Soekris DAC2541 Review And Measurements

More work was put into the headout this time around with a composite (opamp) part and diamond filter? Personally, I don't like the sound of the headouts. The sound is a bit grainy and dull. Not any particularly good synergy with the DAC either. I wouldn't recommend using the DAC2541 as an AIO. This could be because when I am coming from my SET amp (which has two active parts and two passive parts compared to dozens), the headouts became a downer.

SE outs are slight downgrade. Easily discernable. The balanced outs are more immediate sounding, more resolving of fine details and finer microdynamics that bring better realism. Everything else, tonal balance, transient response remained the same. I tied this passive XLR to RCA solution and got excellent results. It goes sound good with SE outs (not gimped), but the balanced outs make the most of the DAC's capabilities. Think of it as money left on the table.

The DAC2541 doesn't have the slammin' bass of the Schiit or Dangerous DACs, which have been described by a few as a bit too much. The DAC2541 also doesn't have the tone density or outright warmth or "organic" sound (upper bass / lower mids) heard in many R2R DACs.

Think of the DAC2541 as voiced like a neutral delta-sigma DAC, but with R2R timbre.

The voicing appears to be similar with all prior Soekris DACs. If you came from the Yggdrasil A2 with its organic low/mids, then you may still feel the slightly thin tonality. The DAC2541 is much better in respect to the "editorialized feeling" or what I call "simplification" heard on DACs such as the DAC1541 or Convert-2. There's plenty of plankton, and microdynamics, which I felt were lacking (their greatest weakness) in prior Soekris DACs, especially below the DAC1541, are out of this world. I wouldn't stay up an hour later to hear all 33 tracks on a album if the DAC2541 couldn't engage and make putting the headphones down so far. Still, the presentation is clean with super inky black background.

I know not many have had a chance to hear the Gungnir A2, but it's closer to this tonally somewhat - with the bite - just less dense, better clarity, less emphasis in the sub/low bass. The bit can be softened with the slow MP filter, which turned out to be my preferred.

 

I totally get it. I was trying to convey. Another way to express, so maybe y'all can calibrate.

Contributors For "Sterility" (wait 2 days for the sheen to go away, it really does)
+ clean
+ black background
+ quick decays
+ no hint of R2R NOS tone density

Contributors Against "Sterility"
- more plankton
- much better microdynamics,
- light touch on inherent warmth (not be be confused with organic R2R sound)
- marginal better flow, liquidity

 

LOL, isn't the DAC2541 only 1100 EUR?

Really different sounding DACs. The Wavelight's strength (or weakness) is it's super precise separation, super wide almost wrap-around stage, and explosive dynamics, while maintaining a mellow sound (less bite) and some organic thickness. As such, the Wavelight is "highly NOS compatible", especially with its NOS mode. I know the Wavelight has replaced a Metrum DAC for one or two folks so far.

The Wavelight sounded better on my Aegir -> iFi ESL -> Nectar Hive setup than my SET -> dynamic headphone setup. I don't think I ever found the best synergy with the Wavelight. However @ChaChaRealSmooth did find fantastic synergy with the Wavelight via the EC Ultralinear and HAR600, which totally makes sense. The DAC2541 is eventually headed to him, so maybe he can opine how it works with this Starlett.

I found fantastic synergy with DAC2451 and my EC Studio 45 Custom and HD650 or Grado RS2 (TTVJ). It's really more the headphones. The Elex don't fare so well with the DAC2541 - too much of a good thing.

Total system, component synergies (taking into account personal goals) matter more with DACs that are one or even two tiers apart.

 

Grainy HP out sounds familiar when I try to recall my experiences with the DAC1541. Either way, shouldn't be a concern, since it sounds like the DAC itself holds up for the money.

Any similarities to a good Wolfson DAC IC implementation?

 

PS Audio Perfectwave 1->2 without the annoying shhhh, shhhh, shhhh, shhhh.