@hsounds that is why you should step up and buy a streamer that is upgradeable, Innous, Simaudio, and that is a great foundation to build on. DAC wise I stick to R2R dacs.
W4S DAC
There's always a lot of talk about DACs with most revolving around names like Denefrips, Gustard, T&A, Weiss, Border Patrol and many others, but I see no mention of the Wyred 4 Sound DAC and in particular the 10th anniversary edition. Even a quick search of the forum doesn't bring much up in the last couple of years.
It is competitively priced, made in the USA and it was well reviewed at the time (2018)
Has anyone compared this DAC to the newer ones most that are most mentioned here? Maybe technology has surpassed a DAC that is now 5 years past its prime?
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@hsounds Yes, all good advice, thank you, but I am in one of those situations where my listening room is also my living room with the kitchen off to one side. I put drapes up on the widows to one side and bought some 2' x 4' x 2" thick acoustic panels for what wall space I have and honestly, I don't think it sounds any better than it did before the treatments, it also looks like crap. Having electrostatic speakers I saw where one reviewer said the sound improved dramatically when he put some acoustic panels on the walls behind the speakers. I I did this in my situation, and it sounded awful, just sounded very flat.
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@jacobsdad2000 LOL, ya gotta love Mickey! Good food for thought, thanks. |
I use a W4S DAC2-DSD. It does a reasonable job with the sound.. perhaps not as analogue as an R2R or as future proof as FPGA, but if you're good with IIR filters it can offer a clean detailed top end that plays well with good speakers with extended hf. What it really does excel at (over most others these days) is being a versatile digital hub with a plethora of switchable inputs.. 2 coax, 2 toslink, AES-EBU, USB and I2S. It also has an overbuilt onboard power supply and plenty of gain to be used as a preamp (which I do with an old Pass Aleph.. sounds great that way) and a 32bit volume control. I've kept it around for it's flexibility while still sounding perfectly decent. One day I may add a second DAC exclusively for audio. Maybe a Merason or a Weiss.. but the flexibility of the W4S has kept me from upgrading. https://www.ni.com/docs/en-US/bundle/diadem/page/genmaths/genmaths/calc_filterfir_iir.htm
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- 48 posts total