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The End of My DAC Journey?

maccar said:
If you get the chance to hear a dCS Bartok give it a go... mine might be up for sale soon.
Mac
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Thinking of moving up the ladder?
Been there, done that.
No regrets as far as I'm concerned. Even with a modest drive like the Cambridge CXU (1st generation) Cd sounds rather brilliant on the Rossini apex. Back to CDs for a days or to while I copy all 5To of music to some new exteranl hard drives.
 
les24preludes said:
I very briefly had a Topping D70 Dac - awful, thin and unmusical. It was very hyped up in reviews, but in practice was rubbish.
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I was actually looking at a Topping DAC, the highest range or 2nd top model sometime last year after reading all the glowing reviews. Fortunately I didn't proceed with it.

I stuck with my trusty Chord QBD76 which is currently my main DAC, and Luxman DA-06.
 
maccar said:
If you get the chance to hear a dCS Bartok give it a go... mine might be up for sale soon.
Mac
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A dCS Bartok would make for a great all in one streaming solution. But money-wise - just a tad too much for me despite being a possible end game bit of kit. Nice to know it's made and developed in the UK too.
 
Dowser said:
Do you not think hifi is a journey? Within my price point I am always looking for “better” 🤪
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Without leaving his door
He knows everything under heaven.
Without looking out of his window
He knows all the ways of heaven.
For the further one travels
The less one knows.
Therefore the Sage arrives without going,
Sees all without looking,
Does nothing, yet achieves everything.
 
So far I've stayed at the cheaper end of the DAC pool. My first DAC was a Meridian 203 which was ok but I preferred the internal DAC in the Micromega Leader 2 CD player I had at the time. I think that Meridian is the only DAC I've sold - I've still got all the others (and found 3 spare ones when looking up the loft yesterday).

I'm happy enough with the various Simaudio Moon and Cambridge Audio DACs I have in use at the moment so thankfully have no urge to upgrade as it looks like that can be a very expensive journey.
 
An intriguing journey. You’ve owned a couple of DACs I was keen on hearing (the Weiss), and owning (T+A). If I sell my Hugo TT2 I may well look for a used T+A Dac 200, fancy a change.
 
ryder said:
I was actually looking at a Topping DAC, the highest range or 2nd top model sometime last year after reading all the glowing reviews. Fortunately I didn't proceed with it.

I stuck with my trusty Chord QBD76 which is currently my main DAC, and Luxman DA-06.
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It's funny how tastes and systems vary. I've heard a few Topping dacs right down to the teeny little SU1. They are so clean and clear. Remarkable for the money, Thin and unmusical? Not in my system..
I've no doubt you can do better. The question is how much better, for how much money.
 
Darren said:
It's funny how tastes and systems vary. I've heard a few Topping dacs right down to the teeny little SU1. They are so clean and clear. Remarkable for the money, Thin and unmusical? Not in my system..
I've no doubt you can do better. The question is how much better, for how much money.
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Yes, that's true. Perhaps one day I'll try a Topping when I happen to set up a 2nd or 3rd system. Currently I rotate 2 DACs in the main system as I do not have space for a 2nd system (some surplus amps and speakers sitting around doing nothing at the moment).
 
Darren said:
It's funny how tastes and systems vary. I've heard a few Topping dacs right down to the teeny little SU1. They are so clean and clear. Remarkable for the money, Thin and unmusical? Not in my system..
I've no doubt you can do better. The question is how much better, for how much money.
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If I had to associate it, the Topping sounded most like the Benchmark DAC2, although more clinical, bland and soulless. If I had never heard the better DACs, I might be more accepting of it, but there was so much lacking. 🤷‍♂️

Of course it's all up to personal preference. Many adore tubes, because they enjoy the euphonic distortion. Others strive for something they feel represents "accuracy". We all pick our poison. 😉
 
The Goldensound edition looks to have useful features, and dispenses with MQA as a bonus, although Mr Goldensound is pretty coy about that given he was the main debunker of the MQA myth.
 
Woodface said:
I think other parts of the system are far more important. Get the speakers & amplification sorted & the rest will fall into place. Sources are so good now.
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When my M-DAC (v L2 Toy, etc.) packed up a couple of years ago, I bought something similar to a Topping, a Loxjie D40. It was fine but classical violin music did seem even glassier than the MDAC, and so I largely remained listening to cello- and viola-emphasised classical music, exactly as I had found myself doing during my years with the MDAC. Scratching an itch to try R2R, after a few months of Loxjie ownership I bought the Denafrips Ares, and a few months later again, the Pontus. My classical music choices changed: I was listening to, and buying, predominantly violin-emphasised music. The glassiness was gone and the notes had a palpable fullness to them.
 
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