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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
4,006 posts
 

@sns 

"Gaia superior to Singxer in usb isolation on input and implementation of OXCO clock on I2S. Singxer SU6 as good as it is, simply doesn't play in same universe, build quality, design, parts quality in Gaia all far superior.  Meaningful improvement in sound quality reflects this superiority," 

I never owned the Gaia, but I did own the Hermes and had problems with it requiring me to send it back to Denafrips, although that may have been a fluke.  I do see the potential advantage of the Gaia DDC when using Denafrips' Terminator DAC since it offers the ability for clock syncing.

I am not here to argue about sound quality between DDCs, and I am not promoting the Singxer SU-6 so I don't really have a dog in the fight, but I can say that inserting the Singxer did nothing to degrade the sound of my system and that it has worked reliably the entire time I have used it.  Here are links to review measurements of both the Singxer SU-6 and the Denafrips Gaia by the same reviewer.  The SU-6 was reviewed a couple of months prior to the Gaia and below are some conclusions by the reviewer,

"Overall, the Gaia is an excellently performing DDC.
It falls ever so slightly behind some other choices like the DI20HE and SU6 in performance, but the added features, and matching aesthetics with Denafrips dacs may be more important to many."

and,

"Those wanting the absolute best performance should still look to the Singxer SU6, but for the added flexibility of non-USB inputs, 768khz support, dual AES output, and a matching aesthetic for Denafrips DACs, the Gaia is a great choice."

 

sns
3,258 posts
 

I've seen Golden Sound's measurements, also ASR, another instance of measurements not telling you the true story. According to ASR $1k dacs are right up there with state of art, and dacs don't benefit from ddc. Sound quality is the final arbiter for my audio purchases and the equipment that comes and goes.

sns
3,258 posts
 

By the way, being a curious person I decided to purchase Okto Dac some years ago, believe it held record at ASR for SNR at the time, one of the lowest jitter as well. And I owned Musetec 005 at the same time, relative poor measuring dac over there, Okto goes, Musetec stays, so much for ASR dac evaluations credibility, bye bye ASR.

wig's avatar
wig
1,270 posts
 

@mitch2 

Thanks again for the time taken to accomplish such a comprehensive Dac comparison! I am also relieved that my Merason Dac MKII overall sound signature is similar to the excellent Mojo Audio Dac 😁

Wig

mitch2 OP
4,006 posts
 

@wig - Thank you for the feedback.  It has been satisfying to hear that several folks have used the information from this thread to successfully help with their DAC purchasing decisions.  I really enjoyed my time with the Merason DAC1 MkII and I am not surprised to hear that it is an end-game DAC for some.

I just found out that I may be getting the opportunity to try out a couple of additional DACs, which I will report on.  I can’t say much yet except that one will be at the $10K +/- price point and the other at the sub-$4k price point.

 

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