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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.
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verdantaudio's avatar
verdantaudio OP
1,469 posts
 
@kren0006  Regarding the Weiss -

It is incredibly resolving.  One of the most detailed DACs I have heard.  I would guess that it is more detailed than the M1 SE, not sure how it will compare to the Rockna Wavedream Signature SE which is the most detailed DAC in this test thus far.  

Tonally, I find it quite neutral.  Not bright or warm.  That being said, it is an accurate, very low distortion DAC.  Some may find it clinical though lack of brightness will keep it from being cold.  I have not had the experience of it being clinical but if paired with the wrong amp, maybe.  That being said, I have not heard this DAC with pure SS gear.  All of my gear here is either pure tube (Art Audio, Canor) or in the case of the AVM, has a tube input stage.  I will have a Magnus Audio 340 coming in soon on trade which is a 50w Class A SS and will give it a listen.  

The DAC is "Roon Ready" and is UPnP and DLNA compliant so ethernet in is a good option.  In my testing, I found it to be the best input.  It also has tons of DSP options and room correction which are easily executed via a Web Interface.  It also has a nice quality remote and you can navigate via the touch screen and the front dial. That Web Interface is not used to play music though, just control the DAC.  You need to use a separate bit of software (Roon, JRiver, etc...) and have either a PC or Server on your network.  We recommend Antipodes servers with Weiss and Bricasti gear with built in network cards.  

jjss49's avatar
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jjss49
6,610 posts
 
@verdantaudio
i hope you and yours are fine and survived the insane flash flooding in the tri state area... i have dear friends in fort lee with two cars in their underground garage that became leaky submarines... just amazing and shocking what is happening in our world these days

re dacs, and a question posed earlier, i believe the sonnet morpheus is a very good r2r dac and with a cool feature set (mqa card capability and remote volume control), sonically it is excellent in absolute terms but i suspect not quite to the class of what scott is testing (or maybe, equal to the lower tier of the bunch)
ptman
12 posts
 
I've owned my Bricasti M1 Limited Gold for several years, paired with YG Carmel speakers and driven (in the past 18 months) by a Bricasti M25 stereo amp. All digital fed through Laufer Teknik 64 32-core. 

I've heard a ton of DACs over the past several years, and remain satisfied with my Bricasti. I believe the pairing with the Bricasti amp is also splendid. 

I often have "the itch", but there has been no urge to replace the Bricasti or YG's.

Thanks for the comparison...well done.
verdantaudio's avatar
verdantaudio OP
1,469 posts
 
@jjss49 sorry to hear about your friends in Fort Lee.  We live on a higher floor and our garage is above ground so it was not a huge deal for us luckily. 
donnedonne
19 posts
 
100% agree with Verdant Audio's thoughts below. I've had the pleasure  of listening to the Weiss in my system for a couple of days so far. 

The Weiss is a stellar high-resolution DAC.  Precise, controlled, neutral - listening to the Weiss, I don't have to suspend much disbelief to feel like I'm in the recording studio. It toes the line of being objective and thoroughly enjoyable. I'm pairing it with a 30w tube/SS pure class A amp (Riviera Audio Labs). It's a beautiful system match.

My other available DAC is a Roon-ready totaldac. It offers an equally alive and engaging sound -- but a different kind of sound. There's a certain je ne sais quoi -  a seductive analogue flavor and goosebump factor. Whatever it is, it's hard to resist. Tres chic.

Both are great. My favorite is whichever one I'm currently listening to.

The current DAC market is both easy and hard. Easy in the sense that there are many excellent DACs that sound different in easy-to-hear ways. But it can be hard to weigh those differences and decide which DAC to buy for keeps.
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