DAC That Punches Above Its Price Point

@herman I was responding to “measurements mean zero” attitude, not specific posts. Please point me to any of sound components “certified” by audition at the end of “measurements based” production line.

Please point me to any of sound components “certified” by audition at the end of “measurements based” production line.

I have friends who are very highly respected designers/builders of sound components who would not think of shipping a component without listening to it. There are various small shops who do this. I’m not talking about the Marantz’s of the world, I’m talking about smaller shops that care about how things sound and know that measurements can’t tell you everything.

I was responding to “measurements mean zero” attitude, not specific posts.

Then you were responding (as far as I can see) to an attitude that does not exist. I don’t see where anybody advocates that measurements mean zero.

What I and others do advocate is the other end of the spectrum. That is...

measurements do not mean everything.. a very different thing.

But if you go to ASR that is what you get. If he can’t measure it then it does not exist. Measurements done with his audio analyzer are the only things that matter. He usually does not even say anything about the sound of an audio devices that he "reviews", and if he does and hears something that disagrees with his measurements he discounts it to expectation bias.

so to summarize, measurements are very important. Things that don’t measure well will not sound well. However, measurements are not the only thing.

The idea that we have identified and can measure everything that affects how something sounds is ludicrous. Can we definitively measure everything that affects our other senses (sight, touch, taste, smell) ?? Of course not. So why would anybody think we have gotten to the point we can definitively measure how something will sound?

we can’t

herman, I agree with you on as not all measurements, performed on not always perfect testers are telling us whole story. Measurement equipment has many issues by itself, such as temperature drifts, noise floor, sampling accuracy issues, internal reference clock drifts, calibration, user’s training, and more.
I worked in recording studio on mixing some tracks in the past, and initially I was really surprised how coffee break can change the sound perfection! At some point in the studio we used simple radio to hear the sound, to make sure it sounds right to everyone. Therefore I am very pessimistic on relying on listeners type of sound quality tests.
I would love again to hear “blind test” stories, with more than two people participating in component brand A/B/C/D grading sound “quality” without knowledge of unit under test.
My point is very simple: excellent sound component manufacturers know how to test all components, including parts used in product’s assembly, and final product test, in production flow to ensure every unit “meets the spec”, and therefore they have in place all needed test procedures, equipped with accurate test equipment and provide training for staff.

I highly suggest listening to any DAC that you are considering. If you can't listen to a DAC locally, perhaps consider buying one used so you can resell it if it doesn't perform up to your expectations.

Contrary to what some others are saying that many DACs sound similar, I've struggled to find a DAC that doesn't induce listening fatigue for me. I think that managing EMI/RFI and the impact of both in inducing jitter is a key factor in listening fatigue. On the other hand, I have no such issues when listening to vinyl. But the convenience of listening to streaming music and digital files is difficult to deny.

Based on my recent experience, I believe that the Maverick TubeMagic D2 DAC with the op amps upgraded with Sparkos dual discrete op amps results in a DAC that performs well above its $500ish price point.  I think the DAC can be had for about $200 and Sparks accepted an offer for $65 (ea.) for three of the op amps.  Because the DAC has parallel solid state and tube outputs, you are likely to find something you like and the tube can also be rolled.

The Sparkos dual discrete op amps made a significant improvement compared to the burr-brown op amps that were the "upgrade" from Maverick Audio.  The DAC chip wasn't changed, so this was really an upgrade of the analog output portion of the DAC.