DAC Shootout Starts This Weekend
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. |
@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.
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@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. |
@mistercrash I have the Helios here burning in. The first batch recently arrived in North America. I have listened to it initially and it sounds great. Sort of a middle ground between Playback and Aries Cerat. It is dramatically better than the 501 in the sense that everything was smoother and more analog sounding. It helps that there are 4 DAC chips per channel as opposed to 2 in the 501/502. They also have improved the output stage. I want to listen to it after it has a chance to have some hours on it though for a final opinion. I will my write up here and we are going to begin posting to a YouTube channel videos of the DAC. |
EMM Labs DA2 V2 - This is the most expensive unit I have tested to date. It is well built and has an awesome remote. This is a big and dynamic sounding unit that has extraordinary detail. It is different than any of the other units I have heard and is very much a departure from the MA3. If I had a customer who wanted to step up from the MA3, I would steer them to Playback. This, in many ways, would be an elevation above Rockna and the Wavedream Signature. Drum rolls in In a Sentimental Mood were clean and crisp. The overall song is big and dynamic sounding. Great sparkle on the piano. Outstanding air around cymbals. In Be Still My Beating heart the image is deep and wide. Noise floor is extremely low. Bells sound natural. In Liberty, same kind of massive image. Effects are seemingly coming from a distance away from the speakers. no sibilance in either song. Opening of Duende is precise and clear. No smearing in the bass solo. The song is hugely dynamic is incredible air and decay. The intimacy of the berg piece is missing just slightly. This is an incredible, top tier DAC. It is not dramatically better than the Playback, just different. If you are looking for incredible dynamics and realism while also having totally next level DSD processing, this is THE DAC for you. |
