Marvey's DAC Chart of Awesomeness

Nope. Chart is not being maintained anymore.

I like the Mojo. It's a good choice for a transportable solution.

The Modi multibit I like quite a lot for desktop, more than Bifrost, even though Bifrost does a few things better.

DAVE I have no idea, I'd rather put a down payment on car with that kind of money. Oh wait, I just did.

 

Marv and the damn Mojo. For the record, @CEE TEE and I do not like that thing as much.

@CEE TEE has his own preferences (GO2A). I use the ZX2 primarily when I'm on the go and also prefer it to the Mojo (I think Marv does too)

 

what headphones are you using? With the modded HD800, HD600, UERM and Andromeda I prefer other, cheaper portable options or comparably priced, bigger desktop solutions.

 

Yggdrasil in da House.... Dunno if I'm crazy , deaf or whatever and I know this damn dac is still cold but f**k yeah, i'm happy. Explosive but clean/realistic transients and impacts/attacks are points that strike me. Expansive Staging as well but with a strong sense of focus.

Maybe new toy effect though. who knows.

I' d like to hear drum solos all day long .

 

I was reading this excellent Yggdrasil/Gungnir Multibit write up from @Mikoss on Changstar yesterday. Sharing:

Spoiler: Click to read

Initial thoughts from me, having just listened to my first 4-5 songs with the MB Gungnir, feeding the original EC Zana Deux and HD-650's. I'm posting from my perspective, so please take all of these thoughts as completely subjective. I am also open to further discussion as well... I have a way of sometimes coming across as excited, so please feel free to call me out if you feel differently about any of my thoughts. No offense will be taken.

So the Yggdrasil really blew me away with its presentation of details, and the very precise sounding treble response. For me, hearing an overall clarity as far as cymbals and percussion were concerned with the Yggdrasil was a revelation. It removed a layer of garbage that always existed in digital music. I believe it was most evident in the treble, and I previously felt that vinyl was superior because it didn't seem to contain this garbage. Compression, crunch, sometimes a general glare or brightness... the difference between a hi-hat sounding natural, or a hi-hat coming off as something else. (A recording of a hi-hat that just wasn't the same as hearing one in person.)

Playing music on my computer, I was aware of the treble issue for myself, and it actually steered me towards tube gear. I found that tubes didn't remove the layer of garbage, but somehow brought out a bit more layers of sonic depth that helped to mask the issue with DACs. I also tried other DACs, and found that some tended to sound more laid-back, perhaps rolling off the treble, or not emphasizing it as much as more revealing DACs. The more detail oriented DACs (or more revealing ones) tended to really bring out the crunchy garbage, or glare. At best, they allowed me to understand/appreciate some of the lower level details I never heard in recordings... at worst, they just encouraged me to spend more money on vinyl.

The detail presentation of the Yggdrasil is also a night/day difference from a lot of other DACs, though. The details are entirely present, in an audibly more correct, insightful way, while still retaining overall musicality. The Yggdrasil is precise without sounding like it's doing something wrong to bring out the details. This was also huge for me. I heard nuances, spatial queues, and actual music, without distraction of wondering how. When I hear the Yggdrasil, it sounds me like I am hearing what is there naturally; timbre, body and tonality without any kind of weird, exaggerated crap.

I also found the Yggdrasil to do something with dynamic range that also kind of blew my mind. I never really understood how this could be done, but my understanding is that I'm hearing an expanded range of volume, revealing much more nuanced information than before. It's revealing nuances in how instruments are being played, how singers are forming their words, and it changes the presentation of the song in a way that captures atmosphere unbelievably well. I've heard tubes that can pull of a more "musical" sounding presentation, which is somewhat of a subjective term, but this is different. It's extra information in the form of an expanded range of volume, or dynamics... that is the way that I can best describe it.

Going to the MB Gungnir. Mine has been powered up for 170 hours, and I now have about an hour of personal listening...
I am hearing a very even keeled, smooth sound. The Zana Deux is hitting the 650's hard. I hadn't spent a lot of time with the Gungnir before the upgrade, but it seems to me that this was characteristic of the Gungnir before the upgrade? It seems to have more punch than I'm used to... yet it also sounds very refined and elegant at the same time. The 650's are really in another world for me as far as overall clarity and resolution is concerned. It's nice to hear this combination, and I think this is why my initial impression is very even keeled.

I need to spend more time listening to see how the treble compares with that of the Yggdrasil , and also the details. I'm not entirely blown away the way the Yggdrasil does, as far as cymbals/percussion are concerned so far... but this is by far the best source I've heard feeding the ZD, aside from the Yggdrasil. I'm very impressed with the clarity. Bass is as tight and deep as I've heard on the 650's. Mids are elegant, but also full bodied without stealing the show. Female vocals are also satisfying, but I'm not quite getting the bone chilling insight the Yggdrasil offered.

Time will tell... I am tempted to hook up the Wyrd tonight and see if it changes things.

 

HD800SD... It's the end of my HD800 journey for sure. I'm waiting an Utopia though. time will tell if I prefer it to my Senn. But for sure my HD800 won't go anywhere. I dig what I currently hear

@TwoEars : Yea, I lived happily with the Theta during a year and it's a fantastic dac. No doubt.

 

I believe MSB and a few others might have already supported DSD via R2R. As far as R2R supporting DSD natively, it's not possible. What happens is that DSD gets converted to PCM in hardware before the the data is sent to R2R D to A converter. (In actuality, even DS chips that use a hybrid architecture need to do this internally). The "DSD native" for the Holo refers to transfer of data to the DAC via USB. Evidently it doesn't use DoP.

This is why you should not read anything on HF.