Advice needed on a DAC upgrade

[colinharding]

Quote:

Will do, I'm liking the review at 6moons, but it'll take me a bit of saving before I go and spend $1950, don't want to hear the nagging from you know who about "wasting money" (IMO jewelry is a waste not Hi-Fi). 

 
 
Thomas

 
She might be able to get it hanging from a necklace, problem solved!  

 
Quote:

Bright and Thin eh? I see! Thanks for saving my wallet

 
Yeah it was at the Capitol Audio Fest a few months back, Woo Audio was there, borrowed an Audio Noted DAC 5 Signature from a friend of mine in another room (bit of an extreme comparison, but hey) and that really made the WES sing.  Their DAC plus WES was so bright and thin I couldn't stand the combination, figured if anything it had to be the source not the WES, guess I was right in the end but do you really expect anything less from a 90k DAC?

 

[smoothlondoner]

I am sponge soaking in all the information

 

[Archerious]

Quote:

 
She might be able to get it hanging from a necklace, problem solved!  

 
 
Yeah it was at the Capitol Audio Fest a few months back, Woo Audio was there, borrowed an Audio Noted DAC 5 Signature from a friend of mine in another room (bit of an extreme comparison, but hey) and that really made the WES sing.  Their DAC plus WES was so bright and thin I couldn't stand the combination, figured if anything it had to be the source not the WES, guess I was right in the end but do you really expect anything less from a 90k DAC?

90k DAC! 

 

[smoothlondoner]

What would you rather have Colin, bel canto 2.5 or 3.5 or meridian 563
 
Still bidding on a mkII but being lured by the Siren like Bel cantos now.....
What about my wallet lol.
And yes I am listening to all comments and making a measured decision but thanks for your impartiality
Also what are peoples opinions on the Benchmark DAC1.
I don't hink this will outclass the cyrus I AM ALREADY USING BUT WELCOME OPINIONS.....

 

[Archerious]

What would you rather have Colin, bel canto 2.5 or 3.5 or meridian 563

Still bidding on a mkII but being lured by the Siren like Bel cantos now.....
What about my wallet lol.
And yes I am listening to all comments and making a measured decision but thanks for your impartiality
Also what are peoples opinions on the Benchmark DAC1.
I don't hink this will outclass the cyrus I AM ALREADY USING BUT WELCOME OPINIONS.....

Here's what your going to need to factor in and tell me so I can better assist you:

Neutral or Colored DAC?

Fun or Analytical DAC?

Detailed and Engaging or Dry but Accurate

Balanced or Unbalanced

 

[smoothlondoner]

I would Say 
Detailed and Engaging,
Colored,
Fun & Analytical if I could get away with it but if not FUN....
unbalanced would be ok but I need to out puts to run to My amp and my headphone amp as I don't like running through the tape loop and putting more circuitry in the chain .

 

[colinharding]

Analytical contradicts the fun and colored aspects.  What's the rest of your system comprise of and we'll go from there, that way I have a sense of what sound you like based on what you have.

 

[Xymordos]

The SR009 sounded alright to me with the WES and the Woo DAC at the Hong Kong Audio Convention. Possibly because I'm used to bright sound signatures.

 

[smoothlondoner]

I love detailed but not to overly bright.
I think of tonal balnce as everything in its place.
But if you want to add a little sparkle or colouring in the right way RockON

 

[colinharding]

Quote:

The SR009 sounded alright to me with the WES and the Woo DAC at the Hong Kong Audio Convention. Possibly because I'm used to bright sound signatures.

 
Haha, "alright" isn't an exactly glowing review though.  Yeah I mean if someone gave me that setup I'd be fine, but I'd never buy it.  Just wasn't satisfying enough I would get some serious ear fatigue after a couple hours of listening.  Had to really crank it in order to flesh everything out and make the sound richer and more encompassing.  Should work best at low volumes, should never have to crank it to get the best sound.  

 

[smoothlondoner]

Yes I knew it was a contradiction but one can dream lol.
Fun then.
The reast of my system comprises of
A PC front end built to hi spec with 32gb of ram, 8 core processor and 4 hard drives in raid 0 & a 1200w power supply to keep the sound free from other interference and stable.
The sound is taken from the pc buy spdif coaxial from an Asus xonar essence ST one of the best cards on the market.
I am also in the process of building an exteranl power supply for it so it gets fed all clean dc with plenty of head room.
From there it goes to a Cyrus Audio DACX+ which also has the Cyrus PSX R external power supply also.
From there it goes to 
1.) An AVI Legacy S21 intergrated Amp connected to spendor A6's
2.)Also to a Headphone Amp a copy of the beyerdynamicA1 called a YSA1 (see the link below) then in to a pair of beyerdynamic T1's
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Finished-High-quality-YS-A1-Headphone-AMP-Amplifier-with-full-aluminum-chassis-/120923229333?pt=UK_Sound_Vision_Other&hash=item1c27960c95.
Interconnects are 
Coaxial cable    - Wireworld Starlight6
Interconnects    - 1mm solid core OFC soft copper in oversized teflon jackets & locking rca plugs
Speaker cables - 10AWG solid core OFC Soft Copper

 

[smoothlondoner]

PS Considering a Monarchy Audio DIP Combo between th PC and DAC.
The clock on my sound card is meant to be decent but I need to do a little research to see before I start spending more cash

 

[Xymordos]

Quote:

 
Haha, "alright" isn't an exactly glowing review though.  Yeah I mean if someone gave me that setup I'd be fine, but I'd never buy it.  Just wasn't satisfying enough I would get some serious ear fatigue after a couple hours of listening.  Had to really crank it in order to flesh everything out and make the sound richer and more encompassing.  Should work best at low volumes, should never have to crank it to get the best sound.  

 
What I meant by alright was that there was nothing to pick out about the sound. I mean, it was certainly the best set up I've ever heard. The music sounded like it wasn't being reproduced, but flowing out from the space around your head. It was an incredibly smooth sound. Though I cannot comment on the lows of that set up because the songs played there did not reflect the bass. 

 

[smoothlondoner]

I've been chating on the pm and just thought I'd ad a bit more about what i would like in a dac.
Well, i like a Detailed sound, also one that is Engaging and has pace and attack but not some thing hard..
As well I like a Colored sound with some smoothness to give it some charector, deep low bass, with control and layering and i don't like anything dull or rounded off at the top end.
Something Fun too, bold and exciting with good scale and dynamics.
Arghhhh does such an animal exsist?

 

[colinharding]

Synthesis Matrix (I've been telling people this for a while but no one has taken the bait yet) will blow you away.  Best 3D, detailed and emotionally involving DAC I've heard under 10k.  Crushes the Bel Canto 3.5, Audio Note DAC 2, and with a cap change it is on par with the DAC 3.  But I would start with the Meridian 563, it is great taste of what you could enjoy if you were to spend $3,500 on a DAC.  Everything is there, detail, nice warm engaging sound, non fatiguing.  But it's natural, head to head with a Benchmark it won't have as much detail but then again it isn't sucking the music dry of details that aren't there in first place; it's natural.  As I said, if you don't like it just sell it, you're guaranteed to at least break even.  If nothing else it will let you know what you like and dislike in your sonic signature.