I continued my research and found the SMSL M500. Does this choice seem very interesting to me? What do you think?
The combos that you offered me with the EARMAN Donald still leave me free budget. So I have a little space to get better …
You only need dac can drive 512 dsd buy the Software Audirvana and add the Settings from you dac and all are be fine.
You need not more.
So i have run it with the Singxer Sda 2 Dac.
The Dac is for sure out of your range i think the ify is enough for what you do.
Benefit of what? Happy to explain. Can you specify?
It is this assertion that I do not understand. (The advantage of Qobus over Tidal Master)
Short version is that tidal uses a partly lossy proprietary MQA-technilogy that need a MQA enabled hardware DAC to get the full benefit of the MQA.
Qobuz uses open standard lossless FLAC format that works with any DAC.
The long version is here:
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Both sound good though and you are unlikely to hear a difference. I just dislike the proprietary nature of MQA and the fact that I need a special DAC to play that stream.
Any comments on the SMSL M500?
Hello,
Yes, the M500 thinks it will go more in the clinical and analytical direction.
Not nice warm and full-bodied like an Akm or Cirrus Logic Chip which are among other things more musical.
It’s a matter of taste now whether or not Mqa can do that in the end I wouldn’t focus on it.
Firstly it is quite new and secondly it would be a nice to have in the selection.
It’s better to focus on Dsd to 512 then you are actually very well prepared and positioned.
The other side is what kind of headphones should the Dac drive?
If you take a planar headset it needs a lot of power, so it would be good to have something to drive it, otherwise it would be a waste.
How about the Topping E30 and Schiit Asgard 3 or a Lake People G103S?
My recommendation…I purchased mine over a year ago and even though i own “better” units i continue to use it regularly because it is so feature packed and sounds great with IEM’s. Good luck deciding
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Yes I plan to buy a HIFIMAN ANANDA before Christmas. But I read that these planars headphones were not very greedy, less greedy than my Beyer DT990 Pro. I do not know if that’s true…
I really want to make a purchase for a while, at least I hope not to think about upgrading quickly!
Regarding the “focus on Dsd to 512” aspect, I honestly admit that it is beyond my current understanding. I probably need to read a bit about this before making my choice, because right now that doesn’t mean anything to me!
Hi, @Krycek, welcome to the forum. Are you US based? If so I think @donjklassen pretty well summed it up, grab a Schiit Asgard 3 and either an Earmen Donald DAC or iFi Zen DAC. The Zen has a bass boost which you may want for the Ananda because they won’t be as bassy as you’re used to with the DT990.
I would also suggest exploring Qobuz. They have a trial period. If their library works for you then you don’t need to worry with mqa and your options open up dramatically.
Cheers!
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Okay I will try to explain it to you briefly and concisely.
If you take a Dac regardless if it can read Dsd or not and plug it into a pc it will output over pcm depending on how good the source material is.
So if tidal in flac format plays 24 bit on 44.1 khz the dac can usually do that, which is one corner better than cd format.
Now your Dac X Dsd with the software you have to buy called Audirvana which only supports tidal and qubocz account can be redirected to the Dac and the Dac will do the whole upsampling in a quality that depends on how it is set to say Dsd 256 then the title is 256 times better than the cd and plays bit accurate.
In the case Qualitativer. in principle it is only extrapolated.
If you already use a monster like the Hifi man you said I tell you honestly if you use a Dac that is musical and not analytical it would be a waste.
If you want to have analytical it is also a lot cheaper.
A Thx 789 from Massdrop, jds Labs Atom for example, is enough to get there.
If it should be musical then the Questyle Cma 400i, Singxer Sda 2, Topping E30 would not be wrong with Asgard 3, they have enough power reserves.
And they also have the sound to lean back and enjoy.
And if you really only want to test it, there’s nothing wrong with Ify, the only thing it might lack is power.
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I probably should have mentioned it, I’m from Canada and Qobuz is not yet available. There is however Deezer Hifi which steams the music in FLAC format.
Attention
Deezer of course supports Hifi but only on hardware like streamers etc.
Deezer does not support Audirvana which makes the Hifi subscription useless for them.
This is a pity, because Deezer is from France just like Audirvana.
With Deezer you are bound to their software platform just like Amazon and Spotify.
If you want to use Audirvana then you have to use Tidal and Qubozz and Hi res, although the latter is not so great.
Everything else does not support Audirvana and vice versa.
Why this is so is probably because it has to do with money, which doesn’t necessarily belong here now, that would be off topic, but I just wanted to mention why this is not possible with Deezer and Co.
There is nothing else at the moment except this possibility to bind one to the other if you want to use it.
Of course this is not a must but a pity if you have a Dac but the Dsd can’t be used to its full potential.
Thanks Deleeh,
I think I am starting to understand the advantages of DSD. As Qobuz is not available in Canada, I am staying with Tidal.
In short, I have to get Audirvana so I don’t have to worry about the MQA format, because the music will be transmitted to the DAC by Tidal via Audirvana, then upgraded to DSD 256 or 512, if it is supported by the DAC.
Tell me if I got it right?
Now I have a Beyer DT990 Pro at the moment, have try and read HiFIMAN Ananda reviews and am planning to buy it. I admit that I don’t understand when you mention that a musical DAC with Ananda would be a waste. Can you tell me a little more?
I’ve been using amazon music hd in Canada for the last little while since it’s been available to us and it’s pretty great. As good as tidal to my ear and no mqa needed. HD tracks are 16 bit and ULTRA HD tracks are 24 bit with no decoding necessary.
Food for thought.
Edit: it’s also less expensive.
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Hello,
Yes, you got it right about Audirvana.
You can test it out with a month’s trial first.
But that will fit.
No, I thought it would be a waste of the Hifiman if you went in the analytical direction.
But it’s a matter of taste.
I like it warm Musically and true to detail. I like it when you hear how the instruments end at the end, similar to an LP record if you’ve ever heard it.
And don’t just disappear behind the black curtain.
That’s too unspectacular and cold for me.
Although there are headphones that also like to dissect, you have to say that the Denon D9200 is supposed to do that and if you add a rather analytical Dac it can destroy the whole music picture.
That’s why I would personally go to something musical if the hifiman already has a very good resolution, then it cancels one with the other and doesn’t experience a disaster.
But then also experiences a full-bodied, melodious sound.
Like when you enjoy a good whiskey or gin or whatever other delicacies you can find in Canada .
If you are really just starting out, I would take small steps in hardware.
In the end, this also relieves the wallet.
Stupidly speaking, you can test cheap Dacs with different chips like ESaber, Akm, Burr brown, regardless of whether you order from Amazon and send it back or elsewhere, or listen to a sample in a good hi-fi shop, just don’t buy anything there.
Just to get a feel for what you like and get to know your preferences.
Later you can also buy a better Dac that is a bit cleaner in the circuit and can also drive the performance with the desired headphones.
It usually goes in the direction where you say that is exactly what I was looking for. This is how I imagine my sound as it should sound.
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You can probable order Qobuz to Canada by using a VPN to England and pay with PayPal. It does not require the VPN after you have made to account.
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