Anyone listened to a Xindak DAC-5 (both tube and SS DAC in one)

I have one. Like it!

Please feel free to ask me any specific questions.

You can read some of my comments here:
Xindak DAC-5 - 1st impressions. - AVForums.com

Cheers

Another possibility is the Monarchy Audio NM24: Monarchy Audio

Mr. Poon is runing an special in Audiogon at $1080 plus S&H.

Lol.. Old thread.. No offense, but I'd take anything with a grain of salt. Mr. Williams here has only 3 posts. In the link he gives there is this one guy saying 'long time listener, first time caller..' with only 1 post.

Don't want to sound defensive, but there was a time when everyone on this board only had 3 posts, including yourself, so was your opinion any less valid then than it is today (all these posts later)? Also, an opinion is only an opinion. Someone with 10,000 posts may still have an opinion that differs from everyone elses.

I was just answering the question "has anyone heard a DAC-5". Yes I have, I own one and here is my opinion! Take my opinion with a grain of salt by all means, but when I have a few hundred posts, I expect you to then read it again and leave the salt in the shaker! lol

I like the Xindak DAC-5. I wouldn't say I'm a Hi-fi expert. I don't even know how one could ever become one, it's not like there is a degree in it? You just say what sounds good to you right? However, I have loved music and Hi-Fi for over 20 years and I also make music, so I am quite anal about audio quality.

I think Chinese Hi-Fi is interesting. Like Chinese recording equipment, it will probably take a few more years before the sceptics are convinced that they do know how to make good electronics. For those who know that already, there are some great killer products at bargain prices out there!

I went and read more about the Xindak DAC-5 and it is very interesting. They do not have a dealer in the USA so I sent them an email asking about price including S&H.

My current main DAC is a Chinese made Monarchy Audio NM24 and I love it! Best home dac I have ever owned.

He was just pointing out that you could be shilling for the company, and since you only have a couple posts, we have no way to determine your standing concerning the product. No harm was meant, I assure you.

O.K., I don't get it. What is the point of having both a tubed and SS DAC in the same box...?

I'm not asking this to be snide. I'm actually curious, since I must be missing something.

That course in mind reading you took really comes in handy in situations like this.

Dismissing someone because of a low post count instead of the content of their post has to be one of the most inane things you could possibly do on a forum.
Remember that this isn't the only audio related forum out there.

And seriously, would the words of someone who had spammed "x2" 2000+ times over a timeframe weigh higher to you than a low post count person that actually says something worthwhile?


Probably so you can switch between the two for a different kind of sound.

Exactly, I have the same feature in my Monarchy NM24 DAC and it allows you to get a different "flavor" w/o having a second dac in your system.

Doc,

If you have a SS amp, using the tube dac would warm the sound. Just the opposite could take place with the ss dac and tube amp. You can tune your sound according to your source setting.

Thanks guys. I thought at first that keeping two different DACs in a system (or in this case two DACs in a single box) seemed a little over the top. But the more I think about it, the more reasonable it sounds, given the way that certain components just wont play nice with certain other components. So the flexibility would be good.

Reminds me a little of the vinyl freaks who mount more than one tonearm on their tables so that they can easily switch among two cartridges.

Well, with the DAC-5, you kind of get 4 DAC's in one box, or arguably 6.

The reason is the SS and tube stages sound different from one another (plus changing the tube can find better synergy with individual systems), plus switching between 96KHz & 192KHz upsampling results in a very different sound too. If you class the balanced outputs separately from the unbalanced SS output (there is a difference in sound), then you could say it has 6 varieties of sound from one box!

I believe (not tried yet) all outputs work simultaniously, so for me this is great, as I can have the balanced outputs going into the passive volume control and onto two sets of active balanced studio monitors. Then the two other outputs (tube plus SS) going to my headphone amp and NAD Hi-Fi amp (or Quad) with speakers connected. This gives me 3 sets of speakers plus headphones on which to check my mixes when making music. Alternatively, could use one output to my M&K active sub!

I've not used many DAC's, so it's hard for me to say it's the best DAC for the money, but I can say I think it sounds great and is very well built btw.

as an FYI this is the DAC that exemplar audio uses as the basis for their new dac. From a brief conversation with John Tucker of exemplar it is a really great dac in its stock form. I have no doubt that his mods take it to reference levels based on hearing his previous products.

Resolution Audio Video
Sells them in Seattle. Call Larry up, he should be able to answer your questions.