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DAC Dilemma

Billsie

Billsie

pfm Member
Dear All
My original system was UnitiServe into NDX, Nac 202, Nap 200. I have recently bought a TeddyPardo PR1 and MB100s. The improvement in sound is phenomenal. My next plan is a new DAC to either run from the NDX or directly from the UServe. There are such a lot available but the flavours of the month, Schiit, Metrum, Benchmark, Mytek, Hagel and Chord aren’t sold by any local dealers so I’d be buying blind (or should it be deaf?) with hopefully your advice. Am I being daft prevaricating over alternative brands or should I simply buy a TeddyDac and be done?
Thanks
Steve
 
Although I ended up buying a Cambridge Audio Dacmagic Plus to use as DAC between my Synology NAS and TP i80a (it's one of the few DACs that are natively supported by Synology via USB), it's always great to hear from others who've bought a TP amp and found the same sort of satisfaction I've found myself with mine. May she - I assume your amp's a she - give you years and years of joy as mine has done so far me :)
 
I have the same amps.when the need for a dac arose i went straight back to teddy for one.i have no regrets cheers,Paul
 
Billsie, whereabouts in the country are you ? I'm in Essex and might be able to put your unitiserve and NDX up against my squeezebox touch, Teddy Squeeze psu and Teddy dac. You might be surprised......
 
Thanks for the suggestions
Hi Stemcor, thanks for your kind offer but I’m up in York.
I guess my question is really how much “better” are the new DACs than ones that have been around for a while such as the TeddyDac. There isn’t really any practical way of comparing. What I do know is that the Teddy amps exceeded my expectations and if his DAC is in the same league it’s going to be very good. I don’t know how much better things get though.
 
Hi thebiglebowski,
Thanks for the info. I’ve just had a quick look on the website. Have you directly compared to others? What do you like about them so much? I want something that I can just relax and listen to and enjoy. I’m not too bothered about ultra detail. The reason I started on this track was that I had a completely free evening some months ago and thought I’d listen to some music at a reasonable volume but after an hour or so I started to feel “beaten up” and went off to do something else.
 
Another vote for the Beresford Caiman SEG, I have it doing its stuff with a cambridge CXC. Beats the old Linn Genki, a fine stand alone player, in every department. Also works well with CCA and phone/tablet/laptop sources too!
 
Thanks for all the posts.
Hi FredM, have fun when it arrives!
Had you listened to others on your list before deciding? Did you buy directly from Metrum?
 
Metrum +1, made a huge impression on me, talking Jade / Onyx and reading the reviews one should be convinced. I have been lucky enough to have tested the onyx for a couple of weeks, and can find me in the latest review posted on their website. Absolutely amazing, and after testing several dacs, the metrum stands high on top of the list. Compared Mytek, way more expensive dac, and find the Metrum more detailed, balanced, pleasure to listen to. And most important, it doesnt hurt my ears as i havent found any sharp peaks.
 
The Teddydac is very good and I suspect a new one will be better than the one I heard a few years ago. I’d imagine you’d be very happy with one, it was the best dac I’d heard at the time.

I then preferred the Weiss dacs albeit they were asynchronous which the Teddydac wasn’t at the time and the next step up budget wise.
 
Last edited:
Billsie said:
Hi thebiglebowski,
Thanks for the info. I’ve just had a quick look on the website. Have you directly compared to others? What do you like about them so much? I want something that I can just relax and listen to and enjoy. I’m not too bothered about ultra detail. The reason I started on this track was that I had a completely free evening some months ago and thought I’d listen to some music at a reasonable volume but after an hour or so I started to feel “beaten up” and went off to do something else.
Click to expand...

I compared it with the Audio Note kits 4.1 DAC I had at the same time and actually preferred the BP, in the past I've had a Chord 2Qute, Hugo, Young, AN 1.1x mk2 Sig, Lampizator Amber and a few others. I'm most definitely a big fan of the NOS r2r based DACs and especially the valve based ones but surprisingly the BP isn't valve based. Gary at BP is an expert on power supplies though and I think this is one of the most important aspects of a good DAC.

The Hugo was by far the most detailed and accurate but wasn't particularly engaging for long listening sessions. The BP is not as detailed as the Hugo or AN's but it has a fantastic soundsatge and reproduces the tempo and boogy of the music better than anything else I've tried.

All the DACs I've tried each have very good things going for them but the BP just has the best combination of all those good points, it won't beat the others on their individual strongpoints but is just much better balanced across what it does.

In order of preference:

BP
AN 1.1x mk2 sig
AN 4.1 kit
Lampizator Amber
Chord Hugo
Chord 2Qute
Young
 
If I can go off left field as it were... the NDX has an extremely capable DAC but as a stand alone unit one hampered by an underengineered power-supply. I have only heard it with Naim's own power-supplies, but have very little doubt that a Teddy XPS (which seems an obvious choice in the context of your system) would be similarly transformative.

I would certainly ask Teddy what his thoughts are on this vs his DAC, he is a very straightforward guy.

I wouldn't consider hanging a DAC off the back of the NDX, it would be a poor use of the amount of money tied up in it; if you do go down the DAC route the digital feed from the UnitiServe. Through a properly engineered DAC it should sound identical!
 
Timing, timing, timing ! I'm spending the weekend on the Yorkshire coast !

My advice is listen to as many dacs as possible before making your mind up. I'm very sceptical about "improvements" made by current equipment. If the so called gains were true then systems of 20 years ago would be awful compared to today's offerings. Somehow I think that's not quite true. Plenty of people buy vintage hifi.

There are probably some very goods dacs out there on the second hand markets as well as new. Good luck with your search and trust your own ears.
 
Hi folks
Thanks for taking the time to reply and for your suggestions and advice. I’ve been going round in circles for a while with options and you’ve helped straighten me up.
Really helpful
Thank you
Steve
 
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