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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.

mitch2
mitch2 OP
3,968 posts
 

This has been interesting in realizing how important it is to match SPLs (sound pressure levels) when comparing audio equipment.  It is fine to listen and evaluate a unit on its own merits at various volume levels, but when directly comparing two or more units I have realized it is important to match the volume levels, or SPLs for the most meaningful comparison. 

Fortunately, my system has a buffer/preamp set-up with a numerical display of volume level so that once I use the Decibel X app to determine/estimate which VC settings produce the same SPL for the units being compared, I can easily switch between the units and select the appropriate volume level.

This has been a bit eye-opening, not only because of how different the settings are for different equipment to achieve the same SPL, but more about how the sonic differences sometimes become less when SPLs are matched.  Finally, it is also interesting to hear how different equipment may have a different optimal SPL for music playback in that some equipment seems to handle low-level listening better than other equipment and some equipment does better at the higher SPLs.

sns
3,202 posts
 

@mitch2 How long are your listening sessions with any one particular dac? Sometimes certain aspects of sound quality don't become clear to me with only short listening sessions. Longer sessions may expose very subtle anomalies of all kinds leading to a more analytical response and/or listener fatigue.

mitch2 OP
3,968 posts
 

@sns - Widely variable from as little as about 20 minutes to maybe 3 hours, with most being like a half-hour to 2 hours, sometimes listening intently and taking notes, other times reading or working on my computer.  For these comparisons, I have kept a small notebook handy to record impressions as they occur.

brbrock's avatar
brbrock
37 posts
 

@fuzzbutt17 @mitch2  How large is the power transformer and chokes on the Mystique DAC's.  I can't tell from the pics.  On other DAC's they may have several transformers but usually look smaller.

rja's avatar
rja
2,370 posts
 

Mr. Fuzzbutt,

Could you describe the sonic differences between the 3 levels of transformers offered in your DAC? Thanks!

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