Soekris "dac1541": DAC/Amp - Stream of Consciousness Impressions

The volume control level can be locked for Line Out, see users manual page 6....

 

I'd be in for a 1421 group buy, personally

 

Lovely!

And now that I re-read that, I think I actually commented on the ability to set/lock levels somewhere in one of my SoC posts - so forgetting that is a bit dumb of me.

That increases my interest - would have to figure out where I'd use it still - especially as I still don't need the non-DAC gubbins. If I was still planning on doing DAC reviews that'd be enough justification, since it's an excellent unit and would be a great point of comparison.

Those that are interested should seriously consider it.

 

@soekris ... Does the 1421's single ended headphone out sound identical or nearly identical to the 1541's single ended headphone out?

If so, I have a feeling that there would way more people who would jump on a 1421 group buy. The 1421 costs roughly $950 shipped from Soekris Europe but if you could get a group buy down in the $800 to $900 range for US customers, I'm sure you'd get a decent number of orders, especially if the head amp retains the quality found in the 1541.

 

If I were in the U.S. I'd be on the 1541 group buy in a snap. I may even consider it using a reshipper...

 

@TheIceman93:
Checked with Eikon and Miles David's "Kind of Blue":
Near identical. Single ended the volume has to be turned up around 6 Db more on the Soekris. "Normal" listening level by -19 Db single ended ( I know, very subjective... just to give an idea). Maybe a tiny bit less dynamic and less bass control, but hard to judge by the time I have swapped outputs and adjusted volume.
Single ended with -13 Db setting is about as loud as I can handle while still barely enjoying ( with some classical music pieces -10 Db) Some more compression and hardness sets in compared to balanced.
With not too demanding cans I don't see great benefits with going balanced. I had my headphones terminated balanced already and did not want to fuss around with pig tail adapters...

Note: once you have the Soekris dac, start saving for a good tube amplifier, if you don't have one already...

 

Thanks @sacredgates for testing this out. I'm glad to hear the differences between SE and balanced are minimal. However, I'm mostly curious about how the SE outs compare between the 1541 and the 1421 since they have different topologies. I guess only @soekris can answer that because the 1421 doesn't ship till October or November. It sounds like the group buy isn't going to happen so the 1421 is what I'm looking at now.

 

Sorry, I misread your question... Hopefully my answer is still useful for someone...
Yes at this point @soekris needs to answer...

 

To be fair, it's been two days, and Massdrop seems to give their group buys a bare minimum of 4 days to fill up. I'd venture to guess that we're pulling from a much smaller pool than MD, so 2-3 longer to hit the minimum doesn't seem out of line.

I've been considering the 1541 myself, but I'm going through my inventory and setups and trying to determine where I'd actually use it. I'm sure there are others in the same boat who're taking their time.

 

Are you pretty happy with the quality of the built in amp?

 

Count me in if there is a 1421 Group Buy...

 

@TheIceman93
It is a hard question to answer. I am happy with the internal amp when I don' have a better amp at hand .
I think it is a real nice extra to have, because like this it is a compact desktop unit which is easy to take around.
I personally would not bother trying to upgrade with low or average mid- fi headphone amps. I used to have a V200 and a Liquid Carbon. They had a different presentation (warmer - the V200 has badly rolled treble on top of that -, rounder, maybe a bit better macrodynamics), but not really better (from memory).
I think there is a consens by now that you want this dac as a dac in the first place, and that the amplifier is a nice extra to have.
But if you can, go for a better amp which can take full advantage of the dac' s strength and compensate a bit for the slight analytical, dryer character.
My take is that the Soekris dac pairs very well with tubes. Bringing in a good tube amp with good dynamics will give you a more organic, musical experience with greater involvement in the music. With the right choice dynamics and 3-dimensionality will improve nicely, too.
When I listen through my Trafomatic tube amp it just feels more right, more together, more flowing, "bigger", more analogue, while not giving up in clarity and resolution.

 

If this is of any meaning to anyone, all I can say is that I've seen the 1541 deck in Munich this year and I was pleasantly surprised by how it looked and felt. This is one of those devices I'd gladly put my hands on.

 

hmmm zout of 1.5 ohms...low noise floor, small footprint, good dac....count me in! ><

 

Mark me down for the 1541 if can put enough together.

 

If a group buy for 1541s is happening i'd be interested.

 

The sound is unique because it almost has no sound. For me moving from the Gustard X20u and the Chord Mojo to the DAC1541 sounded like removing something in my audio chain. Initially, this transparency was at the same time almost brutal, like the DAC were telling me "here's your music, shut up and listen". Too my hears it sounds a bit leaner than the Gustard. It is eerie though because I am used to try to listen to the character of a DAC and there is none in particular, except perhaps that it is quite dynamic (macrodynamics in particular).

Roberto

 

Sound like the dac1541 will improve as unique filters develop.

 

I remember Søren answered someone somewhere (can´t find right now where I saw this) it would be possible to upload other filters into the dac1541, but you would have to do that yourself. You would need to open up the dac and connect to an internal port. You definitely would need to know what you are doing there.

What I understand Hands meant is that the dac1541 uses rather common upsampling filters like most dacs, whereas one of the great attributes of the Schiit multibit dacs is the genius unique custom digital "burrito" filter created by Mike Moffat.