Bigman80
Grandmaster
The HiFi Bear/Audioaddicts/Bigbottle Owner
Posts: 16,412
|
Post by Bigman80 on Sept 16, 2022 20:21:04 GMT
Hand made on the thighs of virgins? That may be closer to the truth than you think |
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
The HiFi Bear/Audioaddicts/Bigbottle Owner
Posts: 16,412
|
Post by Bigman80 on Sept 18, 2022 11:09:52 GMT
It appears I have somehow angered the HiFi god's, as last night the Parasound threw a wobbly. Putting it back in the system after taking some photos of the guts, the right channel took an age to come on and then when it did...... distortion in both channels. Everything was checked, but I found nothing. I have a feeling that it's a cap issue, which wouldn't be surprising due to the age of the unit and the heat it generates. So, this has now thrown a spanner in the works as I had planned on using my reserves on Arke's Etka speakers, if they worked here, but speakers are pointless if there's nothing coming through them..........so a new DAC has been purchased. I had been looking at DACs for a while as my original plan was to refurb the Parasound and I'd need a DAC to tide me over. I recently picked up a Monica 2 for £4 and that's now in the system but it's not at the level I have become accustomed to. I was also seriously considering that Sony R1 DAS, but I'd prefer something newer. One DAC that I hadn't seen advertised in the last few weeks was the one I ended up purchasing. The Aqvox USB2 MK2     The Aqvox is a BB chip based DAC with a SMPS. All the things I have avoided lol. However, there is a reason I've taken a punt on this unit, the Aqvox Phonostage. Back at the Penkridge Phonostage bakeoff, the Aqvox Phonostage made an appearance and did extremely well. Since then, I have kept an eye on Aqvox and their work, and they do seem to do things the right way. It should be here in about 7-10 days. |
|
|
|
Post by macca on Sept 18, 2022 11:13:00 GMT
got proper feet on it, good looking DAC that.
I remember their phono stage being outstanding at that bake off. Let's hope same is true of the DAC!
|
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
The HiFi Bear/Audioaddicts/Bigbottle Owner
Posts: 16,412
|
Post by Bigman80 on Sept 18, 2022 11:28:51 GMT
got proper feet on it, good looking DAC that. I remember their phono stage being outstanding at that bake off. Let's hope same is true of the DAC! It was, wasn't it. I've heard one since then and it's still very good. I'm hoping the pedigree has carried on |
|
|
|
Post by antonio on Sept 18, 2022 14:36:31 GMT
Very sorry to hear about your Parasound, let's hope the Aqvox does it for you.
|
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
The HiFi Bear/Audioaddicts/Bigbottle Owner
Posts: 16,412
|
Post by Bigman80 on Sept 18, 2022 14:51:55 GMT
Very sorry to hear about your Parasound, let's hope the Aqvox does it for you. Thanks Dave. I am only hopeful that it has a reasonable amount of quality so as to tide me over for a while. The Parasound isn't a quick fix as there are over 100 caps per channel. Thats not including the PSU. That said, it IS a really good dac and one that i think will be worth the work. Whilst in there i will probably see what else is upgradable to modern devices and go from there. It really does have some magic about them. |
|
|
|
Post by antonio on Sept 18, 2022 14:59:14 GMT
@bigman80 Keep changing all the bits inside and you then have a new dac in an old case.  |
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
The HiFi Bear/Audioaddicts/Bigbottle Owner
Posts: 16,412
|
Post by Bigman80 on Sept 18, 2022 15:33:49 GMT
@bigman80 Keep changing all the bits inside and you then have a new dac in an old case. Yeah, that's the plan 😉 |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2022 16:24:39 GMT
Don’t you wish you had just kept the Soekris?
|
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
The HiFi Bear/Audioaddicts/Bigbottle Owner
Posts: 16,412
|
Post by Bigman80 on Sept 18, 2022 16:27:11 GMT
Don’t you wish you had just kept the Soekris? Where is the fun in that? Trying stuff is a big part of the fun for me. Sometimes you win, most times you lose. It is what it is |
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
The HiFi Bear/Audioaddicts/Bigbottle Owner
Posts: 16,412
|
Post by Bigman80 on Sept 18, 2022 18:20:16 GMT
The gaffer informed me that we had a bit of balance left on an Amazon voucher. I took that as a sign that she wanted me to spend it, so I did. Meet my new multimeter:  |
|
|
|
Post by antonio on Sept 19, 2022 4:30:21 GMT
@bigman80 She meant the voucher would come in handy for Christmas presents. |
|
|
|
Post by firebottle on Sept 19, 2022 7:04:27 GMT
When do you want me round for the training session?
|
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
The HiFi Bear/Audioaddicts/Bigbottle Owner
Posts: 16,412
|
Post by Bigman80 on Sept 19, 2022 7:06:46 GMT
When do you want me round for the training session? You just want a play with it, don't you! Lol |
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
The HiFi Bear/Audioaddicts/Bigbottle Owner
Posts: 16,412
|
Post by Bigman80 on Sept 19, 2022 7:06:59 GMT
@bigman80 She meant the voucher would come in handy for Christmas presents. She may have done.....too late now lol |
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
The HiFi Bear/Audioaddicts/Bigbottle Owner
Posts: 16,412
|
Post by Bigman80 on Sept 29, 2022 10:58:03 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by antonio on Sept 29, 2022 12:29:09 GMT
@bigman80 Well it's certainly shiny.
|
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
The HiFi Bear/Audioaddicts/Bigbottle Owner
Posts: 16,412
|
Post by Bigman80 on Sept 29, 2022 12:48:46 GMT
@bigman80 Well it's certainly shiny. That it is! Feels nice too. |
|
|
|
Post by macca on Sept 29, 2022 17:38:23 GMT
Is that for my pre-amp?
|
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
The HiFi Bear/Audioaddicts/Bigbottle Owner
Posts: 16,412
|
Post by Bigman80 on Sept 29, 2022 18:56:36 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by electronumpty on Sept 29, 2022 20:01:47 GMT
@bigman80 Well it's certainly shiny. That it is! Feels nice too. Should do at that price! |
|
|
|
Post by pete on Sept 29, 2022 20:17:58 GMT
Looks a 'proper' component, that!
|
|
|
|
Post by sq225917 on Sept 29, 2022 20:58:27 GMT
That's a nice switch, I have a 5 way elma if you want to trial one.
And a massive Russian thing on ceramic plates with precious metal wipers, it clicks over like one of those power power station switch on vids on youtube.
|
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
The HiFi Bear/Audioaddicts/Bigbottle Owner
Posts: 16,412
|
Post by Bigman80 on Sept 29, 2022 21:10:41 GMT
That's a nice switch, I have a 5 way elma if you want to trial one. And a massive Russian thing on ceramic plates with precious metal wipers, it clicks over like one of those power power station switch on vids on youtube. A five way? How does it differ from the 6 way? I have a few of the blue types here, and a rather similar to the TKD one (in materials spec) NKK switch. |
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
The HiFi Bear/Audioaddicts/Bigbottle Owner
Posts: 16,412
|
Post by Bigman80 on Oct 28, 2022 21:48:05 GMT
Vinyl is back!!!!
|
|
|
|
Post by jandl100 on Oct 29, 2022 3:42:58 GMT
Yes, I was already thinking that was inevitable given your frustration with not finding a totally satisfying sounding DAC. Roll the vinyl system colourations of your choice back in.  Many wrongs can make a subjectively satisfying right! That's not intended as a criticism in any way. I'm all for making the music sound good. ... It's just the surface noise issues that kill vinyl for me*. There's too much silence and low volume level in classical music. And I really can't be arsed with rigorous cleaning rituals. All that cr#p just gets in the way of listening to music for me. I'm fine with 'nice sounding' digital. * and also the cost of new vinyl and the lack of current catalogue. Digital is a must for me. No contest. The trick is to make it sound enjoyable. SMSL SU-9.  |
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
The HiFi Bear/Audioaddicts/Bigbottle Owner
Posts: 16,412
|
Post by Bigman80 on Oct 29, 2022 10:14:44 GMT
It's been a long period of digital shenanigans really. I have spent the best part of a year without vinyl due to the epic lengths Angus went to with the new PMAT MK8SE. It took way longer than either of us expected, but this did give me time to really dive into a full time digital system and see what i can do with it.
The digital has been worked pretty heavily, and i think there has been around 5/6 DACs here over that time.
DACs:
Holo Spring 3 KTE
Aqvox DAC2
Metrum Mussette
Parasound 1600
Monica 2
Soekris 2541
There may be another i have forgotten, but as you can see, i have been pretty busy.
This is my evaluation of how it's gone:
So, all of the DACs have sincerely good merits. The Soekris 2541 had resolution, transparency and propulsion of sound. It sounds like the music is alive and pushes the sound towards you at times, particularly with dynamic music. Probably still one of the best DACs i have heard.
The Aqvox is the most detailed DAC on this list. It just peel3s off layer after layer of detail. It is quite amazing. The channel separation and speed is absolutely superb. Listening to Jimi Hendrix play "Machine Gun" was a life-changing moment. The drumming was hard panned all over the place, and it sincerely felt like there was nothing between the Hendrix and my ears, but....it's not quite rich enough in its tonality for me. I can imagine a Valve amp fleshing this out and making a sound to die for, but that's not going to happen here.
The Parasound....the TONE! It is utterly perfect for vocals, for nylon strung guitars, for trumpets....for everything. It has the tone nailed on. There is flesh, meat and bone, and it's just beautiful to listen to. However, with this tone comes a LF that caused the Q acoustics to become overblown in my room. Although, it didn't take much to do that and I haven't tried the dac with the ETKA yet, so it may be a completely different story. I will try the Parasound again.
The Metrum... This is an interesting DAC, because it has lots of resolution, lots of tone and lots of speed, yet somehow i remain disconnected from it. Dunno, just isn't working for me. Can't nail it down.
The Monica 2. Well, this DAC makes me laugh quite a lot. It cost £4. I got it from a guy on PFM who was trying to find someone who would use it. I knew someone but they got a Topping before this landed, so it's stayed here for now. Tone... Check. Resolution…yeah, it's pretty good, Transparency...not quite up with the rest to be honest. However, its got the fruitiest bass of any dac on the list. It's lively...but lacking some detail. Makes me laugh that a £4 dac can be quite so much fun.
The Holo Spring 3 KTE is a bit of a conundrum. On one hand it has probably the best balance of all of the dacs I have had here. It is a genuinely engaging listen, it is pretty close to (what i think is) "perfect tone", It has resolution, soundstage layering, scale, depth and is transparent too. But...i just don't want one. I don't know why. It's a cracking DAC, but i just don't want one. If the SQ i heard from this was coming out of the Aqvox, i'd be keeping it...so it must be something psychological to do with the cost.
And there is, what i think is the issue.
Digital (we keep being told) is as good as it gets. Spec wise, walks all over vinyl (apparently), has been engineered past the threshold of human hearing and therefore is "sorted" - "no need to spend THOUSANDS on a DAC, they are past the point of technical improvement"
So when i put the turntable back together yesterday, cued up some vinyl and sat back to listen......why does this rock in a groove absolutely annhialate the digital in the ears? And it did, believe me.
Comparing against the same audible factors i liosten for, the SP10/PMAT MK8SE/Avalon made digital sound like Pepperami looks. unappetising.
Listening to the same tracks, the vocals become alive, real and natural. Easy and convincing to listen to. Guitars have tactility, elasticity and tone, drums have impact, rythym and timing and propulsion. The soundstage is layered, the hard panning is there too...maybe not quite as far right and left as with the Aqvox, but that was panning in the extreme!
For me, DACs i have here, DACs i have heard...they all seem to have one or two specialst areas which they excell in. Whereas vinyl seems to be more cohesive, more "together" ..... more complete as a whole. And that isn't sacrificing resolution or transparency. The Vinyl is either more or equally as resolving or transparent as many of the "Over Engineered" DACS i have ever heard. Now, i am not saying this is true of ALL vinyl, just that it's true of what i am experienceing here.
Vinyl is BACK! Digital....well, i think i am just going to buy something like the SU9/SU10 and throw it in for casual listening, as i am not not really prepared to spend £££££'s on a DAC thats capable of competing on all fronts...if one exists.
|
|
|
|
Post by rexton on Oct 29, 2022 10:20:05 GMT
I've still not gone down the digital route apart from a CD player!
|
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
The HiFi Bear/Audioaddicts/Bigbottle Owner
Posts: 16,412
|
Post by Bigman80 on Oct 29, 2022 10:41:45 GMT
I've still not gone down the digital route apart from a CD player! Yeah it's seemingly more hopeless than I'd originally thought. I can get GOOD digital...but not Vinyl beating digital. I'm starting to think it doesn't exist. |
|
|
|
Post by robbiegong on Oct 29, 2022 11:17:31 GMT
I've still not gone down the digital route apart from a CD player! Yeah it's seemingly more hopeless than I'd originally thought. I can get GOOD digital...but not Vinyl beating digital. I'm starting to think it doesn't exist. Forget the 'beating' mindset Olster, it's irrelevant, a smokescreen and distraction. For me it's about satisfaction, the music, being moved.... My vinyl front end brings great joy and satisfaction, as does the cdp front end, comparison and 'beating' plays no part, as I say, irrelevant, unnecessary distraction. |
|
Many wrongs can make a subjectively satisfying right! 
