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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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nickolaspappas
35 posts
 

Just discovered this thread, easily the most intelligent and informed comparison of DACs I’ve read in a long time (maybe ever). Thank you @verdantaudio !

I currently am using a Lumin P1, and have owned a couple of other Lumin streamers in the past. They are all great values at their price points. Looking to move up to a higher performing dac, but will definitely miss the Lumin’s streamer/dac/interface integration when I do.

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verdantaudio OP
1,469 posts
 

@nickolaspappas  Sorry for late reply to this.  Things have been a little crazy this month.  One thought that would allow you to maintain a bit of performance is to use a Lumin U2.  I would allow you to maintain your interface while upgrading your DAC.  Eventually it will become a bottle neck but it is a pretty darn good device.

antigrunge2
1,331 posts
 

@verdantaudio 

It’d be interesting to have your views on external clocking. In my experience with Delta Sigma upsampling DACs, having an external high quality 10m reference makes a significant difference even when internal Dac’s clock is already high standard. The likes of MSB, DCM, Esoteric et al seem to agree whereas the effect on R2R dacs seems less pronounced.

And btw, the advantage when using USB extends to the connection as well as the server which is slaved to the DAC.

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verdantaudio OP
1,469 posts
 

@antigrunge2   My experience is that anything that can be done to improve clocking between server & DAC is worth it.  I can’t speak about MSB simply because I have never had a unit in to spend lots of time with but dCS definitely and Rockna and other also benefit. Remember MSB is R2R.  
 

i am not going to say an external clock is universally essential but anytime clock synchronization can occur, jitter drops and sound quality approaches completely holographic. A great example of this is with Rockna and the I2S connection between a Wavedream and the Wavedream NET.  The sun of those parts far exceeds what you would expect to get from those two components.  When you look at the pin out, the R and L channels for the clocks are synchronized and grounded.  Although it is not an external reference, the clean synchronization of the two has a huge impact.  
 

There seem to be exceptions to this.  Upscaling DACs like Chord (PCM) and Playback and EMM Labs (DSD) do not seem to directly benefit.  Rob Watts is quite explicit that an external clock has no impact on Chord devices and both Playback and EMM work best with a fiber connection between streamer and DAC which has obvious benefits in terms of noise and clocking.  
 

There are a myriad of other exceptions, but I am a firm believer that if external clocking can be added, it is likely a very worthy upgrade.  USB especially benefits from this.  

 

mistercrash
19 posts
 

@verdantaudio Have you had a chance to listen to the Weiss Helios DAC? I've enjoyed the DAC501 (base and 4-channel) and I'm wondering how the Helios compares to them. 

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