2. digital
  3. 169752-3610

DAC That Punches Above Its Price Point

I’ll make it short. I’ve spent some hours reading the DAC threads on this forum. I am aware quality of digital matters as superior DACs usually the costlier ones will sound better than cheap DACs, making music sound more analog, lifelike, real, believable with all the soundstage and detail etc. All the good things. There are some who thought it’s the music that matters, and although different DACs may sound different it’s the music that makes the most difference. In other words, the differences that exist between DACs are not that important as it's all about the music. I can see the point that people are trying to make.

Back to the topic. I’ve read great things on the Denafrips Ares II and Pontus II, and other costlier high-end DACs. I’ve read about the Chord DAVE. I personally own a Chord QBD76 and have no urge to replace it with anything else since it sounds splendid in my system, for the money. I may be setting up another system and was wondering if there is a DAC in the lower price bracket that punches way above its price point, sounding close to if not better than the costlier designs.

I presume the Audioquest Black, Red or Cobalt are not worthy of consideration and sound noticeably inferior to the costlier options? FWIW I tried the Musical Fidelity M1 DAC and this one really sounded poor to my ears. Very digital sound and I stopped listening to it after a while. The Chord sounds a lot more analog, lifelike and real to my ears.

I would appreciate any advice. Thanks.


ryder
calvinandhobbes
309 posts
 
As a diehard vinyl listener, I’ve actively avoided digital audio for the past 32 years until COVID struck this past year. With working at home for a year and a half now, the advantages of being able to change music without getting up became much more important than pre-COVID. So I built a front-end for listening to digital music both via local files and Qobuz streaming. As part of the process, I’ve listened to 8 DACs in the past year:

  1. Audioquest Dragonfly Red - already owned, but plugged it into my streamer to see how it would fare in my home system
  2. Rega DAC - loaned to me by a friend. Had it in my system for several days and then took it out.
  3. Denafrips Ares II - loaned to me by a friend. Had it in my system for several months.
  4. Simaudio Moon 280D - Listened at a dealer in comparison to the Qutest
  5. Chord Qutest - Bought one. Had one in my system for several months. Sold it after I got the Pontus
  6. Denafrips Pontus II - What I decided to keep.
  7. Chord Hugo TT / MScaler - Listened at a dealer
  8. Schiit Yggdrasil - Listened at a friend’s house
If you’re seeking a more analog and less digital sound, I can highly recommend the Pontus. FWIW, I was not at all impressed by the sound of the Hugo TT / MScaler. It was lacking in both pace and tonal color for my preferences. The Ares II was decent, but the Pontus is in a completely different league in terms of its sound quality improvement overs the Ares. The Ares has better tonal color and a more analog quality to its sound than the Qutest while the Qutest has better pace and timing than the Ares. The Pontus is better in pace/timing, ability to convey tonal colors, soundstage size than both the Ares and the Qutest. I thought the Pontus has more finesse than the Yggy. The Yggy was more forceful in how it conveyed rhythms.

jperry
2,458 posts
 
The Line Magnetic DAC at $2,500 is listenable.
hysteve
86 posts
 
Calvinandhobbes

That is the kind of comparison info that is most helpful. Thanks for taking the time! I was curious though whether or not you used a re-clocker with any of those DACs. Did you? I tried a couple of DACs and the one that came highly recommended by my very experienced relative was the Ayre QB9 with the Twenty upgrade. I thought it sounded great in my system until I borrowed an Innuos Phoenix USB reclocker. Wow, what a difference In soundstage and vocals. It took away the digital edginess, which was minimal in my digital setup but, was there.
calvinandhobbes
309 posts
 
@hysteve I did not use a reclocker, but I am open to the benefits that a reclocker can add. I tend to trust my ears on questions of that nature. Devices that provide more galvanic isolation to reduce RFI/EMI noise are another direction that I'm interested in exploring further as well.
jerrybj
869 posts
 
Another that is rather cheap, but very good, is the Beresford SEG.

I have two, both with mods.
Stan ( the designer) offers these.

http://www.homehifi.co.uk/
More to discover