Soekris 1421 DAC Review

Bearing in mind it is early morning here, what does NUC stand for?

Well, it looks like it won't be an Innuos or a NUC.

I have a bit of kit coming on long term loan. I'll post more once I have it here and it's up and running.

Lead weights better! (Bricks)
Reading this while listening to a Kingrex USB amp into Zigmahornets. Can't begin to try and compare, but it's a lovely sound-and these Zigs have bass despite size.

I patched my 2009 macbook with Catalina and fitted a 1tb ssd last night, new battery on its way. Should see me out another ten years.

You get a lot of bang for your buck, 649euros.  

If you're blown away by an R2R ladder DAC then it might be seen as inconsistent if you get antsy about other gear's technical performance.

.... BTW, I'm still blown away by my R2R DAC.

Fair enough, I thought all R2R DACs measured poorly.

Hahahaha, that's the one I want to use lol

No, not at all!

The Holo Audio DACs are pretty much as good as R2R get measurement wise for the money most will spend , but compared to a Topping D90 they are not up to the standard set by Sigma Delta types.

I shared a theory on here a little while back that the problem i think i have with Digital reproduction is the absolute perfection of it. Thats what makes it sound synthetic IMO. Not that it is, just that we arent used to listening in that way.

Thats why i looked into R2R DACs....for their less than perfect numbers. I also considered Valve DACS, but 90% of them just stuff a valve on the output stage. Not what i want to spend money on. I can do tha.

There is a reason a lot of us love valve amps and vinyl and thats probably down to the euphoric nature of those devices. The halo effect it has on music is all pretty much down to distortion of some kind, as far as i can see. Happy to be given further information on what it could be, but in general looking at the number points to this, for my limited understanding.

The Soekris R2R Dac measurements would be considered as stunning if it were analogue, as Macca quite rightly said.

My issue with kit is the deliberate attempt to tune phonostages to give them a bit of midrange warmth or bass kick/presence, or even more detailed by lifting the HF response.

What you hear with these devices is what the DESIGNER thinks music should sound like. I don't want that.

I want the vinyl to be as close to the original master as possible (not very) and to hear the sound as it was mixed to be heard. Using phonostages with delibereatly skewed frequency response takes you further away from that. That annoys me but then they claim it to be reference level and its just utter bollocks and boils my piss!!.

I have yet to see a single DAC manufacturer that hasn't tried it's best to get a flat response. If Phonostage manufacturers did the same, who knows what wonderous devices may be out there by now!

Ah, well it's not that simple......

Valves always impart a little of the halo effect, it's unavoidable. But the BB3 is the most unvalve like piece of kit i have ever heard...deliberatly.

One has to be careful that descriptive words mean the same to everyone. "Colouration" to me, is the equipment imarting a tonal signature, or particualr tonal imprint on everything it plays....that isnt always down to distortion. That could be a midbass emphasis in the RIAA for instance, or a particular valve being used etc...

I dont want colouration. I wont have colouration!

I recall reading a post on AoS a few years back that "Valves can be just as quiet as Solid state" - but they can't. It's the nature of the beast and no matter what you do to a valve phonostage, it will never hit the performance figures of Solid state. Yet there is a denial or insistance about the attitude towards valves or Solid state being better...it's bollocks. In ultimate terms, Silicone chips will measure far better than valves in almost every way imaginable. To deny this is ridiculous. BUT, give me a Valve phonostage everyday of the week over a Solid state one! (for now )

It's those second order harmonics that do it, i think.

Also, having them doesnt mean an tonaly accurate sound cannot be achieved. The BB3 is, i find, very tonally accurate, but i know deep down that it is the euphoric nature of the valve that gives vocals the flesh and wood to the guitars sound. Solid state doesnt do this, it cant.

If you were to be using a phonostage to archive an entire library for historic value, i would only use a Solid state phonostage, but for my listening pleasure and to hit the points that make things connect to my soul and elevate my listening pleasure, the Valve phonostage kicks ass.

I have always been very open about this.

My theory was that if i bought a DAC with a spec closer to analogue in terms of more THD etc than a SD DAC, would it be more listenable because the spec is nearer to that of vinyl....so far the answer is yes.

Like you, i am just not loving the new wave of Chi-Fi DAC's and the best i'd heard came from Leo, and the PecanPi has been incredible. Still is!

The PecanPI is the bridge between High measuring DACs and Analogue fluidity. It is an exception to the rule in many ways.

I wasnt talking about valve amps in particular and there isnt an output transformer in the Bigbottle, but i could literally sit you down and demonstrate the difference between valves i own. It's not subtle and i would argue that the better the kit, the more obvious the differences become. Every piece of equipment with a valve in i have heard, has had an audible change when the valves changed. That inclues the bigboy stuff.

In a Sh#t amp, the distortion presents like a veil IME. Rather than euphony.

Some valve amps can be difficult to identify as Solid state and vice versa. I agree there. Often the better the amp, the less it's topology matters.

My digital doesnt sound synthetic via toslink, neither did the pecan Pi via the RPI, but the majority of DACs i have had here do. USB is shite and has the ability to ruin many a good DAC

just found this little gadget:

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TeraDak-Network-Music-Streamer-Raspberry-Pi-4B-4G-Roon-Volumio-ES9038-I2S-DAC/184270901293?ul_ref=https://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/710-53481-19255-0/1?ff3=4&toolid=10001&campid=5338468473&customid=bb4b2c0a-363b-11eb-988a-303030363136&mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fitm%2F184270901293&srcrot=710-53481-19255-0&rvr_id=2714329169770&rvr_ts=2e1f55241760a9c40ff53151ffeca49f&ul_noapp=true&pageci=a6711b77-fa9b-41fb-8180-27dfe6634fff&redirect=mobile

Ah...good old Dick Olsher!

whilst i find it very interesting that his findings echo mine over USB v SPDIF, i don't understand how he can evaluate ANYTHNING on a truly neutral footing when he uses a "The Truth Preamp" and Magneplanar speakers

"My first order of business was to tweak my planar-speaker reference system toward full neutrality, really an important factor for accurate evaluation of any source component. That meant leaving tubes, i.e., tube colorations, out of the chain and routing all DACs through Ed Schilling’s totally truthful The Truth photocell volume control. Two critical cable changes were also implemented. Canadian Take Five Audio’s cryo-treated Mogami 3103 speaker cable turned out to be an exceptional fit, featuring an even tonal balance coupled with exceptional transient speed and control. Another major upgrade was DH Labs Silver Sonic D-750 digital cable in a one-meter length. I just couldn’t believe my ears; it brought about a substantial increase in soundstage image focus and transparency"

However it does appear that he has managed to make some points that i agree with:

"It became clear during this process that there was no perfect filter setting. While the soft Butterworth filter conjured the most realistic image size it also sacrificed a bit of treble smoothness. Most of the time, the Green LED setting (minimum-phase filter) gave the best overall compromise"

Initially, I was a bit disappointed with the Soekris. USB audio lacked the focus and rhythmic drive I’d been enjoying with SPDIF Red Book CDs. I suspected that the culprit was most likely a noisy USB stream

What he also doesnt mention is that $899 is the US price but i believe that doesnt include TAX or shipping. The EU price is EUR790 ex. VAT for the UK and does not include shipping. By the time you add all of that in, you are bodering on a Denafrips Pontus.

The Soekris, had it been built properly, would be twice the price and probably twice as good.

By built properly, i mean using a properly designed LPSU rather than SMPS & using the kind of connections i employ.

At present i feel the Soekris lacks a little of the "prestige" or "premium" quality that the Denafrips may offer but i suspect the actual design of the DAC itself is probably spot on. It's a typical "engineers" DAC in that they usually place absolutly no value on the things us "audiofools" seem to swear by.

Look at anything made by EAR for an example of what i am talking about.

At present i am only using the DAC. I don't have a phonostage at the minute and i can be brutally honest about my findings as the DAC itself sounds unbelievable. I was recently trying a cable out between the DACand the Pre and the changes between cables were clearly audible, so its definitly in the kind of class where you can hear whats going on.

Personally, i love the textures, the layers of the tracks and imaging. Yes, imaging from a DAC, who'd have thunk it.

If you see one, buy it. It's worth every penny!

BTW Audio-gd are a bag of shite. I don't normally quote ASR but it was WolfX-700 who measured a lot of their DACs and i find him far more "even" than Amir. This is a review of the Audio-gd R8, the successor to the R7 in the Dick Olsher review:

www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/review-and-measurements-of-audio-gd-r8.10149/

That speaker cable is OK. I have tried the Mogami stuff and it's one of the only non-OCC types of cable that I recommend for those on Extremely tight budgets.

That's for interconnects and tonearm cables too BTW.

However, cyro? I'm not convinced about that at all. I did think about doing a Cryo set of Spotfire cables once ....... That slipped my mind.