Audio Note DAC Owners- please share your thoughts

You do not need to pair AN dacs with AN gear that is a widely accepted misnomer, not true in the least. No different than any other manufacturer. 

I did have a Lampi in here and it was a nice DAC but in the end I preferred the AN sound over the Lampi. I could care less about DSD and the like so that didn't resonate with me. 

I didn’t say you have to pair AN dacs with AN components to realize what one has to offer- most AN Dac owners I know do not use full on AN systems. I do remember almost every dealer I spoke with making the statement that one would realize the best performance when mated with AN components.

Just for reference which Lampizator and AN models did you compare to each other? I didn’t purchase mine for its DSD functionality either- I haven’t found much that appeals to me in that market.

I listened to the Big 7, came close...It was a nice DAC but I had to scratch the AN itch and glad I did. I felt like I'd have to go much higher in the Lampi line up to better what I heard in the 3.1 from AN. 

I have a partial Audio Note system that has gone through various iterations over the years since 2008. My system is on the Systems Page.

In 2020/2021, I did a DAC search in which I had a pretty good selection of DACs in my listening room for extended periods of time: between 1-3 months. My system DAC at the time was a Bricasti Design M1 SE.

Sources were a Rockna WaveDreamNET streamer, and an Esoteric UX-3Pi disc player as a transport (redbook only).

At the time, I owned an Audio Note M3 Balanced preamplifier, so all the DACs were connected to the preamp. I level matched the DACs using a test tone from the XLO Test CD and a DB Meter app. Many of the DACs had volume controls, so small adjustments could be made to their output levels to match.

Among the DACs I auditioned were: SW1X DAC III Balanced, Audio Note DAC 3.1x/II Balanced, EMM Labs DV2, Bricasti Design M3, Bricasti Design M1 SE, Holo Audio May KTE, Mola Mola Tambaqui, Rockna WaveDream Edition XLR, Lampizator Baltic 3.

All the DACs were either pre-owned, demo units or fully broken in. I used the same cabling: power, digital AES (plus USB and i2S if available), and interconnects.

My sound profile preference is naturalness and transparency with excellent texture and tone. Honestly, I don’t care for 95% of systems I hear at audio shows.

The best DAC in the bunch, and the best DAC I’ve ever heard in my system, was the EMM Labs DV2. Best insofar as detail retrieval, bass texture and extension, image size, etc. However, it was a bit too much of a good thing for my ears, and gave up some naturalness in its accuracy. It was also way above my price point (it was generously loaned to me by a dealer who was relocating).

The Mola Mola Tambaqui was cut from the same cloth as the EMM Labs DV2, but it had less naturalness, tone and texture than the DV2, and I quickly re-sold it.

Somewhat surprisingly, the SW1X DAC III Balanced, Audio Note DAC 3.1x/II Balanced, Bricasti Design M1 SE, Holo Audio May KTE, and Rockna WaveDream Edition XLR were more alike than dissimilar. I mean they were really close. All had terrific resolution, transparency, texture and tone.

The SW1X DAC III Balanced skewed slightly away from the warmth I prefer, and it was quite expensive (with poor re-sale IMO), so I returned it.

Once level matched, I could A/B between the Bricasti Design M1 SE and whatever other DAC was being evaluated. Switching between them proved fascinating because they sounded nearly alike. In fact, in some cases, when I asked my wife what she thought (she has excellent ears), she could not tell I was switching from one DAC to another. Neither could I.

In the end, I kept the Bricasti Design M1 SE because it offered all the benefits of the other DACs, including the famous naturalness and tone of the Audio Note, plus it had the advantage of volume control and streaming network card.

So, what were the differences between the Bricasti Design M1 SE and Audio Note DAC 3.1x/II Balanced? The Bricasti produced a wider and taller image. I found the Audio Note DAC 3.1x/II Balanced was a little congested in the upper mids. I left the factory supplied tubes in it. Had I swapped in some alternatives...like Telefunken or TungSol small signal tubes, and noise-tested power supply tubes, things might have changed. However, this still wouldn’t have overcome the advantages of the Bricasti Design M1 SE insofar as volume control, network streaming option, and ability to play more file formats.

So, what about the Lampizator Baltic 3? Well, I owned it after this shoot-out period, and while I owned the Bricasti M1 SE. The Baltic 3 was lots of fun. Seemingly endless tube rolling possibilities (although I ended up preferring the stock tubes). Lots of FOMO if one reads the Lampizator threads over on Whatsbestforum.

I ended up selling the Lampi and keeping the Bricasti. I could spend more time listening to music and less time worrying about the perfect tubes, "engine" version, and whether I needed the latest Lampi upgrades.

I’ve since upgrade to a Bricasti Design M1 Series 2 DAC. The system is simple: Audio Note loudspeakers and amplifiers, Bricasti DAC, Aurender N30SA and Esoteric UX-3Pi. I listen to streaming or local files 95% of the time.

glad to see you back here and posting with your tremendous experience and knowledge @tvad

i have had similar experiences with pretty much indistinguishable sonic differences between the weiss 501 (pre 4ch) and the bricasti m1 se mdx (min 2 filter), after careful level matching i simply could not tell them apart - you kept your bricasti, i kept my weiss (for reasons apart from their sonic traits)