Can I ask you if you tried the Holo May or Denafrips DACs?? and ask if you could suggest best DAC in $1500 range then $2500 range, then maybe $5000 range for best overall satisfaction -thanks and keep up the great feedback and reviews
I owned a Holo may for a bit, and have an ares ii and have heard a Terminator or pontus (Iād like to hear some of their new ones though). Nice dacs for their respective price points
Oh man hmmm, thereās a lot of potential options there. What chain would this be for specifically? I can give more accurate suggestions knowing the chain. And is this new prices or used?
(Although itās not exactly a review lol)
Also if you are the same person on headfi Iām thinking of, you got a mystique Evo recently as well correct? How has that been treating you?
Yes same person- I think the Mojo line is remarkable especially the dac I have right now Evo pro - I planned on bringing it to a few people here in ny to hear on their systems but many are redoing their audio rooms in their homes / so for me Iām limited to my headphone set up right now- what state are you in?
Yes itās pretty nice, a good upgrade to the previous v3. Have you tried it with any nice streamers or ddc? It improves it even further imo
Itās always great to get people to hear a really nice dac, although some might not like you for it since they will want one afterwords lol
Would prefer not to say for privacy reasons lol, but on the east cost
Just out of curiosity, if I were to do a sub 5k dac comparison, what would you guys really want to see compared in it? Like what models would be of interest? I could either do it from memory which would be much more brief than the comparisons above (not as detailed, not as involved synergy wise, but Iād say accurate enough to give a decent at a glance picture if it was a dac I had enough time with, but it would still be from memory so idk if I would feel comfortable there), or I can try and acquire said dacs and do direct (but Iām debating if I would really want to do that, and that will take a pretty long time)
Whatever is easier for you M0N. The last writeup you did was super informational and fun to readā¦but I know it was a lot of work for youā¦so making it easier on you is ideal IMO.
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I honestly donāt know a lot of high-end DACs off the top my head at that price (Holo and Chord come to mind), but Iād be interested reading your thoughts regardlessā¦
I think by memory is fine (if thereās no easy access). Thereās no substitute for first-hand experience anywayā¦
Btw, Iām not implying that your write-ups hold no meaning; theyāre very useful/helpful!
So honestly I didnāt find it that much work, but only because the majority of the work was just listening* and I donāt really considering listening to something āworkā (unless itās not enjoyable lol), the actual writing part I just did in a night for the most part (2 days if I include the other part 2 other parts) when I had a spur of inspiration lol (but that would explain the more lazy and informal writing lol) since I wasnāt expecting to write this for the forum as it was more for myself**. I feel like I owe people who decided to trudge through the above something that could potentially be more relevant or useful lol
*(about a year of listening overall with mixed critical and casual, and around 3 months of detailed note taking during listening leading up to the comparison. I would post those more detailed track/session notes but they are handwritten and too much work to type over (and having to read my own shitty handwriting can be painful lol), I generalized in the final for simplicity)
**(but I figured getting it out there somewhere was worthwhile since I had most of the work done, even if it might not be useful it could still be interesting to read for some, or at least get some info out there for some less documented dacs, especially from a headphone perspective)
I have some time (for now), so I would just check if thatās actually something that would potentially be worthwhile to do. If I end up not feeling like I want to do it I likely wonāt, I do have my priorities and since I really only frequent the forum for personal enjoyment if it doesnāt end up being enjoyable for me I prob wonāt continue. But again if thereās interest I might so idk, itās not something that I foresee myself really disliking if I do it
I can think of a lot, and thatās kinda the problem lol, need to narrow those down to things people are actually interested in
I can get ahold of things directly, but the cost of doing so is not cheap, waiting for things to show up on the used market could be slow, and also I really donāt need more audio gear around the house lol. I would only end up picking dacs that I have had extended time with (like at least 2 weeks in my own setups) if I were to do from memory to make sure it was reliable (show demoās, demos on not well known setups, or demos with limited synergy testing would not be acceptable to me and would not be included so that will limit it a bit)
No worries lol
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If I had to make a list of dacs to start off with I would want to include that I have had adequate experience with (confident enough memory to compare against each other as long as it wasnāt super detailed comparisons), it would be the following (all can be found used less than 5k):
Holo May kte (or spring 2 kte)
Aqua la voce s3
lampizator amber 3
berkeley alpha series 2
schiit yggy a2
chord qutest
xi sagra
bricasti m1
t+a dac8 dsd
dangerous music convert 2
crane song solaris quantum
soekris dac2541 (or 1541)
mhdt pagoda bal
exogal comet plus
sw1x dac ii
sonnet morpheus
burl b2 bomber
msb analog dac
mojo mystique v3
primaluna evo 100 dac
I do have others that I have had decent experience with but I either didnāt like them (felt there were things that filled itās role better), or feel I wouldnāt be able to give them a fair assessment in a comparison (either due to not actually being able to have them in house long enough, or feeling like I didnāt have setups properly equipped to evaluate them at time of having them in)
I would prefer if I didnāt have to do a 20 dac comparison now lol, especially if it was from memory so helping to trim it down to like 10 or so would make it more manageable
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I think a sub 5k would or should also mean above sayā¦ 2k? You know what mere mortals would find attainable. Iād love your thought/comparisons primarily to see what you think as compared to things that Iāve actually heard.
I salivated over some of your DACs here but thereās no way in hell one is over going to find its way into my home unless I break into your house and take it from you. lol
Yggy
Pontus or Terminator
Some kind of Chord like the Hugo TT
The Lampizator Amber 3
Iām sure people will give a lot of others but what Iād most like to get from you is a similar comparison of DACs that Iād actually buy or attain. Because the road map that you created for the high end DACs here is really what Iās find valuable if I was shopping for 8k to 10k plus DAC.
The deep dive doesnāt have to be as intense, but knowing you, youāll dive deep anyway. Again, a road map that I could reference and also since I would have actually heard some of the DAC youāre talking about, I could compare notes and further gain confidence especially in pairing things long term. Without stuff and guidance like you share here, pairing would be ENTIRELY trial and error.
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The only other one that I personally would be interested in would be the Bryston BDA-2 or BDA-3.
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Iād get this DAC just so I can say I have a B2 Bomber!
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Yeah Iād agree with @db_Cooper ā¦while itās nice to be aware of these uber high-end DACs, Iād prefer a comparison of what I would realistically spend on a DAC (so $1500-$3500 for me).
Oh Iāll put one vote in for a Holo Springā¦
Yeah most would be in that 2-5k
Sure
Havenāt had those in my own setup, but I can grab a terminator for a week to test out if there was enough interest
I have more at home experience with the qutest, and also I donāt like the tt2 personally
def will be included
Yeah thatās the main reason why I would do this lol
Yeah the range for the previous compared dacs was more around 10-20k range used
I did own a bda 3 for a bit, but I didnāt include it initially because it doesnāt represent that good of a value even used at least at the moment. The bda 2 is a more reasonable choice used but I could put the 3 in there
Itās pretty nice
noted
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Another thing that would interest me @M0N is a general opinion on what brands have a DNA sound, a family resemblence kind of thing. So If we find something for 2.5k but know that if youād buy their 6 or 8K model when it depreciated more in a few years. Those kinds of details I think would be very helpful.
For example, I have a feeling that the Holo DACs have a DNA type of sound but Iāve only based that on people descriptions of how the May or Spring sounded to them, but I got in on the ground floor with the Cyan. Iād expect detail and instrument separation things like that to improve as the dollars go up, but I find just knowing if thereās a house sound a valuable piece of info.
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Out of those DACs you mentioned earlier, which ones do you think are the most aesthetically pleasing (top 3)?
Part of the reason why Iām so drawn to the Holo stuffā¦
I could make note of that given Iāve actually heard their other models. I will say that generally brands to have a house sound for sure, but some have it more than others. But itās rare I will try 2 dacs from the same manufacturer and they donāt have some house sound or sound totally different (but it does happen from time to time if they are from different generations or there was a big shift in the company between the dacs, for example the aqua la voce s3 sounds nothing like the s2 or their current lineup, it was a total rework and shift overall, so thatās why I end up liking the s3 so much lol)
They all do somewhat have a similar signature and presentation, they all have that weaker dsd performance for the price, and usability wise somewhat similar. Generally if you like the cyan, I highly doubt you would dislike a spring or may, as they carry along the signature and presentation and improve on technicalities
So to be honest, I really donāt care about how the dac looks all that much (the mojo dacs have fucking papyrus font plastered on the front for christās sake, I really donāt care anymore lol), but if you forced me to answer that (will do 4), Iād say the holo may/spring, berkeley alpha series 2, bricasti m1, and msb analog dac would be the ones I would look at and think ādamn those look coolā. But really though I donāt feel like I am fit to really judge if something looks good or not. Itās also something you can do pretty easily by looking online and seeing a picture, will give you a good enough representation if you are in it for looks (itās unfortunate itās not that easy to judge sound lol)
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THE LampizatOr Amber 3. I see you!
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Audio note 1.1 or 2.1 could make a nice addition. Perhaps the ifi idsd as well if youāve heard it enough to give some noteworthy opinions. I know itās also a streamer and a hybrid DAC but I think that gives it some benefits others donāt have
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To all the DACs Iāve loved before
Who traveled in and out my door
Iām glad they came along
I dedicate this song
To all the DACs Iāve loved before
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