[nordkapp]

I already clearly stated that I have not heard the particular DACs he listed. But I am talking about measured, objective performance, which isn't a matter of opinion. If some people enjoy something more that measures worse, that's fine; as for me, my goal is high fidelity, which can be measured.

Good on you. My bad.

 

[banco-sg]

this might sounds biased, but at this price point, i love my TA-ZH1ES, a detailed, well balanced with a touch of warm. very quiet and no distortion.

 

[mindbomb]

The dac 3 had a great review in stereophile. I would go with that.

 

[marcussmj]

Thanks for the suggestion! I'm planning on getting a Focal Utopia so I hope it has good synergy with it.

Many people I know have heard it and compared the DAC to the Gungnir Multibit and they prefer the Soekris now. Not saying you should take my word for it but I value their opinion when it comes to audio. Since it also comes with a headphone out with is decent enough you can use it for the time being while you explore other options for an amp.

 

[NickedWicked]

this might sounds biased, but at this price point, i love my TA-ZH1ES, a detailed, well balanced with a touch of warm. very quiet and no distortion.

I've seen that one aswell, I heard it is an awesome overall performer, just a tiny bit lacking sound-wise compared to competitors such as the DAC3 and the Brooklyn.

The dac 3 had a great review in stereophile. I would go with that.

Yeah, he seemed really amazed with the unit, it's definitely very high on my list. The only downside I can think of is the gain adjustment which needs to be done by screwing the lids off and switching some jumpers.

Many people I know have heard it and compared the DAC to the Gungnir Multibit and they prefer the Soekris now. Not saying you should take my word for it but I value their opinion when it comes to audio. Since it also comes with a headphone out with is decent enough you can use it for the time being while you explore other options for an amp.

Got any reviews on the Soekris? Seems like a nice unit, don't know if it's entirely on the same level as the other competitors.

 

[nordkapp]

Yeah, he seemed really amazed with the unit, it's definitely very high on my list. The only downside I can think of is the gain adjustment which needs to be done by screwing the lids off and switching some jumpers.

The gain adjustment takes literally 3 minutes. Pop the top. The little nubbies are right there in front of you. Super simple.

 

[NickedWicked]

The gain adjustment takes literally 3 minutes. Pop the top. The little nubbies are right there in front of you. Super simple.

I forgot to ask, is it possible to update the firmware manually on the DAC3 like with the Brooklyn and the ADI-2 Pro?

 

[nordkapp]

I forgot to ask, is it possible to update the firmware manually on the DAC3 like with the Brooklyn and the ADI-2 Pro?

I do not believe so.

 

[Whazzzup]

The shoot out should be hugo 2, dac 3, kitson level 3 course i just bumped it up a bit and the kitsun needs an amp but jeez, your close. I have experience with hugo, hugo 2 and TT my fav is TT but you have to test or just research these for sure. Im uninformed on the others but that means nothing.

 

[Music Alchemist]

Check this out. Even after reviewing the DAC3 in depth earlier, they said this of the Hugo 2: "There isn’t another DAC around at anywhere near this sort of price able to communicate so torrentially, so unambiguously or so effortlessly."

https://www.whathifi.com/benchmark/dac3-hgc/review
https://www.whathifi.com/chord/hugo-2/review

 

[ostewart]

Check this out. Even after reviewing the DAC3 in depth earlier, they said this of the Hugo 2: "There isn’t another DAC around at anywhere near this sort of price able to communicate so torrentially, so unambiguously or so effortlessly."

https://www.whathifi.com/benchmark/dac3-hgc/review
https://www.whathifi.com/chord/hugo-2/review

WhatHiFi are quite biased in my opinion, and would never write anything bad about Chord as they are a huge website advertiser

 

[Whazzzup]

No one writes anything negative about anything. At best you can decipher the innuendo. Then again at certain price points like 2-5 g dacs all sound good, 2-6 g headphones all sound good. It just comes down to features, preferences, and style. Most good manufacturers develope fan boys for good reasons. This partially goes down to beliefs, a mystical concept that stirs the pot. Just because I’m a chord owner doesn’t necessarily make me part of the eco system that chord is building, but there are certain things I look forward to testing. The TT2 when it is launched has me intrigued.

 

[NickedWicked]

Thanks for all the replies guys, so far I've been reading some more and I will soon test the DAC3 HGC because of it's sheer power and extreme clarity, and the ADI-2 Pro as it is a really awesome performer as well, with tons of options to fine-tune the sound among other things while being quite cheap.

I will definitely try the TT2 when it comes out, the Hugo 2 seems a bit lacking compared to the other 2, both in options and the power to drive some rather difficult headphones, but the DAC should be up right up there with them, if not better.

If you guys want I can write some impressions when I get them in the coming weeks!

 

[nordkapp]

Thanks for all the replies guys, so far I've been reading some more and I will soon test the DAC3 HGC because of it's sheer power and extreme clarity, and the ADI-2 Pro as it is a really awesome performer as well, with tons of options to fine-tune the sound among other things while being quite cheap.

I will definitely try the TT2 when it comes out, the Hugo 2 seems a bit lacking compared to the other 2, both in options and the power to drive some rather difficult headphones, but the DAC should be up right up there with them, if not better.

If you guys want I can write some impressions when I get them in the coming weeks!

Please do!!!

 

[Music Alchemist]

the Hugo 2 seems a bit lacking compared to the other 2, both in options and the power to drive some rather difficult headphones

How so?

FYI, it has enough power to drive practically any non-exotic (such as electrostatic, obviously) headphone to dangerous levels without distortion. Headphones don't need (or use) as much power as many claim. They don't use any more power aside from what is required to reach a given SPL along with dynamic peaks, which also qualifies as a given SPL. (Meaning that at a given SPL it is the same power used regardless of the amp, as long as they all meet the minimum requirements.)

You can calculate the real power requirements of headphones here: http://apexhifi.com/specs.html

When you do so, you will see that these so-called hard-to-drive headphones aren't using much power to reach 100 or 110 dB. It's only when you go to, say, 120 dB with low sensitivity (and in some cases high impedance) headphones that you would actually need a more powerful amp. And you would rarely (if ever) need or want to go that loud.

Most of the time, when people talk about how so-and-so amp does a better job with a headphone, they are referring to the sound signature of the amp, not its ability to drive headphones. (Which is a separate issue, despite the fact that some don't understand the basics and refuse to acknowledge that.) Even the little Mojo sounds roughly as good as neutral solid state amps that cost thousands, even with headphones that aren't so easy to drive, and it can drive all but the least sensitive headphones as loud as you want without any noticeable distortion.

I just wanted to clear all that up.