I’d personally suggest skipping on the 1.1 as it’s not that impressive, but the 2.1 signature is where it starts to get good, and imo the sweet spot of the lineup they have is the 4.1 limited imo
If you wanted assembled and slightly better (but more expensive for sure) versions, audio note themselves sells pre assembled dacs with better parts than the ank kits provide
You could have someone assemble it for you likely, also if you look on the used market you may see pre assembled kits floating around as well (or the actual audio note non kit versions as well)
Thanks for your assessment sounds good.
The 2.1 would be more on the upgrade wish list, if that’s what it’s going to be.
Find the R2R with tube interesting over the Ares,Pegasus,Holo and Soekris which would be in the similar price range.
Above all, one would be somewhat variable with regard to the tube.
I would have to deal with the assembly and see where I could get in touch should there be any problems.
I would also look into MHDT dacs like the orchid, pagoda, and stockholm v2 (atlantis is also nice)
They make some nice tube r2r at a lower cost than the good audio note stuff, something that may be more in budget. Only concern there is that the tubes they use are harder to find and a bit more obscure but still can be rolled, if you wanted to roll stuff I’d look more into the orchid and atlantis because they respond the most to rolling compared to the pagoda or stockholm 2
Quick question for @Mon.
Are the differences between the Audio Note 2.1 Signature and Mhdt Atlantis very great in a direct comparison in the sound range?
Or is it more about the digital conversion in the respect where it would be decisive?
It would be an upgrade to the Singxer Sda 2C.
With the Mhdt, it would be cheaper to order from America and then have to pay customs in Europe.
The Danish site that offers it sells it more expensively.
With Ank I would have the possibility of a 30% discount, but I would also have to pay duty on it, and in the end it would still be around 1500$, roughly calculated, with the Mhdt Atlantis a little less.
With the Atlantis, if the tubes are a bit unconventional, I would still have to look for usable replacements, but that would probably be the least of my problems.
Fairly different signature I’d say, along with the 2.1 being more techincal overall. The audio note is more relaxed, a bit more rich, more spacious, more involving overall, where the atlantis is on the more slightly forward sweeter side of things from my demo, less technical and more forgiving
Huh
At that point, if you were able to either build it yourself or find a builder, I’d easily go for the 2.1 signature imo, it’s just going to outperform the atlantis somewhat overall for a somewhat similara price
what are my options for a small(ish) dac sub 5k (used) to go with a 13r/AIC-10?
I just flat out dont have the space for a may/totaldac/la voce/wave light. While like TT2 size would be ideal I am willing to look bigger. The footprint is generally more of an issue than the height. Its kind seeming like I dont have any real options unless I push my budget up north of 6k and get a 501 from what I can tell. Realy just looking for stuff to put on my hifishark alert list if im honest here.
The XIAudio Sagra is relatively small, Chord TT2, but a lot of the DAC’s at that price point/performance are fullsized (i.e. 17 inches wide).
At some point you have to find the space, build up, find furniture that will work etc.
The problem is that my main listening setup is at work so I cant really change how much space I have. If it was for home I would probabaly just get a vertical rack and move on tbh
That 501 is a real solid pick, but if you can’t go for that one, then perhaps a nagra dac like a classic dac is smaller as well? There’s technically the audiobyte hydra vox and zap but I’d really rather just have a wavelight sound wise, but it’s still pretty good and would pair well.
cos d2? Although don’t recall price on that one
If you can find something from resonessence labs like an invicta mirus pro those are solid and within budget used, also smaller
I was honestly under the impression that the nagra was way more than a 501 used (which seem to be about 7k) and more of in the tambaqui price range (9k+)
Looks like those may be hard to get in the US. when looking them up all I find is a NZ ad.
Would both of these be a step up in SQ from the P6P? They are both only ~ 1500 used from what I can tell (unless the D2V is different from the D2). Also, should I be concerned at all about resonance labs being out of business?
I’ve seen classic dacs go around 6k, they just aren’t as common
But I have seen them used from time to time
The resonessence labs if it’s a invicta mirus pro signature or normal pro then it is a step up, their lower end isn’t a step up, used they typically went around 3k. Regarding the out of business thing, the dacs are still good, but it just means no real way to get it fixed if something goes wrong, so that’s a risk you would have to be willing to take
The cos I can’t really say, it’s been awhile and was a limited demo, so not enough to comment, but I did enjoy it. I am really just kinda grasping at straws here as most of the dacs I like are really not going to fit in both your size and price requirement
Yah, I know its kind of a wierd area. Seems to be a lot of options if I bump the price to 10k or drop the size thing hut not much if I keep them both. I may just need to hold out for a bigger budget so I can grab a 501, classic, etc. Kinda hoping I can go with the new cyan for a bit when that drop tbh but we will have to see. Then again, maybe the lp7ti will be good enough im not wanting for a new dac after that anyways, but thats a real ways off as well
For headphones, probably, but I wouldn’t be a proponent of preamps in headphone systems generally.
For 2Ch it’s a very common setup (my 2Ch is this way), but if you run an active pre in a 2Ch setup generally things get expensive to make it worthwhile.
There is a lot of discussion about how systems can benefit from better power cables, but what is the consensus on fuses? Can a fuse also bring sonic improvements? Is everyone also upgrading fuses when they upgrade power cables?
