Advice needed: It's time for a new DAC
Hello People of Audiogon!
I received some help a little while back when I was considering upgrading my speakers so I am looking to the community again for guidance and opinions. It is time to upgrade my DAC.
My current system is Sasha DAW's driven by a Luxman L-509X.
The three DAC's on my short list are:
MSB Discrete
Berkeley Alpha V3
Chord DAVE
One thing to note is that I am in Canada so many brands are difficult if not impossible to audition.
My priority is "musicality" or "soul". What's this? Well to me, it means feeling. The Luxman and Sasha's well convey musical emotion and that is important to me. I don't know how to describe it better beyond that. They have flow (perhaps PRAT, to use another vague term). Sounds have meat to them and texture. The music feels real.
The second priority is three dimensionality.
The third is resolution.
My one caveat is no tube DAC's. Tubes, for me, just don't work well based on my listening style and habits. I love tubes, I've owned tubes and tubes are wonderful, but as things are now, I just don't want them in a DAC. Perhaps they will find their way into my system in a pre-amp in the future.
I listen primarily to Tidal but MQA is not a priority for me. I would switch to Qobuz but they were not available in Canada until recently and all my play lists in Roon are with Tidal tracks so I suspect a switch will be a real headache, but I digress. My point is MQA isn't really important and DSD isn't necessary either.
Of the above DAC's, if you have heard them, what are your thoughts/opinion?
Thank you in advance,
-Paul
I have a chord DAVE and it will be for sale next week. Great DAC and I still absolutely love it. M-scaler too. But I decided to try a Lampzator GG3 and it is spectacular. Tremendous soundstage, realism, and sharp-tight-defined from top to bottom. Big fan of the DHT and I think SE is the way to go (vs balanced). I also ordered with Volume Control and basicly use it as a preamp. really increased "slam" or "punch" and I think that is the DHT acting as a preamp. Jerry |
op y ou are not providing enough information
what are you using currently using? how wil you feed the dac? we would recomend the Aqua hifi forula it is very musical yret has great resolution plays all high res files. it is also completely upgradable so if aqua impoves the dac you can grow with the dac
the berkley wouldnt be on my list as you need an additional interface box for usb and most high res sfiles play over usb the chord dave is very good but it is a touch lean Daveand troy audio intelect NJ aqua and chord dealers |
Berkeley Alpha.
I love my Audio Research Reference CD9SE. I had a Berkeley Alpha Reference 3 in my system for a couple weeks. I found the ARC a tad more musical… my preference, but the Berkeley was ever so much more detailed with nearly all the musicality. It is an outstanding DAC.
Beautiful speakers you have. Have you tried a thick carpet in front of your speakers and you might try making a heavy absorption panel to put in front of the fireplace when listening. |
Hi @audiotroy
Thank you for your reply. To answer your questions: what are you using currently using? how wil you feed the dac?
How does this information help you answer my initial question?
I use AES/EBU right now and I would likely keep it the same, hence why the Berkley made the list. For context, I have, in the past owned an MSB Analog, a Berkley Alpha V1 and a Chord DAVE. I owned each, however, when I was in a condo and I was exclusively using headphones. Now, I exclusively use speakers. |
Hello @ghdprentice !
Thank you so much. I really appreciate your comment as you've owned the Berkeley. The CD9SE... WOW! I really adore AR stuff. The some of best amps I've heard (save the Boulder 2160) have been AR.
Thank you for your kind words. My wife doesn't like carpet, however, when I have a serious listening session, I do put down two thick blankets on the floor. It's an interesting idea you had about putting absorption in front of the fireplace. I have a bit of a fuzzy center image because of it and I never considered movable panels.
I have 4 5" thick Vicoustic panels on the walls behind the DAW's. They make a minor difference as-is, but I wonder if they were on a discrete stand with casters that I rolled out (like the blankets on the floor) if that would help... Very astute observation and thank you for the advice.
|
