How does the Susvara go at lower volumes in comparison?
Interesting pad choice. Basicaly dead oposite of what i would pick (but ive also only heard ported standard pads). Any chance youve compaired agaisnt other pads for them?
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I feel like they definitely still sound like Susvara, and you still get plenty of detail. They are more ethereal in lower volumes but I also tend to listen to music that better matches the volume so that might be a biased answer lol
Generally speaking I don’t think Susvara “opens up” the same way Tungsten does with higher volume, but you definitely get more rumble and impact the higher you go.
Thanks to @Christof I will be comparing all four but I ordered the pad I had here when auditioning the MR. The suede is so comfortable I can’t imagine the leather being nicer to wear and I didn’t miss any bass with the non-ported so it felt like a safer choice. I basically bought the exact combo I had for audition.
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MR is more holographic than Tungsten, but also more in your head.
Tungsten slams like a truck on 465 though lol
It might be a good enough reason to keep both tbh
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Spent the last week with @Draaly’s Totaldac d1-twelve and streamer/reclocker combo with live power for everything.
It’s quite amazing how long it took for the DAC to settle in, never heard something quite like that.
The first thing I noticed about the TD sound was its tactility. Second thing I noticed is details are very present but not forward so I heard the crowd very clearly in a live album I like but it wasn’t overpowering anything which I appreciated.
After about four days it really opened up, definitely more nuanced and everything was more clear and defined. It’s not like the resolution wasn’t there before, but it made you work for it.
With a couple more days of listening, spending a good few hours I’m Really liking the 12 for real music, but it’s missing the mark for electronic genres.
It’s an easier fit in my mind theoretically for speakers because of what I mostly use them for but it doesn’t have enough bite with Susvara for me. It’s not bad with it but it’s just a more audiophile type of music DAC if that makes sense.
Very good details and timbre, spatial information and imaging in general are very good too.
There’s a sense of easiness/effortless to it that is very addicting… just a smooth organic presentation of instruments and human voices that is great although maybe a little not real?
I’m definitely curious to hear Unity or Triunity to see if the quirks are improved with the new topology but this doesn’t make me blind buy TD.
If I were a predominantly acoustic music, jazz or chamber / small classical ensembles listener (missing a little stage for big orchestral) then this would be an easy recommendation. Texture is also superb.
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Just as a data point:
For the past 1.5 weeks I have had @Polygonhell Rob’s TotalDAC Unity, and combined w/ a bunch of other recently new additions (Riviera, Muon filter, Muon ethernet cable, etc), I feel that the music chez @keithc is at an all time high. I’m toe-tapping and really impressed, but yet not ever fatigued. It’s a very good blend of audiophilia + musical enjoyment.
Maybe the difference is Unity line vs prior? Or that I don’t listen to electronic genres?
The Unity is soon going to depart, and a few other things are incoming, but this is my big “Saved Game” moment. If going down this next path doesn’t work, I’m definitely buying the TD Triunity and calling it done. 
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I’ve not heard the older ones.
But from people I’ve talked to who have and general internet feedback. From what I can tell, the newer totalDAC’s while retaining much of the musicality of the older ones are more resolving and more insightful, the older ones were more relaxed.
How that impacts their ability to portray music in a “toe tapping” fashion (still avoiding using PRAT for a DAC) I can’t say.
I will say in my system the TotalDAC Unity can certainly rock, I don’t really do EDM.
I will say like Orman I was surprised how it changed during warmup, it took days, though mine was so new it could have been some burn in as well.
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The twelve is very musical and I absolutely enjoy it with rock and electronic, toe tapping as the session progresses. It’s just that when compared to my Wavedream and while thinking about fit to my preferences and the majority of my listening, that’s when these differences tip the scale.
I’m certain the Unity is fantastic, but moving from WD to that will probably be mostly a side step and not in a direction that fits me. The Triunity is very interesting but too expensive to jump on without listening first, all things considered.
Top of my list to hear next are Lampizators and Playback Designs but it’s becoming clearer with every DAC audition that I feel at home with the Rockna and the next Ultra is still the most likely candidate for an upgrade if it ever launches.
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After a certain point, it’s all preference and synergy. I mean synergy is always a thing but as you discover personal preferences, some pieces of gear will do it for us while other won’t. Doesn’t mean they’re bad and certainly in the $10K to $15K space, you’re not going to find crap.
It’s going to take a considerable step up in money IMO to find that next level and it’s why $25K DACs exist. So one either has to pay to play in that space or just find the best fit in that $10 to $15K space which can obviously be a better choice for many.
It gets harder and harder to roll the dice on gear the more the price goes up. And I’m at the point that unless I hear a piece of gear in my current chain, I won’t consider it as I’m giving something up to gain something more, and it’s imperative to know that tradeoff will take you in the right direction.
I’ll also add that I’ve purposely focused my endeavors on building a Queen of all trades system. So a clear step up from the Jack but it was a conscious effort on my part as I listen to EVERYTHING, and it all had to sound to that standard. It’s extremely difficult (read expensive) to build a system that does it all and if you compromise on that, you can build a King of most trades system for about the same out of pocket. But you either compromise on performance, or you pay the price, you can’t have it both ways.
Not at the level a lot of the members here are playing in.
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As good a reason as any to stick to it.
As much as I like the TD, if I could only have 1 DAC (and any rational human being should be aiming for that) I’m not sure I’d pick it over the Lampizator (Though I’d really like to listen to a Tri Unity or Sublime before making that call).
They’re just different.
I do think the Unity is a killer deal in comparison to some other DAC’s at the price point, a Chord Dave is pretty much the same price new, and IMO that choice isn’t close.
But at the upper price tiers it’s very much about what you prioritize, and a lot of hard to describe nuances and how they combine to align with what sounds good.
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Yep that sums up well how I think about it too.
As I get opportunities to listen to DACs here at home I try and do it, even though personally it’s one of the hardest pieces of gear to compare. Understanding the house sound and exposure to other gear helps me understand what I want and what’s out there.
With all of my current gear though, not only is the DAC far from being the bottleneck, it will require a much more significant sum of money to upgrade.
Really the only things missing for my system is amplification for the O/96 and setting up the room to accommodate listening to everything (both where the gear actually sits relative to my desk and listening chair and acoustic treatment). That’s where my money should go to this year. Even though I’d love to have some tubes for the headphones system, need to remind myself that should go to the 2ch. I will say though that amp shopping for speakers is so much harder (more options, more things to consider, less chances to audition in a way that makes sense) and also makes you feel poor very quickly lol
This could easily be the Wavedream I have here for me. It’s just the curiosity and “is there something better out there?” that keeps me trying other things…
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Amen to that
Out of curiosity would you mind elaborating on what the Rockna does with EDM, that other DACs like the totaldac and if I recall you also felt similar with the Meitner? Or it could have been another DAC if not the Meitner.
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Try this
How is it?
I’m still recovering from how good my system sounded yesterday. Poseidon’s spatial presentation is absolutely crazy. Vocals and instruments timbre some of the best I’ve heard and it worked great even with fast electronic. Simply floored by the performance and it’s still bottlenecked by the amp and burning in… just wow
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I made three changes to my system today - added Niagara, upgraded the USB cable and added the feet under the SMSL.
I don’t which is in charge of the improvement I heard but I’m just in shock how good everything sounded tonight. Stage was bigger, imaging and layering best I’ve ever heard. Unbelievable separation between instruments and every part of the track had its own bubble in space you can actually imagine what’s going on in 3d. Vocals sounded like heads popped from thin air into the room with crazy realism.
Holy shit.
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Never do that if you want to be sure of what each component does. But my money is on the Niagara. lol
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Personally I find that I notice individual changes much better if I take something out over adding it to the system.
I have two more components coming next week - the Levante and an extra set of speakers cables to compare to my current for a potential better match.
After that I expect a cool down with just listening and tube rolling, unless something is going to sound totally broken or terribly missing technically. It’s already the best sound I’ve heard, and it’s with an untreated room (that’ll be the new house project over the summer) and with a chifi amp so I feel quite confident my plan is going to come together nicely.
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Anything you miss about your WD now that you replaced it with Poseidon?
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