how good are the non os dacs?

i assume that the term "non os dac" means 16/44.1 khz .

there are differneces in sound between 16 bit non upsampling dacs. some use op amps, some do not. some have tube output stages, some do not. the caps used in the signal path may very.

thus there is no generic sound to these dacs. i own three of them and each sound differs from the other.

there is no point in generalizing. just as there is no value to make general statements about other components.

by the way i have not heard any lush or euphonic digital components in current manufacture. if anyone is aware of a very tube-like sounding digital product, in the classical sense, please let me know. i'll buy it myself.

mr tennis,
i was very specific in the dac i was most interested in if you want to comment on that one or any of the three you own. the adjectives used indicate that the listener enjoys the presentation and i believe that is what this is all about.

NOS vs. upsampling I have been able to do direct comparisons on the "Fly" with a touch of a button in the past.. NOS has a bit more body, more intimate and even meat in the middle midrange in your face, but pretty smooth, and with many transports can add weight to the lows yes..

As for Air, soundstage, its good and more like sitting in the recording studio..

Using upsampling definitely adds a little bit more of synthetic air, and causes a slight enhancement in surround sound type approach.. But can be sharper sounding in the end as the highs seem to carry more air exactly because they are a little more enhanced thru upsampling it seems.. Bass, well it depends its still deep, but more separated, so it might be as punchy but more spread out.

By the way fact is some recordings if they are just bad, or really need something can benefit from one type or the other of Dac, upsampling can help if its just a really compressed sounding recording, but to me is not as natural sounding, so yes Vinyl type sound is a little easier to mimick via NOS if you ask me.

Assuming you mean 16/44.1 by non OS DACS, the two that have auditioned (and own one of them) does sure come close to a good Vinyl rig experience. Undertow describes this sound very well. All the notes sounds like real music and can tell what instruments the sounds originates from- acoustic or electronic. Human voices are so natural and real and you can also hear 'inner' sound. Less to zero sibilance.

I also have auditioned many OS DACs (and own one of them) and can audition on a fly. Again, Undertow describes this sounds very well. Almost always, weight on the OS DAC notes is comparatively lighter- lower and mids, exhibits more air, tend to have more sibilance (compared to non OS DACs).

I find myself listening to non OS DAC for serious listening since it compares to my Vinyl set frighteningly well. The OS DAC does a good job but not as well.

hi djwilbourn:

i own the promitheus dac and two others. it has a lot of resolution and does not possess the characterostics that others have observed regarding os dacs.

the other two dacs, the paradisea and the exemplar little dac are also very detailed. i find the paradisea dac to be the "sharpest" sounding of the three.

i compared the dac in my vincent cd player to the three dacs. the differences are not that great. of course, the digital interconnect is key as well as the analog interconnects.

i reiterate that it is counter productive to make general statements about non os dacs. there are differences between them.

i also have not found any lush, rich or euphonic digital components which are in current production.