if you’re in Europe you can’t really lose by trying it out and returning it if you don’t like it. If you find that’s the case you can snap up a soekris when it comes out, or, I imagine, a used 1321, 1431 or 1541 that will probably start appearing for sale used once the first owners look to upgrade
I don’t know if you have a tube amp but someone mentioned a month or so ago that r2r’s and tubes sound fantastic together and they were right in my brief experience. I’ve had a Feliks-Audio Espressivo for a few days now and they sound great together, really rich and enjoyable sound, Anything acoustic or classical just sounds crazy vibrant and full. But also something like Sarah Janosz’s cover of Prince’s When Doves Cry, on Spotify.
Anyway I only mention this because if you think you might be into the r2r sound, wait till you pair it with a decent tube amp.
That will not be a problem sir, I’m deep into tubes, will be making a personal one soon
There is also the Soekris DIY line (sold out): https://soekris.modhouseaudio.com/soekris-diy-products or the OEM line which you’d have to get more creative in how you implement.
Not as cheap, but should provide a nice clean/analytical DAC when done. Who knows what the cheaper unknown ebay stuff would provide.
Oooooooooo interesting.
Before you mix and match R2R with a THX, read a few posts from here: Is THX (precisely: is AAA) a bad thing?
I will not the same forum members that seem to enjoy R-2R DACs don’t tend to use them or have the highest opinion of THX amps. Just sharing my 2 cents and I’m NOT saying something is better than another, but larger point I have to share which is your source chains matter and synergy is VERY important. I think Zeos thinks so highly of the THX amps because he doesn’t really mess with them in terms of DACs and his gear plays to the amp’s strengths.
Has anyone used this before?
Yes, it’s actually pretty good, based off a soekris dac, pretty solid, works well with their stack
how does it compare to something like the Denafrips terminator/Plus?
Hmmm, so I haven’t heard the plus, but the sagra is going to be more neutral and resolution focused, trying to go for accuracy, whereas the terminator is going for a bit warmer and more fun punchy sound while maintaining it’s resolution
what im hearing is that yeah an R2R dac actually sounds so much better and less digital and polished… now if only i had the money and space… im stuck in DS
Very interesting thread here and learning a lot, too.
I could use a very basic primer though on the major distinctions of R2R, Multibit and Ladder. But I’ll take a stab at it and see if I am in the ballpark.
- R2R uses resistors, like in the early days of DAC’s from 25+ years ago.
- Multibit is kind of what Schiit is doing as their own thing, right?
- Ladder. Is that just like most DAC chips out there, like the AKM chips?
The reason I am asking is a) I love learning new things, and b) as I fall further down the audiophile rabbit hole, I am able to notice and pick out things I’ve never been able to before.
Earlier this evening I was doing some comparisons between the Jotunheim with the multibit DAC module and the Geshelli Labs Enog with the AKM chip. I’ve been noticing for a while now that I can hear a difference between the two DAC’s and I’ve been favoring, heavily, the AKM chip over the multibit chip.
I couldn’t quite describe what I’ve been hearing in words until I looked at AKM’s website for the AK4493EQ ( https://www.akm.com/global/en/products/audio/audio-dac/ak4493eq/ ) where they use the words ‘velvet sound.’ Velvet is the perfect word for me to describe the sound I hear from the Enog and Jnog when I compare them to the Schiit multibit.
hey SG, my understanding is that R2R is the same as Ladder.
@M0N should be able to clarify and correct me if I’m wrong.
R2R is also referred to as a resistor ladder/ladder DAC
Multibit is a ladder on a chip, the way CD players worked in the 80’s.
So basically all words for the same thing.
The only real difference being if the resistor ladder in on a chip, or made from discrete resistors.
The “Families” of DACs from an electronic stand point are:
-
Ladder (Binary Weighted, R-2R, C-2C, etc.) - Each binary input has a specific state for the output.
-
Delta-Sigma (= Sigma-Delta), 1-bit family - By comparing output amplitude to input value and adjusting accordingly for over-/undershoot, the average is the desired signal.
D-S DACs can be “stacked” to have a morc precise output -
Multi-Bit, technically 1-bit family - These compare the output signal to the input value in the same way a D-S DAC does. The main difference is them being “more than 1-bit” internally. So there may be 4 distinct steps (or more, or less) internally instead of the on/off a D-S DAC uses.
Basically a half-breed of the former two.
Clearly, I need to do some more in-depth reading on this topic. Thanks for the responses!
how long do you have to let it rise before using? LoL!
Spelling is hard.
Does somebody knead to learn to spell? LOL!!
I misspell things all the time, and English is my native language.