Wouldn’t be surprised, let me dig around and see what clocks I have, do you know what type of input it takes (as in does it want a 50 or 75 ohm clock in, and what type)?
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Since I know basically nothing about clocks, what I figure might be helpful is to see what clocks SDS users are using and I think most use the clock by Hibiki (I am sure you have much higher end ones though) : HIBIKI ckslite 10Mhz帶音頻時鐘合成 SC切OCXO相噪110 and there’s a spec sheet at the bottom
Not sure if it makes sense but I do see 75 ohm and one 44.1 and one 48khz
Also apparently many opt for mods and upgraded PSUs as well, so whilst it’s pretty well regarded in China it’s the consensus that you probably need spend another big chunk on the tweaks for optimal performance
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Btw, is yours the standard version or the ‘Signature’ version or whatever it’s called in English?
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So it is 75 ohm? If that’s the case, I can just directly latch it to the K50’s word clock and aes and be one and done, been using usb currently. If it’s 50 ohm, I’d have to go digging
I wouldn’t be surprised if psu mods are worthwhile, so far it seems like the output stage and psu might be the weak point given when I’m currently hearing
Uh, I have no idea, it just says hibiki sds, so I’m going to guess standard
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Yeah it says 75ohm on the website
I think the signature version is basically an official modded version. According to Hibiki, it uses a custom more beefy transformer, pure silver instead of SPC wiring, ceramic PCB and Audio Note caps instead of Elna
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Well going to try that and see how it goes lol
Yep don’t have that one, but it sounds promising
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Ok what the hell, this is so much better, yeah ok you really really want a nice digital source. I don’t think any of the immediate complaints I had were resolved, but it’s a fair bit better, and I went from feeling “it’s nice, although iffy on if it’s worthwhile” to “wow this is really good for the price”, but then again this is a strong advantage with the source that doesn’t make sense to spend. Either usb must be really lackluster, or the dac just takes really well to better sources, or both, cause this is strongly improved in all aspects, more than I’d expect to happen considering the price
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any plans to add it to the dac comparison mk2?
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Don’t know yet, likely not atm since I don’t really know if I want to keep tacking things onto that, somewhat did it as a one and done, don’t really want to commit to maintaining it with newer dacs, we’ll see
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Thats super fair. Once you feel comfortable mind just mentioning whete you think it falls in the “forward/relaxed/warm/neutral” matrix? Tbh i think that portion of the write up was maybe the most helpful part for me to understand how exactly the dac relates at a kind of macro level
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That I could do, I might as well add some other things too that weren’t added but where attainable used, since that’s a somewhat simple thing to add, will add it as an afterthought once I get appropriate time
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I think it’s bad USB, someone did a review and looked inside the chassis and apparently the USB is a generic solution so realistically you might have to factor in the cost of a DDC/clock (one that’s reasonable, Ofc, sth like a Weiss INT204 also seems popular with SDS users)
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@Draaly take with a big grain of salt since it’s still early, also added more stuff lol
Only included things that I heard at least enough, and also things that I actually personally would buy for myself if I was shopping in that range, along with only things that I think are still relevant (ex I could have included a prima luna evo 100 dac, but just buy a lampi or sw1x at that price imo). All stuff you can still get around or under 5k
It really would have been better to do that signature + forwardness thing on a plotted graph rather than how I’ve done it, but I’m lazy
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That sounds like both an awesom idea and a pita to set up. I would have made the same decision as you unless i was supremely bored on day 
Anyways, i greatly apreciate that addition. It makes a good cheat sheet of at least refrencing vaugue sound signatures to see how stuff compairs.
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Audio gear either has really cool names or theyre lame letter and number combos.
I dont have the experience to make a sound sig chart like you but maybe my next article will be ranking name coolness. Itll start on PT 3.
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Honestly that would be something I would legitimately be interested in reading lol
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I dont have a great mic setup as it picks up a lot of ambient but maybe ill do a tier list.
Mech Robot worthy
A
B
C
D
Might as well be lab equipment
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So follow up to the convo about “tactility” and “livliness”. Any real stand outs for you here in this list?
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schiit, Mojo, Totaldac, rockna, SW1x, berkeley stand out the most for those traits, potentially bricasti
Also I should note, with a better digital source, this tactility improves quite a lot with these specific dacs (sans rockna)
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Now that the SDS has had more time, this is pretty enjoyable for the money, IF you are willing to invest in the digital source for it. I don’t think I am impressed by how it is on it’s own, but using the antipodes (and more reasonably an alpha usb), it’s a great option for people who liked what was going on with the airist and wanted a logical upgrade.
Thankfully spatially has opened up more with burn in, still not great though so that’s a weaker point. Dynamics have not improved either, but overall the dac has gotten better, and that nicer digital source is the ticket for this design I think
I bet the upgrade @mochi was talking about with the better PSU and components would really remove some of the qualms I have, and make it a real solid dac for the money (again assuming good digital source).
In current state I’d likely group it with things like the exogal, sonnet, schiit, and whatnot, but a bit above that, but not really reaching that quite level. In sound it almost reminds me of a combination of like the sonnet and the exogal actually, like a middleground between that
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