New low cost soekris dac1221

Intro

Some years back, Soekris hit the ball out of the park with the 2541. Fast forward to now, and there's this cute little DAC 1221. Now I'm not going to lie; the 1221 is not a giant killer by any means, but for the price that it sits in I think it's worth checking out as an alternative to the Schiit sound.

Sonics

The 1221 sound has some (not all) of the same DNA as the 2541; modern R2R, but meaningfully different than Schiit R2R. What this means is the Soekris stuff sounds a bit less thick, more even-keeled, a bit more "analytical" for lack of a better term. However, this should not be mistaken as insipid or flat; the 1221 never sounds that way. This is just a general observation of how it sounds versus the Schiit stuff. However, this does mean that if you like a little bit of unhinged dynamism in your sound, you probably should look somewhere else. On the other hand, if the Schiit R2R stuff is too forward and incisive for you, Soekris might fit the bill.

Now, in comparison from the 2541 (from memory and it's been years), the 1221 doesn't quite have the same "magic" the 2541 does despite having sonic characteristics that are along the same lines (the 2541 blows it away in technical performance). The 1221 has some of this magic, but those hoping for a 2541 with the headphone out lopped off in a smaller box should be prepared for disappointment because it's just not on that level. And that's okay; the 1221 is a good sounding DAC on its own.

Keeping with the comparative thoughts, the 1221 to me was a touch more forward, more incisive, than the 2541. Not by a lot, but just a bit. And really, the other differences are technical; in character, that's pretty much the only difference. This is just another way to say, the 1221 is more relaxed and is less incisive than Schiit stuff, as well as sounding a bit more "dry".

The biggest ding against the 1221 for me was its bass performance. The pitch differentiation is mediocre at best and the difference between different types of bass note attacks wasn't clearly defined. On the bright side, it stays away from sounding too cloudy or indistinct; a far cry from some awful DACs I've heard in this area (old ESS Sabre DACs anyone with that horrendous one note bass?).

Staging and imaging is a bit of a mixed bag with headphones. While the stage isn't small, nor blobby, it feels a little bit flat and the images themselves feel "oily", almost like it's you can hear where the instrument is but for some reason the image itself is blurred out. I'd be interested to see if this persists with speakers, but I sadly don't really have a way to test with my two channel rig at this moment in time. That being said, its imaging performance and stage is good enough for video games for those who care about that kind of stuff.

There is a little bit of unrefinement in the treble. Not in the way that it sounds harsh, grating, rings excessively (it does have a touch of the R2R ringing), etc, but kind of in the sense that the high hat cymbal doesn't quite sound "tight". Feels like it rings out a bit excessively and this extends to most sounds in the high treble.

The strongest suit of the 1221 are its mids. The resolution it does have in this range is fantastic (close to but not quite as good as OG BF2 and 2541), and I heard no nasties, none of the bass bleeding into this part, etc. I could see people thinking that it sounds a bit sandy overall if you're coming from something more liquid sounding like Schiit (Rockna stuff is a good example of this but that's waaaaaayyy more expensive), but I didn't mind.

In a way, you can almost think of the 1221 as the SW51 but as a DAC. Not a great comparison, but I don't feel its misplaced. And despite all of this reading as mostly negative, my impressions are actually positive; I like the 1221 and I think it's worth the asking price. The problem really is that I'm comparing to DACs that are more expensive than it, and full disclosure is that I'm listening mostly to the Wavedream nowadays. So my baseline is all effed up.

Miscellaneous and Features

Thank God that Soekris is not the type to put 20485 filters on stuff with 4785 features. This thing is simple; volume knob and 4 filters, have at it. For reference, I most liked the red "brickwall" linear filter; to me the transients sounded the most correct with this filter, although I liked the body of the no light "soft" minimum filter in the notes. That being said, I hate minimum phase filters because I feel the attacks and decays just are all sorts of messed up.

I also used coax from the Pi2AES. It also has a USB input, from which I only really used to verify it works and play some video games. Didn't do any serious listening with USB.

Amp Pairings

• SW51: I alluded to this earlier, and yeah it definitely works UNLESS you specifically want a darker sounding source. I wouldn't want a darker source, but hey you do you.
• Schiit x Nitsch Magni Piety: Not bad. The highs aren't great, but the Piety does have some tubey-sounding mids and that can work here. The Piety does however somewhat exacerbate the bass issues I had though.
• DNA Starlett: You're leaving so much on the table with regards to what the Starlett can do. That being said, this was my preferred pairing. The innate tube bloom on DNA really works with Soekris stuff. Awesome listen, but my advice is buy a 2541.
• DNA Supernaut: See above but leaving more on the table.
• EC Ultralinear: Hahahahaha! No. Not complementary at all.
• Jot R + SR1a: I'm going to be honest, this was awful and all I remember is I tried this for about 3 seconds before I shut the music off and tried a different setup.

If you can't tell, I liked amps with a bit of inner wetness, a touch of tube bloom with the 1221.

Conclusion

I have to reiterate that I think the 1221 is worth the asking price of $500, especially if you live in an area where this is available and Schiit is expensive. Not a bad value in my opinion, but I do have to say I lack experience with DACs at the $500 point. Now that I think about it, most things I've heard are either more expensive or cheaper than $500.