Current Crop of R-2R DACs

Thanks for the insightful information. I have been interested in a nos dac based on the many comments I have read about them.
Sure. IMHO a lot of matching a particular NOS Dac, or any other component for that matter, still has a lot to do with your system first. In particular your speakers first and foremost.
I found the Project, and Maverick are a excellent match with both of my systems (mainly do to my speakers), and it fits my particular listening goals. The Great Heils/AMT3's are able to extract more then enough detail, so I don't find my self wanting any "more" in this regard. Because the balance is right on par.
And so my thinking is, given the relatively high efficiency of the AMT3's, a NOS DAC would work well with other high efficiency types, Klipsch, Altec's etc. The nice thing about the vintage speakers is most let you adjust the various mid/high frequency drivers if the need arises. In their current listening environment my AMT3's are on 'normal' setting.
Again, as mentioned they key is with the DAC Box S FL is to let it get warm, as the sound really comes together, and just flows. The Muse is that way also to a point, but the differences between a cold FL and a warm one are much more pronounced, they sound very different.( Both Dac's run on 9 volt dc. The first gen Fl's (with no selector switch) ran on 16 volt dc).
It mentions the need for warm up in the literature from Project. Let it warm up!!
 
I have never posted on this forum but I recently became aware of the influence of an external DAC on my audio system. I had been using Musical Fidelity V-DACII in my study without thinking about the sound quality (which was very nice). I moved the V-DACII to my workshop and left the stereo in the study alone, using TOSLINK from my iMAC directly to the Yamaha A-S501 which has TOSLINK input for its on board DAC. The sound in the workshop is now excellent and the sound in the study is ho-hum (as it no longer has the V-DACII). All that being said, I am a convert from being a skeptic about the value of DAC to being a true believer. I also have an Emotiva PT-100 and have not been impressed.
What experience or opinions do the forum members have about Schiit Gungnir Multibit DAC?
 
I have never posted on this forum but I recently became aware of the influence of an external DAC on my audio system. I had been using Musical Fidelity V-DACII in my study without thinking about the sound quality (which was very nice). I moved the V-DACII to my workshop and left the stereo in the study alone, using TOSLINK from my iMAC directly to the Yamaha A-S501 which has TOSLINK input for its on board DAC. The sound in the workshop is now excellent and the sound in the study is ho-hum (as it no longer has the V-DACII). All that being said, I am a convert from being a skeptic about the value of DAC to being a true believer. I also have an Emotiva PT-100 and have not been impressed.
What experience or opinions do the forum members have about Schiit Gungnir Multibit DAC?
Seems they have a loyal following. They have a house sound for sure, refining that as the $ goes up. The highs were a bit to sterile, with too much reoccurring bite through my AMT3''s, but my main issue was the lack of smoothness. That smooth musical flow, a sense of effortless ease, that lets you enjoy the music, instead of being impressed by your equipment. Fun for a time, but it grew old. In the end, a poor match for my system, and listening goals. They are worth a listen. Even the Modi Multibit gives you a great idea of their house sound.
 
Love that the Soekris is programmable. I just updated the filters, and found an amazing one for my system. I picked the "quasiNOS" minimum filter. These filters take the Soekris to another level. On the soekris you can switch between the 4 filters with the button on the face of unit.

(F4 linear ) Linear Phase filter, Soekris.
(F5 mixed ) EQHQ_lpbr_b4 Linear Phase filter, Paul.
(F6 minimum ) "quasiNOS" C128dp Linear Phase filter, Paul.
(F7 soft ) New NOS filter, Paul.
 
Love that the Soekris is programmable. I just updated the filters, and found an amazing one for my system. I picked the "quasiNOS" minimum filter. These filters take the Soekris to another level. On the soekris you can switch between the 4 filters with the button on the face of unit.

(F4 linear ) Linear Phase filter, Soekris.
(F5 mixed ) EQHQ_lpbr_b4 Linear Phase filter, Paul.
(F6 minimum ) "quasiNOS" C128dp Linear Phase filter, Paul.
(F7 soft ) New NOS filter, Paul.
Very nice, I think that would be fun to play with. At times I will play some tracks through the Maverick without the tube buffer. I uses a older Dac Chip, I thin 8x oversampling. But I find my self going back shortly to either the tubed output, or the FL.
 
As you have found, NOS has a tighter imaging, and less "air" then up sampling, or DS chips, unless the program material really has that. Luckily the Great Heils add enough spatial air on their own, so it's not a major issue at all. Added air can be fun at times, but I found it's more of a wow factor, and sometimes can lead to fatigue.
A few years ago I demoed a entry level NAD cd player that has a massive soundstage. It was impressive out of the box, but I soon grew tired of the wow factor, and returned it.
While my system is far from 'perfect', the synergy with the NOS Dac, H/K amps and AMT3 speakers, makes it so easy to listen to, and the tone, textures and timing are so enjoyable, I don't feel the need to mess with it further.
That synergy , more then anything when you strip away all the other variables, is what's really important IMHO.
The reaction from friends of late, is wow that song(s) sounds really good, new recording, etc? Not wow your system sounds really good....
Interesting difference, the focus being on the music...…
 
Totally agree. Weird observation which is similar to what you're saying is before this "quasiNOS" filter some albums were great and some where ok/good, but everything I throw at it now sounds great and very enjoyable. I get enough soundstage and imagine from the Zu's already, so this is working great for my setup.
 
I just had the Denafrip Terminator in my system to try out , I like it , it put to shame my PS Audio Direct Stream dac senior however the Denafrip is a ladder Dac .
It certainly isn’t Chinese junk but well thought out especially for future upgrades with boards that can be easily removed and replaced however for the price of $4500.00 all in to your door step I would like to check out other ladder dacs a bit below and a bit higher in this price range .
 
I just had the Denafrip Terminator in my system to try out , I like it , it put to shame my PS Audio Direct Stream dac senior however the Denafrip is a ladder Dac .
It certainly isn’t Chinese junk but well thought out especially for future upgrades with boards that can be easily removed and replaced however for the price of $4500.00 all in to your door step I would like to check out other ladder dacs a bit below and a bit higher in this price range .

I was looking at the Ares in my price range, but settled on the Soekris since the filters and firmware are upgradable. I'd love to step up to a $2k DAC at some point but that won't be anytime soon :D
 
$349.99 with free US shipping. There may be significant wait time though. Stated THD is suspiciously high at 0.08%
 
They said the similarity is by accident. Yeah, right.

that's a lame response.
Also seems to be spiraling... In his response he posted photos of the R2R boards from his, the other guy, then a couple others including Soekris... all the others are different.. the RDAC and Hibiki are pretty much identical in layout.

That thread :lurk:

also i don't see where you can upgrade firmware or change filter on it, comes stock with Linear Phase filter. but for $349 can't expect much more. wonder after the copying if it will affect mass drop sales
 
Last edited:
that massdrop thread is hilarious, how brazen can you be?

I guess these companies won't make the mistake of displaying the pcbs in the initial drop, the world would have never known with exterior only pics.

Makes you think how many of these components in our systems are based on schematics buried deep in all the diyaudio forums

Between metrum's offerings and the audio gd r2r 11 in the same price range I would be surprised if this thing rises to the top of the budget dac
 
wow, looks like an exact copy... Artist Audio says they are "working on a response"

Which will probably be something like "we are not aware of any copyright infringement for this design". These are not the only R-2R designs using discrete resistors. I'm pretty sure any patents on this design are expired by now. Using surface mounted resistors does not qualify as a new design - only a different implementation. There is nothing legally wrong with cloning a particular design - unless it is patented or copyrighted.
 
Which will probably be something like "we are not aware of any copyright infringement for this design". These are not the only R-2R designs using discrete resistors. I'm pretty sure any patents on this design are expired by now. Using surface mounted resistors does not qualify as a new design - only a different implementation. There is nothing legally wrong with cloning a particular design - unless it is patented or copyrighted.

I get that, but it's EXACTLY the same, even the owner posted a pic with several other r2r boards, and the others were different to a good degree, but his was exact copy of one in question. But heh it's probably why it's so cheap, not a ton of R&D since using "off the shelf" design
 
Back
Top Bottom