SBAF DAC Talk II

Indeed, I've got that on my list as well. The form factor of their DACs is definitely an advantage, but I really need to hear one before I commit so I've been looking on the used market for about a year or two now and havent found much. I've been waiting also for their new 1221 (update to the 1321) to release, not sure when that's coming out..

 

I’m kind of in the same boat with an old Theta hybrid chip DAC and missing the details I was getting out of the BF2/64. The BF2/64 had too much delay out of TV land (sync issues), and still a bit too top heavy.

I am thinking of going Lavry DA10, Sokeris/Dentafrips or just going to something with HDMI inputs like the NAD M51.

Gungnir can certainly and some depth and a bit more effortless detail as over the Modi MB. Although not the best unbalanced outputs.

 

Between gungnir A2 (never heard a1) and original bifrost 2, almost always prefer gungnir on speakers. I recently had them both hooked up and I did find more modern recordings a bit more forgiving on the bifrost 2. With gungnir A2 the best sounding recordings sound better on the other hand.

Also bifrost 2 has a tiny bit more mid bass which gives the illusion of more bass. More complicated passages are better on gungnir and the bass is a bit cleaner and more defined between low notes on gungnir. Mids seem similar but highs and soundstage a step up with gungnir.

On headphone setups I can go either way but I usually prefer bifrost 2 on headphones oddly enough. The differences are less apparent but something about the slightly heftier sound and the less smooth highs works better for me on headphones, between a crack, sw51+ and piety/jot 2.
Headphones include HD650/600 and blackwood Aeolus.

These thoughts are only based off pi2aes and BNC/coax sources however.

 

This one got a lil' quality of life upgrade: AD847's --> OPA1655's w/Adcom bias. Also a normal power cable w/3Dprinted gasket (was a janky 2 prong). It's not bad sounding at all, fun once in a while... slightly melted icecream detail.

 

I agree, but it's maybe a matter of liking many/most of the things that the HE1000SE do and trying to get a bit more heft/slam out of them with component matching.

That said, I'm going to audition some ZMF (Verite Open, Closed, Atrium) and see where that gets me. It could be the very linear nature of the SPL amp, too.

 

The biggest drawback of this DAC, as well as the Denon DA-500 DAC I have is the jittery Yamaha input chip. The YM3623B.

There are upgrade boards with CS8414 boards on ebay.

 

Adcom GDA-600 Source testing!

All (piCorePlayer local files / Qobuz) (cromecast from Qobuz app) Allo Shanti power supply

Little tweak to the CS8412 receiver chip, the jitter filter pin... teflon cap and resistor, slightly diff values supposedly to improve noise rejection. Not sure it's needed yet or matters.

digiOneSig => Excellent
pi2AES => Excellent / Best (Instant stop/speed, microdynamics, just a great presentation, midrange)
pi2DAC => Fuzzy/Bad
piZero => Hard/Bad
cromecastOptical => Hard/Simplified/Sibilant/Bad


One takeaway I'm thinking so far: This input chip may suck at fixing incoming jitter... but also doesn't harm an excellent source, or at least it is very easy to hear differences. Interesting!

PS: OPA1656 perfect, OPA2156 presentation just not as good, voices too prominent.

 

Any recs for a DAC with a little warmth and low-end heft in the $1000-$1500 range?

Hoping for something to improve on the built-in DAC in the iFi Neo Stream. I'm not sure what it is, but I think I've seen mention that it's equivalent to the Zen Signature.

What should I check out? Gustard R2R? Musician R2R?

I have a Matrix X-Sabre Pro and a Yggdrasil, in another system, so I'm not looking to so much replicate those as find another flavor. Many thanks.

 

I've heard those are rebranded Ares or Pontus DACs.

 

Yeah, I think that's right. Made at the same factory that makes Denafrips or something like that.

You can't seem to get them as readily on Amazon, etc. anymore though.

 

I tried to get a loaner of the Musicians R2R DACs a year ago but they never came through sadly. I guess it wasn't worth it though.

 

Maybe Bifrost 2?

A NOS DAC might be a different enough flavor for you? In this case I would highly recommend the Audial S5, if you can find it used in your price range.

 

It’s hard to beat the Gustard R26 in that price range now. Less warm than something like the Bifrost 2 but still warm, a more modern take on R2R sound like Holo and Rockna…

 

I was looking into the Audial S5 as a possible replacement for the Yggdrasil A2. I love my Yggdrasil, but I need something that has a smaller chassis as I need the extra table space, while retaining the R2R sound. Can you compare the Yggdrasil and Audial sound? This will mainly be used for Focal Utopia, Hifiman Susvara and the Focal Solo6 Be nearfield monitors.

 

The Audial S5 has similar footprint to Yggdrasil so you won’t be gaining much there.
It’s a bit thinner overall (despite the taller feet), however.

In terms of sound, it’s very much a multi-bit OS vs NOS affair. They both have merit and I would say they pretty much punch in the same league. I sold my Yggdrasil long ago and improved my power (Furman P2400 IT balanced isolation transformer) and USB source (Holo Red) since, so the comparison wouldn’t be fair to Yggdrasil.

The Audial has built-in balanced isolation transformer, which could make a big difference depending on your power situation (the Furman was a huge improvement for me - power is shitty in West LA’s Sawtelle area…) and its USB implementation is the best I’ve heard with the Wavedream (with the added bonus that it is galvanically isolated - the Rockna isn’t).
All in all, I’ve been very impressed with the S5 and for the price I paid (thanks to Ron’s insane deal) it is possibly the best bargain ever.

 

It is probably just marketing speak - all transformers are 'isolated'. Balanced might mean there are secondaries with center tap or any other conf - which is nothing new or special.

 

Could you list your full Audial chain? Very intrigued still rocking Aya II with rubycon black gate caps etc.

 

Hmm, yeah, it definitely sounds like I'm describing a Bifrost 2 here, and it would stack well with a soon arriving Ferrum Oor/Hysos.

I had the Bifrost 2 for a while. It was good but... dark. Really quite dark.

I'm tempted to go Soekris, but I've read it tends lean, which is the opposite of what I'm after.

Gustard R26 looks tempting. It's so ugly though.

 

Hmm, thanks for the reminding me about the Audial!

There are deals to be had on the older models. S4? Do those get any love?

 

There is an extra transformer in the DAC to create a floating reference, not tied to AC line ground.

The Furman P2400 IT was the biggest upgrade in my system, so balanced isolation does make a difference.