You really need to put a hundred hours on each DAC as well. Are they new units or 2nd hand?
Six DAC Comparison
I am in the middle of comparing the sound of six different DACs in my system. I own them all (I know weird) but one of them is still within a trial/return timeframe.
Not to share specific comparisons today, but a couple of observations so far are that first, they all definitely sound different from each other. On one hand, they all sound pretty good and play what is fed to them without significant flaws but on the other hand there are definite sonic differences that make it easy to understand how a person might like the sound of some of them while not liking others.
Second, raises the observation that most of them must be doing something to shape the sound in the manner the designer intended since one of the DACs, a Benchmark DAC3 HGA, was described by John Atkinson of Stereophile as providing "state-of-the-art measured performance." In the review, JA closed the measurements section by writing, "All I can say is "Wow!" I have also owned the Tambaqui (not in my current comparison), which also measured well ("The Mola Mola Tambaqui offers state-of-the-digital-art measured performance." - JA). The Benchmark reminds me sonically of the Tambaqui, both of which are excellent sounding DACs.
My point is that if the Benchmark is providing "state-of-the-art measured performance," then one could reasonably presume that the other five DACs, which sound different from the Benchmark, do not share similar ’state-of-the-art" measurements and are doing something to subtly or not so subtly alter the sound. Whether a person likes what they hear is a different issue.
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@agisthos - The only brand new unit is the LTA Aero, which was burned in at the factory for a week and has been in my system and turned on full time for three weeks, while playing music some of the time, maybe 30 hours. The Merason is an original DAC1 that was upgraded to MkII months ago, and the others I already owned. |
mitch2 It'll be interesting to see your findings, and what you hear in your system Trivema & Soix I still find the Denafrips Pontus II DAC with an Iris DDC via I2S to be the most musical, enjoyable, and fun DAC combo out there. I have upgraded every other component (preamp, 2 amps, speakers, cables, receptacles), but I still do not feel the need to rush out and replace the pair......I find them an incredible bargain I have tested several $4,000 to $5,000 DACs along the way (I won't mention names because I don't want an argument), and still find my liking for the Pontus/Iris combo. Yes I absolutely will upgrade my DAC at some point within the next year, and yes I know there is better sound to be had......but I will take my time to make sure it still has that fun and enjoyable sound that I currently have. I lust for a Lampizator Pacific or Poseidon, but that'll have to wait a couple of years |
@vthokie83 and @trivema - Unfortunately, I do not have the Denafrips Pontus II DAC with an Iris DDC to include as part of the comparison, or any Denefrips DAC. I have considered trying a Terminator (in whatever iteration) several times but the timing or opportunity were never just right. I did try the Hermes DDC in my system for a couple of months but I had integration and performance problems getting it to work properly. I will say the Denefrips USA support team was very helpful and eventually sent me a new unit that worked, but I ended up selling it. I do like the idea of using a DDC (for having a variety of output options and lowering jitter out) and I currently use the Singxer SU-6, which I found to be a basic plug-n-play unit that has worked perfectly since I installed it. |
It was more challenging than I anticipated to choose a small group of music selections that were both representative of music I listen to, and also suitable to highlight attributes of the of DACs being compared. I started by creating a new playlist in Roon, where I could accumulate and compare tracks, and I eventually chose a smaller group of selections that I have grouped and listed below. Music Selections (Title, Artist, Album) Jazzy,
Vocals
Rock
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