Another very helpful and insightful write up. I know you may be going somewhat on aural memory, which is always dangerous, but how did the LTA compare with the Merason? Or am I jumping the gun and is that info you’re saving for your summary piece?
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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@mitch2 - Another great review, Mitch. Thank you. I own the Merason Dac1 Mkii but am curious about the universe of dacs out there. The share the sentiment that the Merason Dac, at least in my system, has almost an ephemeral quality. I’m not sure how much the other components in my systems play into that, but music is consistently smooth. At moments, I would like a little more “bite”, but I’m not complaining! |
@soix - Not planning a big reveal at the end, but maybe a couple of comparison comments. I will mostly let the write-ups stand on their own. Regarding the Merason and LTA Aero, they are both DACs but otherwise somewhat apples and oranges. The Aero’s strengths are about drive and leading edge excitement while the Merason seems to be more about dense tone and fluidity. They both do a good job of playing music, and neither leaves anything out, but I would envision buyers would have quite different sonic priorities which would result in their selecting only one of those two DACs, but not both. Sonically, my preferences fall sort of in between the two but closer to the Merason than to the Aero. |
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