cb01
AES Member, Retired A/V Forensic Professional
Or possibly a DDC?
End Game Digital (2023)
- Thread starter Alex S
- Start date
Or possibly a DDC?
DomT (Wam) is bringing his Benchmark DAC2 to mine tomorrow to pitch it against my maxed out Black Ice (Jolida) Glass fx DSD which should be interesting.
Prior to the latest round of mods, for shits & giggles (it had already stood its ground and matched a £3k Lab12) I put it up against a twin psu MSB Discrete (£13.5k) and a Rossinni (£22k) at Studio AV. Whilst there were differences (bigger soundstage, better separation & authority) it wasn't £12.5k & £21k worth of difference. Would love to go back to S AV with the new mods installed as I reckon the BI is now pretty close to both of the big boys.
Prior to the latest round of mods, for shits & giggles (it had already stood its ground and matched a £3k Lab12) I put it up against a twin psu MSB Discrete (£13.5k) and a Rossinni (£22k) at Studio AV. Whilst there were differences (bigger soundstage, better separation & authority) it wasn't £12.5k & £21k worth of difference. Would love to go back to S AV with the new mods installed as I reckon the BI is now pretty close to both of the big boys.
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Alex S
carbon based lifeform
Unfortunately, I think age also has something to do with it. It's ironic that as our reactions and hearing deteriorate we can afford faster cars and better hifi. At least they compensate for decrepitude.
camverton
pfm Member
Very true and something I can associate with!
Thinking about it, I suppose it is a relief that I can still hear the glare with Benchmark DAC1 (and to be fair other DACs also), and that it is a problem my current setup has solved rather than my ears deteriorating and not hearing it.
tuga
Legal Alien
I would not expect that to be honest, because the DAC1 resamples any sample rate to 110kHz and neither the MScaler nor HQPlayer will ouput that rate. You could try having it modded but I don't know anyone trustworthy here in the UK.
Have you tried setting the output level to -6dBu in "Calibrated" mode?
How is it connected: USB or Coaxial?
camverton
pfm Member
Thanks. Yep, it was just a passing thought and thankfully I have no need to pursue it. It’s quite nice to slot an old bit of kit in from time to time, and some times a change is as good as a rest, but not in this case.
While the Chord PETE does indeed offer noticeable improvements over the DAVE, it’s the Chord CHAS that is truly endgame…
Richard Lines
pfm Member
If the difference between an Akurate and a Klimax is any kind of indicator then it kind of suggests Organik would be a further improvement - one day I might be able to have the funds to find out....
Regards
Richard
Alex S
carbon based lifeform
No need to be afraid.
Fretbuzz
pfm Member
Whenever I hear that bleached 'signal only' approach to music (digital) it puts me in mind of that bloody awful trend of deconstructed food. Yes all the ingredients are separated out, well done, and perhaps cooked individually to perfection, but it's not the meal any more, the sum of its parts. No seasoning either.
Purest, yes, appetising, no.
I don't believe it's all just about measurements either.
Purest, yes, appetising, no.
I don't believe it's all just about measurements either.
Joe
pfm Member
Or
People should listen to the music and not the equipment ?
Q...would you like to come round and listen to my hifi ?
A.. No.
John Phillips
pfm Member
That DAC looks like a great package of features for an end-game DAC.
I know people will disagree, but to me it's the DAC's interfaces, functions and conversion capabilities that make for a potentially end-game DAC today. To my ears the last DAC I heard that sounded wrong relative to my personal experience listening to live music was when auditioning CD players in 2004.
D/A conversion technology has technically progressed a lot since then, but my reference architecture is still one I first saw in Wolfson's (now Cirrus') 8740 DAC chips. Some converters today, even high-end ones, continue to use better implementations of it but other architectures have caught up in practice.
Purité Audio
Trade: Purite Audio
Yes as good as anything, tiny bit jittery but that won’t be audible,
https://www.stereophile.com/content/luxman-da-06-da-processor-measurements
Digital is done and dusted and has been for years.
Keith
https://www.stereophile.com/content/luxman-da-06-da-processor-measurements
Digital is done and dusted and has been for years.
Keith
Southeastern
She called me baby, like an old romantic
And yet for some reason...the majority don't believe you! Strange old world eh?
Why did they stop making it? I have an almost complete Luxman system now, its one brand I would buy blind but getting hold on one of those DA-06's in the UK is quite difficult..although, some have tested the Aqua La Scala Optologic that I have now against the DA-06 and found the Aqua to be better.
Warszawa
pfm Member
The perfect amount of jitter, carefully chosen by the finest Japanese craftsmen.
The Burr-Brown chips are obsolete. It will surely be succeeded by a ROHM based design in the next couple of years.
camverton
pfm Member
That’s a perfectly reasonable opinion and reminds me of the delightful Serge. Those with open minds and ears will have discovered that there has been a steady improvement in digital. To the casual listener such improvements will likely appear subtle at best, but for those passionate about music they can make the difference between a sound that is slightly “off” and one that you can forget about and just get more into the music for hour after hour. All imho and fwiw of course!
Southeastern
She called me baby, like an old romantic
I love Keiths drop in PFM hours...Siri reminds him 'Its your PFM time now, I have your Macros ready for you'
Purité Audio
Trade: Purite Audio
Or it could be that all of your comparisons have been sighted without any form of control.
Keith