dacs that I have had in my system - a listing

@jjss49,

You seemed to have opened a can of worms.

There a few posts asking for comparisons, is it possible to make a list?

B

@jjss49

wow!!!

amazing list! agree with all the comments and do think you can be a resource for many with all your experience.

took a minute to make my list, but it’s a 22 year list......not 4 years. OTOH my turntable//tonearm/cartridge/phono list would be much more crazy.

2001--2006--EMM Labs dac + transport

2007-mid-2015---Playback Designs MPS-5 w/DIY Windows Server ( after 2011)

2015----Lampizator Golden Gate dac + Trinity dac + w/SGM 2015 Server

late--2016----Lampi upgraded to GG 1.5

early 2017---Nagra HD dac (early version), Formula Aqua dac, Nagra HD (next version)

June 2017---MSB Select II dac

2019----Taiko Extreme server

2022 Jan----Wadax Reference dac + Wadax Reference server (only these two remaining).

The absolute definition of "Chasing the Dragon".

let me try to cover off some add’l questions posed

“dacs are set up in a/b and even a/b/c configuration, easily switchable to allow comparison when needed”

Can you share more on how your going about that and how you avoid any additional tonal coloration or distortion in the approach?
In my system I can switch between four dacs at a time from a single source with no noticeable affects (once level matched)- just curious about your approach.

i mentioned earlier using multiple parallel streamers jointly controlled by blu os, and later by roon as multiple endpoints, that is the input side to the dacs (cabling was cullen or audioquest coffee)

at the output side, depending on what i am comparing, i would use one of the reference dacs (msb, chord or weiss, each of which can adjust output volume to level match) against subject x... the dacs then output into a preamp or integrated with multiple inputs, controllable by remote -- when comparing fixed output dacs only with varying output levels (i did this earlier on) i used either a van alstine comparator which level matches, or a krell s550i which can set levels by individual input

Curious as to your answer to mahler123 given it is hard on the surface to see how many critical listening hours were given to each with these many DACs going through your system - 2020- 9; 2021 - 19; 2022 -15 ; 2023 -6.

plenty of time to listen... key to understanding the context is two plus years of strict covid lockdown, being newly retired from my real estate endeavors -- simple math -- call it conservatively 6-8 hrs a day x 350 days/year those years... if 2-3 dacs were connected and switch back and forth at will... lots and lots of hours available -- i much rather did this than stare at the tv for cnn/fox and netflix and go brain dead

other point to mention is that pretty much all these dacs were acquired used (even ben z’s mojo mystique he sent me was a customer trade-back), so break in was never an issue

What are your thoughts on the MHDTs you had in your system. I got a Stockholm v.2 about 2 years ago first DAC and really love it.

Could you tell us how the Toucan sounded relative to the Orchid?

mhdt tube buffered dacs are lovely, highly musical, small form factor dacs that allow tube rolling and also easy mods, by such a-gon community members as our own bill dion/grannyring

stock, they have a lush, rich midrange, plump, tuneful bass, with good (not great) treble inner detail -- so sonically very user friendly to traditional analog lovers -- but the magic of these little units is their ability to run better sounding 6dj8 and 6sn7 octal tubes via tube adapters, which makes their sound more extended, airy, transparent and then, with better output caps they gain needed speed and greater transient clarity without having their treble becoming overly forward and etched... among them, i liked the stockholm v2 and orchid best, but in stock form, they all sounded quite similar within a few whiskers

key takeaway for me for these dacs is that the sonic change from tube and capacitor/diode upgrades to any stock mhdt model overwhelms the sonic differences i could hear between different bone stock units (orchid vs stockholm v istanbul for instance)

the toucan is a newer model, using the 6dj8 tube natively... i don’t know exactly what jiun in taipei did here to this newer gen model, the unit has noticeably lower output voltage than its precursors (acrylic faceplate models with 2c51 tube), this one sounds even a touch more laid back, silky and ethereal than the others in stock form with jj tube... but of course, you can throw a dutch bugle boy ecc88 in there and it springs to life, with open airy treble and more snappy transients...but your downstream pre must have enough input sensitivity to run it to get sufficient output

Simply blown away!

This could qualify as an entry in the Guiness book of records.