Stoner Acoustics End Game DAC (EGD), any thoughts?

Looks like an interesting entrance into the better quality DAC market.



More info here: http://www.stoneracoustics.com/EGD

Gushing review here: http://www.head-fi.org/t/787795/review-stoner-acoustic-egd

According to the review, the EGD is a bout $450USD.

 

Feature wise looks pretty good. As for the sound... I'd rather not be at the mercy of USB power. Especially for a Sabre DAC which is notorious for being sensitive to power supplies.

 

Its harsh and flat sounding. Even the local distributor admits as much. That clown reviewer actually liked the Yulong, so at least we can confirm he's tin-eared. Float it down your nearest waterway.

 

Music sounds better when you're high perhaps the brand name is a "subtle" hint.

 

Hey HitmanFluffy, did you hear the from the distributor directly, or did you read that?

As for the yulong, I haven't heard it, so I don't know. Your language is pretty absolute. Is your opinion of the yulong universally shared, or are you just particularly undiplomatic and bull-headed (and I mean that in the most respectful, nicest way

 

Hi Allan hope the meet goes well.

On another subject I just have to laugh when I see the words "end game"

In my mind there is no such thing. How did these words become so commonly used as an adjective to describe ones opinion as best perhaps?

Even the dictionary can't help only referring to a chess move or the end of a process or action and a noun to boot, hahaha

Now that it is in marketing, perhaps it will be recognized as a real word someday.

 

Same as summit fi, etc. When flagship and ToTL just don't sound uber enough it's time for new adjectives and superlatives! Some gems from the product page:

They heavily tout their isolated design which improves/overcomes other USB powered solutions but the description seems a little thin, maybe I'm missing something...

 

You aren't missing anything, the whole marketing piece is full of air not facts, meat or details, hahaha.

and I am so sick of all of the adjectives, this is not climbing Mt Everest for crying out loud, hahaha

Oh, wait maybe I can start saying zenith-fi, ultimate and more words that make my skin cringe, Ya know if people say stuff like this and something better comes along, you can never use those words to describe them.

It's the law! Oh, wait I don't want to break that law.

 

I've heard it in person. Both this and the Yulong. The view on the Yulong is common around here, though the Yulong is bad in a radically different way from the Stoner.

 

End-game is only the precursor of the even-ender-game model to come. Or proof that that a manufacturer is either lying now, or will be in the future when the sell that even-better model.

My perception of this particular DAC is that the manufactures use the words "studio," and "reference" in the description. The cabinet is a lovely matte black, and it has that stealth-bomber serious-kit look... Obviously, it must be superb and, if I were to buy one of these I would never have eyes for any other DAC ever again. End game.

 

End game only applies to components $10,000 and up. There is no such thing as 'affordable quality' because we've designed the market to be inaccessable to plebs.

Except for Schiit. Damn them.

 

IMO endgame only applies for components using metal enclosures and high voltage circuits.

 

@Hrodulf Yeah. High enough voltage to scare diy-er away from touching it and sealed so tight that it will break once opened.

 

I thought the chair itself was made of wood?

Very much end-game.