Short High End DAC Comparison PT.1 & PT.2, Source Gear Progression, and General Thoughts

Sovrce Gear
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Money will get you good equipment. Synergy will get you a great experience. That’s one of the lessons I learned this year and was quite eye opening to me. The day I was able to hear high(ish) end gear and say “nah that’s not what I’m looking for” or “this doesn’t work best with the rest of my gear” is when things really clicked for me.

Reason I say this is because a lot of the content in the DAC comparisons and generally in this forum helped me better explain to myself what I’m hearing (I still suck in explaining it to others lol)

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I wouldn’t compare it with SW1x, as Abbas is very focused on each individual peace he creates, very picky about his vintage components, less expensive and not everyone likes his simplicity of casing :wink:

I’m still very tempting to get something from him and not SW1x or Lampizator…love support those kind of HiFi nerds…

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:crying_cat_face:

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@M0N would you say your takes on these Dacs changes significantly between headphones and speakers? I know we’ve talked before that at a certain point Dacs scale to a point that HPs can no longer distinguish the nuances and you should go to speakers. Just wondering if this group is about that point that evaluations should be done via 2 channel rigs ?

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I think that point is reached at about the $1K level!

2CH-4EVA

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You’ll find out considering half the evaluation is done on my main 2ch, half is done in a headphone setup, and there’s another 2ch setup in there somewhere

Yes and no, depends on the setup and what you’re looking at, but generally I would say you’re really reaching the limits of headphones at this point. One of these is still going in a headphone chain though, but just because one is for me isn’t an endorsement for value lol. Still mostly appreciable difference, but the value factor is out the window, you better have damn impressive amps and damn impressive headphones to get anything

Most of my impressions on these dacs were done within my main speaker chain since it’s so, so, so much more capable than any headphone setup I have, it makes it too easy. Does this mean testing on headphones isn’t valuable? No, because some things are actually easier to evaluate on headphones, like tonal balance for example, also potentially roundness/softness, sometimes some presentation things are easier to pick out. A headphone is a very different experience, and that different experience can bring different needs and different results. Really though in this case it’s just that there’s so much higher you can go with speakers, and headphones haven’t reached that yet

Love 2ch and all but I really rarely use it, still headphone life for me lol

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You rang?

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Can’t argue that point.
My real listening time, the times I’m actually listening, drink in hand and just soaking it in… 1/5 of the time I spend listening.

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Tempting succeded…also asked him in regards of balanced layout.

Each of his AMPs/DACs are unique and not industrialized in any way, coming from his very unique DIY engineering background. Even Janos from Real World Audio was surprised about his outstanding layout and components…

Abbas available gear from yesterday…
DAC3.2SE… SOLD…

Hi, Gerald!

I prefer RCA, which is easy to use.
Balanced output has its own advantages, but it is over-engineered in the field of home audio. For my taste, of course.It is very useful in a studio, where you have 50-100m between microphone and recorder. Also, the balanced interface dries out the sound, and I don’t like dry sound.

3.1 pcbs are sold

Today’s List

DAC Z TDA1543 SOLD---------------------------------------------------

DAC 0.11 SE TDA1543, EZ90, EZ90, 6N6P wooden front panel 850usd

DAC X SE +output stage 7/1ver. 6BL7+5V4+EZ90+EB91+E180F TDA1540P coming soon, price will be formed later------------------------------------------

DAC2.2 SOLD---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DAC 2.3SE + output stage 7/1 ver. E182CC+5Y3 +EZ90+EB91+E180F TDA1541R1 ----------------------------------------------- -------------------------------SOLD

DAC 2.3SE signature+ output stage 7/1ver. TDA1541A, black gate power tank WK caps , siemens power transformer in digital section -------------SOLD

DAC2.4SE 6X5+EAA91+E180F+ TDA1541+ 6BL7+5V4 2900 usd + EI power transformer “GD workshop”.

DAC2.4SE 6X5+EAA91+E180F+ TDA1541+ 2X 6SN7+ EI power transformer “GD workshop” 2900usd wooden front panel.

DAC4.1SE 5687+EZ90+EZ35 PCM58P ( we have the last set of pcbs) 1980 usd

DAC4.2SE 5687 +EZ80+5Y3 PCM58P price will be formed later---------------------------------------

DAC 5.0 SE + output stage 7/1 ver. 5687 +5Y3( 5V4 ), EZ80, AD1865 / AD1864 i/u=niobium resistors 2280 usd

DAC U.1 SE + output stage 7/1 ver. 5687, 5Y3 ( 5V4) , EZ80 PCM63P i/u=niobium resistors 2280 usd

DAC3.1SE --------------- SOLD

DAC3.2SE + 6080 output stage, + 5Y3+ 5V4+ EZ81+ EF12+EZ11, TDA1541A---------------------------------------- 3800usd

DAC3.2 signature ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------We don’t offer yet

RIAA tube preamplifier SE version 2X EF86, 2X EL84, EZ80 2400 usd
RIAA tube preamplifier 2 X EF86, 6N6P, 6X5 wooden front panel 780usdMC SUT 1:10 280usd ( Only as an option when ordering RIAA preamplifier)

Tube clock EF12/EZ11 in the metal housing 580 usd
Tube USB SE converter in the metal housing EAA91/EAA91/EC86/ECC88----- 620USD

Hybrid headphone amplifier 2X 6N6P, AD132/AD148 siemens, 6X5 tube rectifier, two switched inputs, BG caps, 1280 usdTube headphone amplifier 2X EC86, 2X 6080,BG caps ,audio note tantalum resistors 400/410/170/ two switched inputs 12kg! no output transformers, headphone impedance 60…600ohm 1780 usdTube headphone amplifier 2X EC86, 2X 6080,BG caps, audio note tantalum resistors 400/410/170/ two switched inputs 13kg! output transformers, headphone impedance 6…60ohm 2080 usd

1m power cable 220 usd
2m power cable 280 usd
1m cable spdif 220usd
1.5m cable spdif 280usd
1m stereo interlink cable 360 usd ( non screened)
1m stereo interlink balanced XLR 480 usd
1m stereo interlink cable with the screen 420usd

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I feel like I’m so close but so far from being done, this has ended up a lot longer than I expected, I’m sorry in advance lol. Going to try and finish this today

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No extra credit given for timeliness. lol

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I just won’t have the time otherwise lol, have a busy next few weeks

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Finally done, for now at least

When I get the chance I’ll add more to it, but I think it’s fine to publish for now lol. Didn’t really proofread all of it, hopefully there’s not too many errors lol

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Too late for me to read it tonight, god damned work tomorrow!

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Puhhhh… damn…wow, thanks!!!
Lot’s of details, insights and well-thoughted conclusion.

Greatly appreciated!!

P.s.: you wouldnt get this article published in the NewYorker, but it’s about HiFi passion :wink: I’d not even be close to bring that to so many details as you do…

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@M0N Awesome article :ok_hand:! Thanks for all the effort and for sharing the journey it took to get there. Glad you found the majority of what you’re looking for in the totaldac. Always fun and interesting to read pieces like these.

Oh, and thanks for adding the cable section per my request!!

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:beers: :pinched_fingers: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

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I can’t help but feel I need a bit more information in there lol. But then again the differences while massive are somewhat hard to articulate

Basically totaldac and lampizator could literally cover anything I ask for, so I think I’m pretty much set after lol

When I get the time, I’ll add in more info about interconnect swaps as well. I also plan to get more into synergy in setup 3 when I get the chance to copy over more of my notes

and correct a lot of improper usage of it’s lol

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WOW! Just wow.

When you said this would be a selfish undertaking I thought you were being harsh on yourself but as it turns out you weren’t. LOL

This is DEEP stuff and honestly I had to break it down into three separate sessions just to get through it all and still might require a re-read just to fully take it all in. Part of the process of reading through your (REVIEWS!) is always the incessant Googling that comes along with the reading as so many of the vendors you throw out are new to me. Especially in the more esoteric non DAC areas of the hobby.

Some great takeaways however (here’s the part where I was sure it was worthwhile for us/me to read through your very selfish Part 3).

The glossary is something we should pin on the forum and use as reference. Very good to have a simplified and solid vernacular that can be shared and leveraged by us all.

There is no way I could ever get into the weeds on this subject the way you have. I lack the talent, the motivation and the patience. Thank you for your effort here even though the primary goal of the entire write up means absolutely nothing to me. lol

Isolation is important and I’ve convinced myself of that before you mentioned here, how important though is not just relative to this level of gear. Isolation and best practice wiring choices and routing is important even at the mid-fi level. This is something that’s very snake oilish sounding to someone in the earlier parts of their audio journey but it’s something I wish I’d learned sooner.

The running other DAC analog outputs through the Lampi pre-amp, absolutely blew my mind. Not only that the results were that good, but that you’d conjure up the idea in the first place. But you were being selfish mad man after all, so it’s forgiven. lol

I am genuinely happy for you as it sounds like you’ve been self liberated, a great self imposed weight lifted from your own shoulders. This observation shouldn’t even make sense but it feels like it does. Hopefully it feels like that to you as well.

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Nope lol

See this irks me because putting it down in an article makes it seem really shallow to me, I have to find a better way to get what I’m really thinking through

I would really want to improve it and get more community feedback if that were the case, nail down what better represents how the general community uses terms instead of just myself. I also need to add a few more categories I added on lol

I wouldn’t really call myself a talented writer (I had to fix so much shit, there’s like 700+ revisions to the document lol), the motivation was really hard, because I just wanted to keep listening to the shit instead of write about it, but I felt I needed to translate my thoughts in a readable manner while they were still fresh to get any meaning out of them, but kinda became a drag, although I’ll still add more of my notes to it when I get the time. Also yeah, this really isn’t all that helpful in the end lol

I’m honestly consistently shocked how almost all of my equipment benefits from better isolation regardless of tube or solid state, it just does, and some will change more than others. I just have neglected it for a long time because 1. I viewed it as an unnecessary expense, 2. I had so much shit it wasn’t really on my mind, and 3. I had really shitty methods of racking or placing down stuff due to space constraints. Now that I’ve realized their benefits, trimmed down extra gear, and accepted that it’s the gear’s house, not mine, I’m willing to get into it more lol.

I have some other stupid experiments that I may or may not want to share later on, but perhaps they’ll make it into the article eventually. As an example, you’ve heard of biamping a speaker, but what about bidacing, and other dumb things of the sort (didn’t really explore that one further than basic “does this even work” tests due to time constraints)

Ha yeah I guess so, we’ll see how long that lasts

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