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I've been reading reviews for the Neko Audio D100. It seems like this might be the DAC for me as many say it's dark, warm, and natural. Thus said, I'm hoping for maximum warmth, smoothness and richness. I want a ton of chocolatey, rich tone. The darker and fuller and warmer the better. Was thinking of a DAC with a tube output, but not sure which one. Thus said, before I pull the trigger on the Neko, is there another DAC under $1500 that is even warmer that I should be considering?
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I'm not sure what you mean, but it sounds like a NOS Dac might please you. The Wavelength Brick V2 USB Dac is about $1800 + some extra for a linear, regulated power supply.
Your using Harbeth with nice tubes and a Marantz SA11s2. I'd stick with what you have. I'm impartial to the Marantz sound I had a SA15S2 ltd. I then bought the Schiit Yggdrasil after selling a Chord Qute EX which was better than the Marantz.
Unless you want to go more above the Niko price. Do they offer return privileges?
I had a Audio gd NFB2 I think it was it had "Wolfson" chips, ya dark but natural? Sounded like a blanket over the speakers. It was not my cup of tea. Sold it within a few weeks. My opinion of course. Lots to choose from out there new and used.
Edits: 09/27/16
Thanks for your reply. A couple of comments:
"better"? What does that mean? Please be specific.
The new DAC is not for me. I'm setting something up for a friend. My gear profile is irrelevant. I agree with what you say, though.
The Chord's are well respected DAC's (a bit overpriced IMHO) with better separation nice wide staging musical more so than the SA15S2 which is no slouch if you want to use that as an gauge. The Yggdrasil is totally in a different league. Very analog like extremely musical beautiful separation and air around instruments. Bass is killer and drum kits are slamming very real. You can hear it as soon as you fire it up.
A trial in one's system is pretty much the advice. We all have different
personal tastes. I'm not knocking the Niko I never heard one. Wesley Miaw has a good rep too.
Edits: 09/27/16
To illustrate the principal of "dark, warm, and natural", let us refer to the Harbeth Monitor 30 or the Quad ESL 57 loudspeaker:Dark: While there is plenty of frequency extension, the emphasis is not on brightness, air, attack, or sparkle. Highs may not be as extended or thrust forward as they are in other speakers. The voicing is mellower and is never fatiguing, metallic, or piercing. There is a romantic and seductive quality to the overall sound.
Warm: The midbass is nice and full and prominent, perhaps even bloated, but in a pleasant way that adds punch and body to the music. Some may complain that female vocals are "chesty" or overly rich. I happen to like this.
Natural: Midrange has a palpable smoothness and a 'buttery' quality with a total absence of glare or grain. The sound is more like flesh against flesh vs metal against glass. There is a distinct quality of softness. Music flows and pours from the speakers with liquidity and never becomes shouty or strident. Voices and instruments sound extremely organic and therefore very real and quite friendly. The senses are soothed rather than assaulted.
What you find is that with these two loudspeakers, everything seems to sound good, regardless of source or amplification. They do no harm. Even a bad recording can sound musical. The goal is not extracting detail or presenting the illusion of extra resolution, it is in preserving musicality and if anything, highlighting the magical and pleasant qualities of any particular recording. That is what I am seeking in a DAC.
Edits: 09/27/16 09/27/16 09/27/16 09/27/16 09/27/16
"Natural" sound, to me, would have to mean something like "neutral". Emphasis of aspect, however attractive it might seem, can only detract from "naturalness" in sound.Although "romantic" sound might help us to focus on the listening I think it's a mistake to confuse "inviting sound" with "accuracy of sound".
Edits: 09/27/16 09/28/16
I think some NOS DAC's can lean toward that spectrum.
http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/NOS/NOS19/NOS19EN.htm
Or maybe something from MHDT Labs
http://dhost.info/mhdtlab/
n/t
Not three words I would use in the same sentence, especially to describe a piece of audio gear, but hey...
If you are looking for natural and NOT one that folks brag about for being 'detailed' it sounds like a multi-bit DAC from SCHIIT or imported one from Audio-GD might me your better choice.
Agreed, natural yes, but I would not describe the Schiit MB DAC sound as warm or dark. You can always roll off the mids and highs with EQ to achieve dark and warm.
Took me some time to begin to get a handle on this but...sometimes when there are more high frequencies- a greater presence of overtones,the sound is darker,fuller ,and more natural.Certainly sucking out high frequencies will also create a subjective feeling of dark-but this is "unnaturally dark"-nothing beats dark and natural.Not easy to achieve in home stereo.
I was using a CEC TL3N transport with an EE Minimax with a Valvo redprint E80CC with goldpins instead of the stock ECC81.
I can not imagine anything warmer for CD playback.Ah yes,I used battery power with an inverter for the transport and DAC.Recharge every 2-3 hours and sparks flying every time you reconnect to the battery's terminals after recharging.But sound comparable to the best R to R or TT.Just as warm.
What do the two traits have in common?
Tricky.Explained above in my 12:05 post.Sometimes,a lack of overtones,i.e. higher frequencies can create an illusory feeling of balance and neutrality.Sometimes having more overtones present will convey fullness of tone,hence subjectively darker,and more neutral and natural.Not easy to differentiate between the 2,and my guess is that,the first sometimes I mentioned has gotten the upper hand in mosts quests for good sound at home.But Marantz 1s,2s 5s and eights with the right speakers and equipment,command the prices that they do for a reason.Used with the right tubes and caps,they do not roll off in the highs.
This is a can of worms,but, what we are all up against trying to recreate events that happened in different acoustic spaces in our living room.Remember the LEAK TL12.1 experiments in recreating with one loudspeaker events that took place in the same acoustic surroundings:The audience had great difficulty in knowing what the the real event was ,and what the recording was(Ferrograph?Studer?).LEAK TL12.1 with triode run KT66s,eF37,ECC33,a great amp,and one mono BBC speaker(a big fellow with 15 inch woofer),which was made to hold the amp.
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