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In Reply to: RE: Dac Attack posted by Cut-Throat on December 10, 2022 at 14:42:50
If I'm not mistaken all of the PS Audio Direct Stream DACs (including Jr.) internally convert everything to DSD for a smooth sound. Whether you like that sound is a different matter.
The nice thing about the Direct Stream Jr is that it not only has a Volume control like its bigger brother but it INCLUDES the network bridge which is an extra cost option on its bigger brother.
In other words, you can stream directly to the single-box Direct Stream Jr. DAC and attach it to your amp w/o preamp since it has a Volume control. Nice for de-cluttering.
I wouldn't mind trying one someday but I'm pretty happy with my current setup.... which may change in about a week ;-)
I auditioned a new amp borrowed from a friend. I have one on order. As if the "DAC of the Month" wasn't enough. Here we go with "Amp of the Month".
Follow Ups:
I have an APL DSD-AR DAC at home now that does this same internal conversion of everything to DSD. It too is very smooth and with some music it is very good (but not better than my R2R Ayon Skylla 2 DAC).
However, as one friend put it when he came over to hear it "Where's the dynamics!" and I only had to agree with him. The Ayon, which uses 4 x BB PCM1704 24bit DAC chips, has it all over the APL in terms of dynamics, both macro and micro and therefore also dynamic contrast.
Resolution and tonality are both good...but different and the Ayon is a space champ with better depth and 3d images.
So, in the end I would say the DSD experiment for me told me what I had heard from this before...smooth but not real.
Will sell on the APL and stick with the truly superb Ayon DAC.
So the questions boil down to:
- Are R2R DACs generally a little less dynamic than other designs? Or...
- Is it DSD in general that is a little less dynamic than quality PCM?
Maybe both.
The two R2R DACs that I had were ever so slightly less 'alive' and dynamic than my other DACs.
Historically I have always felt that DSD was smooth but slightly too polite for my tastes.
I hear it the other way around... R2R DACs (at least those based on chips and not discrete...I have limited experience with discrete ones) sound more robust, more dynamic and more like i hear live than DACs that are using sigma/delta, FPGA and/or PCM-DSD conversion etc.
The new amp must have been good enough to order one..... Toobs or SS. ?
SS. Found one lightly used. Will comment more once it's here and in my audio rack.
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