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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
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,230 posts
 
@verdantaudio, 
 I appreciate you taking the time and effort to do this.  I hope you can persuade your wife to participate.  I get the strong  feeling that she has very good ears and taste. Her input would be quite insightful.
Charles 
headphonedreams
522 posts
 
That's a really big undertaking!
I look forward to read about your impressions. 

One thing I thought of is that Tidal normally uses MQA. Not sure if all dacs can handle that. Maybe it's better to use Qubuz?
chorus
976 posts
 
Verdant,

Where in the US are you doing this DAC Event?

This is the most exciting post I have read in months! Congrats!!

We did one back in 2019 and it was fun. The Chord people came
and provided a lot of support. We did learn a couple things:

What is the High-Low price range of your products?
If they vary too widely the comparisons may not be as useful.

We used an audience of about 20 people with scorecards.
Yes they were more audiophile types than off the street types.

Obviously you can not compare 10 pieces to each other
unless you have a memory that is pretty amazing.

Will you do two at a time, choose a winner which then moves to another
bracket?

Or do you intend to write up a review-like article with various comparisons such as-’DAC A plays acoustics or piano better than DAC B’ ?

I applaud the effort it takes to get these makers to send you their
burned in? products at the same time.

I would recommend plugging in all the DACS 7 days prior to the comparison and not turning them off until the event ends.

Controlling or rather equalizing the volume at which they are heard
is perhaps the biggest challenge. Some monitoring maybe required
as some models have volume controls and others may not.

To do all these using five songs you mention sounds like it might take a
while just to get through it all but that is your choice naturally.

Since each DAC may play different levels of resolution, will you choose
the lowest common denominator of sound-Red Book perhaps- to make an even comparison or is that really your goal? If so I suggest you consider a JVC recorded XRCD.

To manage all this on your own is a big task. Perhaps you may want
to get some assistance?

I look forward to the results!!!
redwoodaudio
413 posts
 
I think a tube dac like a lampizator should be represented too, for extra spice.  Have access to one of those?
pennpencil
109 posts
 
Finally, an interesting comparison of DACs in the same system. Thanks for doing this.
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