Marvey's DAC Chart of Awesomeness

Yeah purrin. Most early 80s CDs do not sound very good at all. The mid eighties have some standouts such as some of the Toshiba Black Triangle pressings but the format didn't mature until the later on in the decade.

Another problem is that most vinyl releases since the early nineties have been pressed from the CD master. If you rip these LPs, the wave forms might look substantially different from the CDs but that's just noise and the CD master being modified to be playable on wax eg pressed at a lower volume level. The only way to tell is to listen yourself or ask someone who would know. I learned the hard way by hunting down too many rare and expensive early 90s LPs a few years ago.

 

<I know I'm late commenting on this (and will refrain in the future if it's not appropriate), but thought I had a little to add>

One way to deal with this would be a cheap UPS (as in a computer backup power supply). It would cost nothing compared to the Yggdrasil, likely clean up the input power (if you get a good one), provide protection from the lighting surges and run the DAC forever unplugged from the wall (Yggdrasil pulls 35W max which is nothing compared to a big computer)

 

Actually, I want to expand a bit on what MoatsArt comment...In Chennai, the ambient room temperature without the AC running is north of 30 C (that's 86 F). In the summer, it does go up to 34-35. In these circumstances, does keeping the Yggdrasil on 24/7 cause any heat damage to the digital inout board? The Yggdrasil is not just warm, it is hot. I do have it hooked to an UPS.

 

drfindley wrote: "Soundstage isn't something I care too much about. I care far more about detail and focus. With vinyl, I can hear the bass completely articulated next to the piano while the trumpet is blaring on top while listening to Miles Davis. This is not something I get with my Yggdrasil with many different versions. Those three tend to blend together more (though mind you it's better than other DACs to be sure). It's the same experience I have at concert with a good speaker setup/soundboard guy, where you can hear each instrument and focus on it. Such a delight."

But:

* You just described the point of Soundstage. Not the width or depth measurement, but the imaging that gives a visual auditory picture of each instrument separately in space.

* quote: "This is not something I get with my Yggdrasil " This is strange because Miles Davis with bass, piano and trumpet is one of my biggest test tracks and I get exactly what you describe with Multibit Bifrost. Each instrument is separate, with a defined shape and position. I doubt that the Bifrost is better than the Yggdrasil, so there must be some other problem.

 

I've thought of soundstage as more spacial rather than separation, but whatever. So we're talking about the same thing.

Maybe I used the wrong phrase as it's not black or white, but shades of grey. It's more how cleanly separated they are. Vinyl: incredibly so. Yggdrasil/Gungnir Multibit/Bifrost Multibit: things get more muddied. Lesser DACs: it's harder to tell.

 

You guys are not even talking about a specific release or master so what the f**k is the point of this argument? Digital is a less limited format.

 

Is there anything about the Teac UD-501's specs or measurements that would indicate its (relatively) poor sound quality ?

Or is it a poster child for "at this point, specs cannot predict sound quality"?

 

Marv.. how does the GOv2+ (used strictly as a balanced DAC) stack up to the Bifrost Multibit when it comes to resolution, timbre, soundstage, and imaging? Downstream those DACs will be the Liquid Carbon/Torpedo III, HE-560/HD650.

 

Hi!

Anybody heard the Dangerous Source?

Thx!

 

thx man!

 

yup, I have, impressions here : http://digitalaudiodirections.blogspot.com/2014/03/dangerous-music-source-superb-sound.html

Things have changed since that was written and I feel for $1000 or so one should consider the X-Sabre and the Gungnir Multibit, but if you need a dac and headphone amp to get you by for a while while saving for a better amp and depending on the headphones, the Source may work out well.

 

Thanks for the link mate! will check your review!

the point is I already have the dangerous and am trying to figure out what a Gungnir Multibit could bring to the table when compared to the Dangerous... would it be a real upgrade? Indeed I have active speakers (PSI audio) so the Dangerous with its volume control is pretty handy.

When I checked it with a HE5LE, the amp part sounds Ok... nothing great, nothing bad... when comparing it with a SMSL SA50 (using a RWAK100S as a source and a HE-Adapter) the amp section of the dangerous seems a bit inferior in detail retrieval, transparency... arghhhh I think I have an upgraditis..........

Cheers

 

I can only feel the Gungnir Multibit would be a positive upgrade. In my main speaker based system, the X-Sabre brought more depth, plankton, and space than the Dangerous. The Dangerous had a bit more slam and more defined bass and maybe a bit more clarity or extension up top. X-Sabre has blacker background and more realistic I think in the mids. So for me the X-Sabre was a notch above the Source.

I have heard the Gungnir DS, XS-Sabre, and Gungnir Multibit in a friends speaker based system. It is quite different from mine, a lot more expensive, and pretty revealing of dac swaps. Here the X-Sabres sounded way too soft, still had good depth and space yet did not have the dynamic edge I would like in that system, The Gungnir DS did nicely but only was heard with a Hydra Z bridge in front. More bass control and extension than the Matrix, but flatter overall space, maybe a little more edge to highs and a bit less forward mids. I call it in favor of the Gungnir but remember the Hydra Z and not sure if this combo would do as well in my system. I do know the Gungir DS vs X-sabre in my headphone setup was only different flavors with no clear winner.

Now the Gungnir Multibit in my friends setup was even better and if you want to grab a coffee and read some impressions, here is my take on it:

http://superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/schiit-gungnir-ds-vs-gungnir-mb-impressions.40/

To conclude, then, if you can swing the cash for the Gungnir Multibit, I have to believe you might view it as a nice worthwhile upgrade. I know if I had the cash right now that is what I would be using. Too bad, I have to sell off some stuff to make that happen. At least I have 300 vinyl albums in nice shape, time to get them cataloged.

 

Cool site mate, a treasure trove.
In general, USB audio interfaces have always interested me in its use as a DAC in a simple audio playback chain, mainly because of the price-performance ratio. Back in the day when I owned a 2.1 (as opposed to 2.0) system, I used a Scarlett 2i4 as a multi-channel preamp configured via JRiver, mostly for audio playback, but also for the occasional drunken karaoke sessions. What is your take on the quality of the DACs in a "USB audio interface" for audio playback. I'm thinking of the ones $250 compared to products that are simply D/A converters like the Schiit Modi etc.?

 

Not sure what you mean by USB audio interfaces in its use as a dac? Do you mean pro audio oriented interfaces that may have both A/D and D/A capabilities.?

If so I have no experience with them, sorry. Remember if you are doing both sides of the conversion, that is less money to put into the dac only side and then they have stuff like mic pres that take a good chunk of the budget. I do have experience with some pro audio oriented USB interfaces that are D/A only, but have found there is no magic value oriented dac in the Pro space that upends stuff we have over in the consumer audio side. There is good and bad on both sides of the fence from my experience.

 

I know that it is anathema on an "audiophile" oriented site like this, but convenience and cost, at least for me, do enter in a big way into the analog v. digital calculation. Considering those factors, digital wins hands down. That is not to say that I have not had transcendent experiences with vinyl (after all, I can't bring myself to liquidate the 600 or so albums I have), nor that I haven't had experiences with digital the best representation of which is Tyll's video of himself listening to the Ultrasone edition 10s on Inner Fidelity (Google it if you haven't seen it; it is hilarious). Overall though, the convenience and reduced cost of digital playback gives it such a leg up on analog that I would never in my lifetime be able to afford a vinyl rig the sound quality of which could overcome that advantage. And this is with pretty pedestrian sources (micro idsd, explorer, geek pulse, x5, x3,eo7k). Just one (poor) man's view.

 

It is funny. For anyone else who hasn't seen it yet, here's the link:

 

My God, they gave him a stroke.

 

hi, Marv, Bifrost Multibit's location in the picture above is already moved one up and one right?