekend

Okay...in another thread I promised to do a side-by-side evaluation of the Audiobyte HydraVox/Zap vs the Rockna Wavelight. Due to the astonishing incompetence of DHL this has been delayed. At the moment, I have a plethora of DACs here and am going to do a broader comparison.

I am going to do a compare of the Rockna Wavelight, Rockna Wavedream Signature, Audiobyte HydraVox/Zap, Chord Hugo 2, Chord Hugo TT2, Bricasti M3, Bricasti M1 Special Edition, Weiss 501 and the internal DAC card for an AVM A 5.2 Integrated amp as a baseline.

For sake of consistency, I am going to use that same AVM integrated amp driving Vivid Kaya 45s. I may branch out and do some listening on other speakers (Verdant Nightshade of Blackthorn and/or Wilson Benesch Vertexes) but want to use the Vivids for every compare as they are the fullest range speakers I have here. For sake of consistency I will use a Chord 2Go/2Yu connected via an Audioquest Diamond USB as a renderer. The only exception is the Hugo 2 which has a 2Go directly attached to it. I will use a Roon Nucleus+ as a server in all cases.

My plan is to use the same five songs on every DAC; In a Sentimental Mood from Duke Ellington and John Coltrane, Be Still My Beating Heart from Sting, Liberty from Anette Askvik, Duende from Bozzio Levin Stevens and Part 1 of Mozart String Quartet No 14 in G Major from the Alban Berg Quartet. The intent is to touch on different music types without going crazy.

I will take extensive notes on each listening session and write up a POV on the strengths of each unit. I am going to start this this Friday/Saturday and will be writing things up over the next month or so. If you have thoughts, comments or requests, I will be happy to try and accommodate. The one thing I am not going to do is make the list of songs longer as that has an exponential impact on this and make everything much harder. If and when other DACs come in on trade I may add to the list through time.
128x128verdantaudio
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
Yes very interesting, how many of these dacs are R2R and how many Delta Sigma?

Also will this be using RedBook CD’s as the source or streamed DSD??

As with all my own A/B’s R2R has always been the preference over Delta Sigma on CD.

Cheers George
verdantaudio's avatar
verdantaudio OP
1,463 posts
 
So…Rockna is R2R, Bricasti, AVM and Weiss are Delta Sigma while Chord and Audiobyte are FPGA.  A good representation of all three technologies.  
I am only streaming via Tidal through a Roon Nucleus+ to a Chord 2Go/2Yu combo.  
I haven’t listened to a Redbook CD since AXPONA 2019 other than a few moments to test CD players that have come in on trade.  I have one here for that reason so no redbook.  
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 

R2R dac sadly will be at a disadvantage then as they specifically do PCM (redbook) "bit perfect" and should be better in the shootout, that's why one of the very high-end dacs now I've seen have a discrete R2R stage for PCM and a ESS Delta Sigma for the dsd streaming
It would be good if you could get some CD's and a transport also for this shootout
Cheers George
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verdantaudio's avatar
verdantaudio OP
1,463 posts
 
one note - I am using FPGA in the marketing sense.  That is, DACs that are not using a traditional DAC Chip (ESS, Burr Brown, Etc…) or an R2R but are exclusively using FPGA chips and therefore are firmware based.  This is generally how Chord, Audiobyte, Playback Designs, etc… refer to their products.  
I have a few transports here.  I can order a CD or two with decent tracks on it. Good suggestion since lots of folks are CD users. 
I would love to have more people involved.  I will try and have my wife listen.  She is a good counterpoint to my taste.  For example, I like the MScaler, she hates it intensely.  I will try and get a few other folks involved for specific ABs.  

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