When Will the DAC Singularity Be Reached?

Cin Dyment @othercrazycanuck : anything you have to say? Can you answer my question on the PS Audio?

thyname

2,920 posts

07-07-2023 at 08:57pm 

 

 

othercrazycanuck

23 posts

07-07-2023 at 11:29am

I had a Lampizator through here for a while, model 7 if I remember, it had a noticeable sound to it. It was not my thing. I have had a Mola Mola Tambaqui in my system which some claim is one of the best DACs made, but both standalone and fed from the Lyngdorf digital output, could I honestly say it sounded better or even different compared to my other DACs? No, and I really wanted to 🤗. I liked the way it looked. Had a PS audio in system for a few weeks too. Was fun to play with the filters. They sounded different. But then it just felt like work so I left it on the basic one, which was the best anyway.

I am inclined to explore these filters again. I hear you can accomplish the effect in Roon. Would save me getting up and hitting buttons.

Cin Dyment: we both know very well you never owned such DACs. You don’t own any audio system. Maybe in your rhetoric trolling the audiophiles you hate so much, lies.

By the way, which PS Audio DAC had filters you could change by getting up and pressing buttons on it? Enlighten me. You clearly never owned any PS Audio DAC. Or Tambaqui Mola-Mola. Or Lampi. It’s all made up stuff, usual from you.

For others here who read this, I am posting a list of your previous Audiogon usernames, all banned. By no means not all inclusive, as I may have missed some. This time around I spotted you in the 6th post and same day you “joined” 😂. I am sure you so my post calling you out the other day in the big Amir’s propaganda thread

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othercrazycanuck

 

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theaudiomaniac

 

theaudioamp

 

deludedaudiophile

 

thynamesinnervoice

 

cindyment

 

snratio

 

yesiamjohn

 

sugabooger

 

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Cin? @othercrazycanuck ? Come on man… Did your Google Machine break down?

No. There are DAC sonic advances at all price points, no evidence that cheaper can catch up with the more expensive offerings.  Higher quality parts within expensive components usually costs significantly more and is reflected in higher prices.  Also, cutting edge designs have significant R&D costs that have to be passed on to the customers.

One other word about improving DAC performance. It was recommened by Alvin Chee (owner of Denafrips distributor Vinshine Audio), that adding a Denafrips Iris between my Bluesound Node 130 and my Denafrips Pontus II DAC might improve overall performance. If it didn't work, I could sell it for not much less than the purchase price. Alvin has never steered me wrong, so I bought one.

What does it do? The Iris DDC (and I assume most DDCs), takes an input signal and filters it galvanically and optically to reduce jitter and noise. The Iris then re-clocks the signal prior to outputting (via I2S HDMI in my case) using a TCXO which is superior to the one in the Pontus II.

Does it work? Absolutely it does in my configuration. The SQ improvements were immediate and not subtle. Soundstage width and height were improved (but not depth), the noise floor was lowered and I could more easily separate instruments and hear detail that was not as obvious without it, it took away some of the sharp edges while at the same time allowing more detail in higher frequencies, and improved vocals beyond what I thought were already great qualities in the Pontus II through my Buchardt Audio S400 MKII speakers.

Others have shared with me that the improvement will be less noticeable when I migrate to a better streamer (Innuous, Aurender, Lumin, or the like) as they have a far superior treatment of the signal path.....less noise, less jitter, more stable clock, etc.....and I may find the Iris redundant in this scenario. We'll see when I get there

I lived through the same experience and reach the same conclusion...

I’m sure that better DACs exist with more modern chips, clocks, etc. but basically, they need to sound musically involving and have great resolution, not leaving anything musically important out. I’ve achieved that on the cheap and I tried $9K DACs also superbly constructed/art works but lacking in musicality (electronics design failed due to a noise laden conversion algorithm).