Tl;dr: is the regular SU-2 good enough for something like a holo cyan and other 1k-ish dacs? Being on a budget, just want a clean signal from my laptop
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I love my dac (project pre box s2d) because it has a small preamp volume control, with a very nice remote that lets me control foobar2000, roon, youtube and even Media Player classic, it has saved my ass so many times while streaming.
Its just way too convenient, I couldnt find any other dac with a remote control that has windows integration like this, whats even better Its that I think it sounds fantastic and transparent with all of my amps, including the RNHP.
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I just learned that DDCs exist yesterday, I was planning to upgrade the dac (to holo cyan) last in my buying/upgrade list because I truly do love this unit
But now it seems that I can make it even better without having to change it at the very end
If I get a SU-2 i should get a nice upgrade, but eventually when I do upgrade the dac (again, say holo cyan or exogal comet) will the SU-2 be enough to get a clean usb signal from my laptop, or should I jump straight to the KTE SU2 or Singxer SU6 for betrer performance?
Price-performance ratio is what im after, honestly the su2 + cyan should be a great combo and if I were to spend 700~ on the other ones I might as well just go for an yggy a2 instead when I do upgrade
Hello,
If you want to operate the Holo-Cyan via I2S then yes.
But you must first make sure that you can operate the Su 2 with it and in which position the dip switches should be set on the Holo-Cyan and on the Su 2.
Keep me posted on whether it is possible, as I already have the Su 2. The Holo-Cyan might still be interesting for me.
As far as I can see on the Holo-Cyan, there is no Cryoteck chip on it, so it is not galvanically isolated.
Whether it really has an influence is up to each individual to decide.
The DDC will seem like a great upgrade for the time being until you can get the Holo Cyan. My recommendation though would be to save and try to buy a used Yggy OG type model. Theyâre probably the best bang for the buck DAC and you can find them used for $1700 price range.
A1 is still very good, but has a somewhat different signature, more treble focused, a little less impact in the Bass. Takes more of a hit to performance if you use the SE out instead of balanced.
There are multiple USB boards in Yggysâs everything pre Gen 5 youâd definitively want to run via AES/SPDIF, and even Gen 5 and Unity I think you get a win with a good SPDIF/AES source.
Honestly my 2c is save for the DAC first, then buy a D2D converter.
Hello,
Have a look at the video of Wavetheory.
He explains a lot there and also where the better purpose is.
From my point of view, it depends on whether it makes sense, depending on how the Usb board of the Dac was designed, a DDC can make sense or not.
If you want to use I2S you need it.
If you only want to improve the Usb port because it is perhaps old, a Singxer F1 can be sufficient, but then only coax is possible.
The other thing is with the dip switches on the underside of the Singxer, unfortunately there is not much explained in the manual about this, especially with regard to I2S, this can be a real problem.
That is why it is important to ask before buying how to set it up when it comes and whether it is compatible.
Thanks a lot for the info, as my plan is to keep my current dac as long as possible it makes more sense to me to first get the DDC, im sure it wont bottleneck any of my amps yet as im still in the midrange amp collecting stage
Then, when I do upgrade to somthing like the yggy, the DDC will still ne useful so I can use fhe AES or Pi2 which my PC doesnt have. Also I would definitively like the treble focus of the A1 and my amp and DDC will complement the bass region.
Thanks, that was a great video and he reaches the same conclusion as Polygonhell, im in such a special case where I think the SU2 is the best solution currently.
So ill get the su2 for now instead of upgrading my dac, and use that remaining money on the amp I want instead
If you find a used Exogal it will give you performance well beyond an Amber 3 if you like soundstage, separation, depth, timbre quality. Itâs neutral and slightly warm as close as I can describe it with great micro dynamics. Please donât hold me to these descriptions I have much trouble describing DACâs. I donât have anything better than an Amber in my home to compare it to, but no other DAC Iâve used has come close to giving me the great details the Exogal helps bring out in my systems. Used they seem to be available less than $2k and I swear based on my personal experience and my own abilities to listen I still have not tried anything that performs better in my home.
The controls are awkward and a bit annoying which is why it doesnât stay in my main 2 channel permanently and I hope my incoming Baltic 3 from Lampizator is a step up in detail retrieval and general spatial aura and recreation.
The USB is sensitive and if you are using a laptop there is a good chance you will have annoying noise, Using a DDC or even inexpensive reclocker and a good USB made it silent.
Good luck whichever direction you head towards. PM me any questions about Exogal, Iâll tell you all, good or bad.
Just below the very high end dacs lays the exogal comet and the yggy, for now ill focus on the amp, the HE6seV2 even while very underpowered is as addicting as the clear, RS1 and others
Now I have a doubt that could be a dealbreaker for su2
One of the things I want from the SU2 is to instantly swap between dacs.
My 2 dacs currently have spdif only, and the SU2 has only 1 spdif out, the other being a BNC one;
Is BNC compatible with spdif? Is the AES?
I tried to research on my own and the answers were not clear.
Again it will take me a long time to save for the yggy or comet+ since I quit my job; now that Iâll have a preamp with volume control (3xp) I might as well go BF2 for the time being which also has spdif inputs only (just saying, not that I would go bf2 + su2 in that case I would get a better dac instead)
On the SU2, the coax rca and bnc outputs both output spdif, so they use the same. Unbalanced AES can be run over bnc, but in this case it is just spdif. BNC is just a connector type like RCA, so whatever is run over it will vary. Assuming itâs a 75 ohm spdif output (which I think it is), you can just use a simple bnc to rca adapter and use that as another spdif output. Now if those two outputs can be run simultaneously is another story, and Iâm not sure if they can or not (although Iâm pretty sure you can). It had no issues outputting both aes and spdif at the same time, but Iâm not sure if both spdif outputs are tied together or something
Cool cool, then all you will need is either a bnc to rca cable, or a simple adapter like this Audioquest RCA to BNC Adapter to just use a normal spdif cable (doesnât have to be aq, just an example of what youâd be looking for, basically a female rca to male bnc adapter)
Depending on what cables you need, you could run a BNC-BNC cable and then use a âBNC female to RCA maleâ adapter:
Or turn BNC into RCA right at the RCA-out
Since BNC is a very common connector in the measurement world, quality adapters can be had for cheap.
Edit: My BNC cables and adapters are either âTelegärtnerâ or âTestecâ.
