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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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jjss49
6,612 posts
 
it is much more the implementation of the individual design than the basic architecture (R2R, FPGA, Delta Sigma)that differentiates dacs: i.e. quality of clocking and power supplies( foremost), quality of the noise rejection on digital inputs, design of attenuator (if used as a preamp), presence of op-amps or capacitors in the signal path, direct coupling of output stages and on and on. I very much question the ability to differentiate between the different chip sets, be they TI/Burr Brown, AKM, ESS Sabre et al. in an optimised setting on sound quality. Assuming optimal clock accuracy it is really the differences in the analogue domain that determine dac sound quality.


agree with @antigrunge2 100%
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verdantaudio OP
1,500 posts
 
I agree regarding implementation. There are some limitations with R2Rs and DSD. Otherwise, the only thing I can see against any design is if a DAC uses a particular chip that is discontinued and/or replaced, the older models will drop in perceived value. That obviously doesn’t happen with R2R DACs or FPGAs.
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verdantaudio OP
1,500 posts
 
Couple of updates.  

I have done some testing with cables.  The AQ Diamond is very good.  I swapped in a Clarus Crimson and think it was a pleasant switch depending on the speakers and is a very good substitute.  if you have issues with box on AQ stuff fitting, this is a brilliant substitute.

In some cases, I reported a bit of bass emphasis with some DACs.  Swapping speaker cables, I think that was the AQ Robin Hoods, not the DACs.  It is definitely a more bass heavy cable which is probably why I like it with my stand mounts.

Finally, I have done some additional testing with different servers.  I have an Antipodes K40 here (and an open box) along with my sample Nucleus+, a traded in Nucleus and a Wavedream NET that was just traded in with a Wavedream Signature DAC.    

The Nucleus+ and Nucleus exhibited no difference as standalone servers.  I do think there was a small improvement with the Nucleus+ when they were connected via USB and the Roon unit was used as server and renderer but it was small enough that I am not certain and it could be my internal bias.  

The Antipodes K40 as a server used either with the Weiss directly via ethernet or with the Chord (2Go/2Yu) renderer is significantly better.  It should be at 4 to 6x the cost of the nucleus but everything is clearer and cleaner.  Effects, especially in Liberty, clustered notes like the opening of Duende or bells in Be Still My Beating Heart are just clearer. 

The Wavedream NET as a Server vs the Antipodes were a push when feeding the 2Go/2Yu.  Feeding the Wavedream Signature takes this DAC to a totally different level.  The loss of that last, tiny bit of jitter is just mind boggling.  I am using an Audioquest Dragon 48 HDMI to connect them.  The idea is that the clock is perfectly synchronized between the two devices and that is completely obvious.  

 
chorus
976 posts
 
So is there a 1-5 ranking coming out of this?
antigrunge2
1,427 posts
 
@verdantaudio,

case in point: that’s why reclockers like the InnuOS Phoenix actually have a value. Even better is the scenario where you can connect server and DAC via USB with a 10m OCXO or rubidium clock optimising the DAC clock. Since the DAC on asynchronous USB actually slaves the server, not only do you get a reclocked USB link but also the highest accuracy clock for the actual d to a conversion in the DAC. It’s why Esoteric and DCM offer dedicated clocks in their stacks
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