dacs that I have had in my system - a listing


i comment quite a bit on threads about digital/analog converters, as i have tried many since the covid period in early 2020, when i recommitted to my hifi and getting streaming and a truly modern digital front end implemented in my main home system

i have had questions on what dacs i have actually tried -- so last week when i was sleepless on a long transcontinental flight home from a holiday, i made a listing, which i post below

almost all dacs below have been owned, and spent extensive time (at least 2-3 months) in my system, obviously there have been changes in my system over this time, and not all dacs were owned at the same time

i post this here so others can refer to this here - i looked, but i could not find a way to post this on my 'system' page

the asterisk-ed entries are still in hand, currently:

 

2020

topping d90 mqa

ayre codex

mhdt stockholm 

mhdt orchid

mhdt istanbul

denafrips pontus original

musical paradise mpd1

ps audio d link iii modded cullen

bs node 2i

 

2021

denafrips ares 2 

denafrips pontus 2

denafrips terminator 

auris d1d vu

audio mirror tubador 3 se

van alstine fet topp*

van alstine fet hybrid

rme adi 2 (akm)

schiit modius 

schiit gumby

schiit yggy*

sonnet morpheus

border patrol se i

metrum jade

metrum octave

metrum hex

metrum adagio

musical fidelity trivista 21 (modded)*

weiss 501* (now 4ch)

 

2022

chord 2qute 

chord qutest

chord m scaler* hugo tt2*

mhdt orchid modded*

audio note kits dac4 pro

msb analog w powerbase*

denafrips venus 2*

denafrips pontus 12

audio gd master 7

musetec 005

bs node n130

bricasti m1se mdx

doge 7

hegel h90 190 390 590* (internal)

 

2023

gustard r26*

eversolo dmp a6 master*

mhdt toucan

orchard pecan pi*

cambridge audio cxn2 modwright modded tubed*

128x128Ag insider logo xs@2xjjss49

Where does the Gustard R26 falls in the below $2,000 range? What would be your top choice in that segment?

r26 is excellent, a top candidate in its price range, especially in light of its all-in-one feature set ... streamer (i use roon) is excellent though i felt using it as a preamp with its internally adjustable volume slightly diminished the quality of the sound - definitely a top choice for excellent all around sound with a clear open top end without bringing the treble too prominently forward

a softer sweeter rounder sound would be gotten from a modded mhdt tube buffered dac, and an even more incisive, more holographic sound can be had with a chord qutest, although that also brings a slightly leaner midband - all this depends on system synergy for what would be ’best’ for an particular user

I would love your comparison between it and the better Denafrips units you’ve tried. How does the resolution, micro-detail, and bass compare?

i used the ank 4.1 le with stock tube set, i was surprised by its quite energetic presentation, with an open somewhat forward treble... resolution was very good, on par with a denafrips pontus but not quite as a clean as a venus 2, to my ear, and the ank had a bit higher noise floor (rca outs vs xlr from denafrips) .. mids and midbass on all were magical though deep bass tunefulness is superior on the denafrips

my issues with the ank was (mainly) its huge form factor (it is a really big box, i just did not want that long term) and the fact that its input card is limited and cannot handle higher res content (it sounded very nice on all music it played, this was a futureproofing thing for me, as i thought about it at the time)

if one commits to this unit, i suspect one can roll tubes to further improve its sound signature, if not its slightly higher noise floor, but i never got that far, as much as i thoroughly enjoyed how it presented the music

This is a great thread and good recommendations included, thank you @jjss49 - you have a great system and so much experience.

I like the high ranking for the Qutest and R26.

How did you like the Eversolo master edition?

Have you ever tried a Benchmark 3?

How did you like the Eversolo master edition?

Have you ever tried a Benchmark 3?

haven’t tried a current benchmark dac since this wave of dac trials starting 2020... last was a model 1 many years back... definitely a clear clean lean sonic character iirc

eversolo master is a very nice high value piece, dac section to my ear is classic ess sabre sound, forward (but quite clean) treble, clean/clear midrange, slightly dry bass but excellent transient resolution overall, somewhat narrowed and foreshortened soundstage compared to higher level units -- that said, for the price it may be all that many would need in good, mid level audiophile systems

 

 

i used the ank 4.1 le with stock tube set, i was surprised by its quite energetic presentation, with an open somewhat forward treble... resolution was very good, on par with a denafrips pontus but not quite as a clean as a venus 2, to my ear, and the ank had a bit higher noise floor (rca outs vs xlr from denafrips) .. mids and midbass on all were magical though deep bass tunefulness is superior on the denafrips

@jjss49 thanks again for answering all my questions. It’s rare that someone has compared these DACs directly. Did you feel one outperformed the other sonically? Were there any areas where the ANK exceeded the performance of the Pontus/Venus? If you were to recommend one on its sonic performance alone, which would it be?

Did you feel one outperformed the other sonically?

Were there any areas where the ANK exceeded the performance of the Pontus/Venus?

If you were to recommend one on its sonic performance alone, which would it be?

on sonic performance alone i think the venus is superior overall to both the pontus and ank 4.1, by a slim margin

the pontus comparatively has greater midband warmth but this to my ear comes from a slightly recessed and smeared treble and a greater sense of fine grain in the mids you get with the pontus... you don’t hear this delta till you compare the two side by side

vs the ank the solid state output stages of the denafrips defines bass better, more solid, less overhang while the sense of imaging is equal (a real coup for the dena models, imo) as well providing a lower noise floor, and thus microdetail is a touch better - one can argue the ank gives more ’air’ around the bass notes (think audio research tube amp bass versus hegel solid state bass) but i prefer a more tight deep neutral bass presentation

once again the key caveat here is i did not get into rolling tubes in the ank, and with effort here, there may be more sonic upside to the ank unit than how i heard it