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Post by ijrussell on Apr 27, 2022 15:01:16 GMT
It's been a long while since I had a DACoff, so that's what I'd like to do on Sunday 26th 12:00 - 19:00. Room for 8 only for an afternoon of digital music. I have a CD transport and a streamer. I'll provide pizza or similar mid-afternoon. Location 2 miles north of M6 J3 Coventry.
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Post by firebottle on Apr 27, 2022 16:22:56 GMT
Would you like me to bring my Holo Audio Spring 3 R-2R?
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Post by ijrussell on Apr 27, 2022 17:39:28 GMT
Would you like me to bring my Holo Audio Spring 3 R-2R? That would be nice. Assuming you still have it in 2 months' time obviously.  |
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Post by ijrussell on Jun 9, 2022 16:56:01 GMT
There are a couple of spaces available if you fancy an afternoon of comparing DACs.
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Post by misterc on Jun 9, 2022 17:05:14 GMT
Hi Ian
If you have me I'd like to bring along something I have been working if that is ok?
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Jun 9, 2022 17:33:56 GMT
How Far from Coventry train Station are you Ian?
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Post by ijrussell on Jun 9, 2022 18:49:30 GMT
Hi Ian If you have me I'd like to bring along something I have been working if that is ok? That would be awesome; I won't even charge you a Trade Entry Fee!!! |
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Post by ijrussell on Jun 9, 2022 18:53:42 GMT
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Post by misterc on Jun 9, 2022 19:14:48 GMT
Hi Ian If you have me I'd like to bring along something I have been working if that is ok? That would be awesome; I won't even charge you a Trade Entry Fee!!! Very kind of you my good fellow
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Post by antonio on Jun 10, 2022 2:22:24 GMT
"I won't even charge you a Trade Entry Fee!!!" Unlike the WAM  |
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Jun 10, 2022 5:59:52 GMT
Route link didn't work for me. |
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Post by ijrussell on Jun 10, 2022 7:52:09 GMT
Route link didn't work for me. The whole thing is the url. I've tried adding a link: Route |
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Jun 10, 2022 9:15:33 GMT
Route link didn't work for me. The whole thing is the url. I've tried adding a link: RouteOh ok, I'll see how much an uber will set me back |
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Post by ijrussell on Jun 10, 2022 13:09:27 GMT
The whole thing is the url. I've tried adding a link: RouteOh ok, I'll see how much an uber will set me back I can drop you off at the train station afterward if that helps. |
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Post by ijrussell on Jun 21, 2022 19:10:33 GMT
My Bluesound Node 2i streamer is back in action and sounding pretty good via the Mutec and DAC. I've been playing music from a USB key.
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Post by firebottle on Jun 23, 2022 18:58:58 GMT
Just selecting a playlist. Hope everything is going through the Mutec.
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Post by ijrussell on Jun 24, 2022 8:07:43 GMT
Just selecting a playlist. Hope everything is going through the Mutec. Yes, CD transport via AES and Bluesound Node 2i via SPDIF. I'm really looking forward to Sunday. |
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Post by antonio on Jun 24, 2022 13:18:08 GMT
Hope you all have a great day, and we see some photos and of course detailed, comprehensive reviews of each and every dac that is played  |
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Post by ijrussell on Jun 26, 2022 22:00:16 GMT
We had seven DACs to listen to. We started with the DiDiT as the initial DAC and then drew lots for the order of the rest, which was:
- DiDiT DAC212SE
- Arcam D33
- Denafrips PRO 8 MK1
- Audial S5
- Chord Mojo
- Rega DAC
- Holo Spring 3 Kitsune
Sadly, we didn't have all of the cables needed to connect the Chord Mojo, so we only listened to six DACs. We used four pre-selected tracks that each DAC played first and then the owner had up to twenty-five minutes to play tracks on their DAC.
The common tracks played on all DACs were:
- Boris Blank - Electrified (Electrified)
- Anais Mitchell - Any Way The Wind Blows (Xoa)
- David Bowie - Ashes To Ashes (Best of Bowie)
- Talk Talk - Happiness Is Easy (The Colour of Spring)
The tracks chosen by me for the DiDiT were:
- Tracy Chapman - Across The Lines (Tracy Chapman)
- Peter Bradley Adams - I'll Forget You (Leavetaking)
- Peter Gabriel - Shock The Monkey (Hit)
- Porcupine Tree - Blackest Eyes (In Absentia)
- Prince - Sign O' The Times (4Ever)
- Robbie Robertson - Somewhere Down The Crazy River (Robbie Robertson)
- REM - Losing My Religion (Best Of REM)
The tracks chosen by me for the Audial were:
- Malia & Boris Blank - Magnetic Lies (Convergence)
- Lee Harvey Osmond - Loser Without Your Love (Beautiful Scars)
- Angus & Julia Stone - Hold On (Down The Way)
- Fink - Fear Is Like Fire (Perfect Darkness)
- Lucinda Williams - West Memphis (Down Where The Spirit Meets The Bone)
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Jun 26, 2022 22:18:55 GMT
Any listening impressions?
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Post by freefallrob on Jun 27, 2022 7:53:32 GMT
It's been a long while since I had a DACoff, so that's what I'd like to do on Sunday 26th 12:00 - 19:00. Room for 8 only for an afternoon of digital music. I have a CD transport and a streamer. I'll provide pizza or similar mid-afternoon. Location 2 miles north of M6 J3 Coventry. Thanks for a lovely day out Ian really appreciate it. For those wondering if DACS sound different, they most certainly do! Great to see some familiar faces and meet some new ones 👍. Oh and hello forum, I’m Rob 👋. |
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Post by freefallrob on Jun 27, 2022 7:56:40 GMT
The album I brought along was Joan Armatrading - Square the Circle.
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Post by antonio on Jun 27, 2022 8:01:05 GMT
It's been a long while since I had a DACoff, so that's what I'd like to do on Sunday 26th 12:00 - 19:00. Room for 8 only for an afternoon of digital music. I have a CD transport and a streamer. I'll provide pizza or similar mid-afternoon. Location 2 miles north of M6 J3 Coventry. Thanks for a lovely day out Ian really appreciate it. For those wondering if DACS sound different, they most certainly do! Great to see some familiar faces and meet some new ones 👍. Oh and hello forum, I’m Rob 👋. Well come on Rob, let's have some initial impressions for those of us who couldn't make it on the day. |
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Post by ijrussell on Jun 27, 2022 8:06:06 GMT
Any listening impressions? From my seat and with my ears, all of the DACs were more than adequate for the job. I preferred some DACs over others and these may be different from the choices of other folks in attendance. I like DACs that engage me; as long as it does that, I can live with less than 'perfect sound'. I've heard high-end DACs that are technically impressive but the sound just doesn't gel for me and cheap DACs that make me want to sit and listen. The best DAC on the day was the Holo Spring 3 Kitsune. I've heard conflicting opinions on this, so it was good to hear what it could actually do in my system. It was both impressive and listenable. I wonder how good the Holo May is? Group 2 was the DiDiT, Audial, and Denafrips. They engaged me better than the last group. The last group was Arcam and Rega. Not bad by any means but just not for me. |
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Post by firebottle on Jun 27, 2022 8:18:58 GMT
A bit of a report. Photo quality isn't great on some, black Dac on black shelf anyone? The brief listening notes are my own feelings, please post your own, we all hear a bit differently. All setups benefited from an ultra clean signal courtesy of the Mutec (LPS) reclocker apart from when mentioned. The best of the 4 test tracks for showing the quality of repro were Boris Blank (legendary production values) and Talk Talk, particularly the separation of the children's choir from the lead voice. DIDIT DAC212SE Sabre 9018 chip(s?)  Better recordings showed up better on this one, Boris Blank had good res and depth, other tracks not so. ARCAM D33 PCM1792 x2  Good. Better separation than 1. I'm guessing less intermod distortion. The test tracks were good but when hooked up directly from an iPhone for the owners choice the quality dropped. When the same track was played on CD (via the Mutec) everyone thought it was a different track, so much better. Denafrips DAC-8PRO PCM1702 x8  Depth and body. This is the Mk1 with 20 bit ladder chips before Denafrips went to discrete R2R ladders. AUDIAL D/A Converter S5 TDA1541A  This one was too bright for me. I'm guessing the leading edges were too enhanced. Chord MOJOUnfortunately we didn't have the right connector to try this, I would have liked to hear it. Rega DAC Wolfson WM8742 x2  Oldie but goody. Everyone enjoyed the precise imaging. A smidge bright IMO. Holo Audio Spring 3 KTE R2R ladder dac.  It was purely by fluke in the draw that this came last (saving the best to last). Transparency, detail, image separation, height and width, incredible space around every instrument. Everyone was wowed by this dac. |
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Post by firebottle on Jun 27, 2022 8:23:15 GMT
It's been a long while since I had a DACoff, so that's what I'd like to do on Sunday 26th 12:00 - 19:00. Room for 8 only for an afternoon of digital music. I have a CD transport and a streamer. I'll provide pizza or similar mid-afternoon. Location 2 miles north of M6 J3 Coventry. Thanks for a lovely day out Ian really appreciate it. For those wondering if DACS sound different, they most certainly do! Great to see some familiar faces and meet some new ones 👍. Oh and hello forum, I’m Rob 👋. Hi again Rob, good to see you on here. |
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Post by optical on Jun 27, 2022 8:44:35 GMT
Nice stuff guys well done for organising and giving us some pics and thoughts on this Monday morning.
As you say, we all hear things slightly differently but the results are fairly consistent with my expectations (and experiences of the REGA and Holo being the only ones I've really heard).
TDA1541 chip can be bright if implementation is less than 'smooth' shall we say, hence best results are often with valves in the circuit.
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Post by brian2957 on Jun 27, 2022 9:02:05 GMT
Excellent thread chaps. Thanks for posting your findings. The only one I've had in my system was the Rega DAC and it wasn't really for me. Would love to hear a few of the rest.
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Post by antonio on Jun 27, 2022 9:55:36 GMT
Thanks for your views, I think the Holo Spring would have been the most expensive at new prices, still good to hear it was the 'winner' on the day though.
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Post by pete on Jun 27, 2022 10:04:30 GMT
Thanks for putting up your thoughts. Interesting to hear everyone was in agreement about the 'wow' DAC
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