[commando]

Has anyone compared all three? Or even two of them? After A/Bing for a few minutes I find the Chaintech 710 sounds just as good as the DAC daughterboard in my PPA.

 

[Glassman]

really? I can't believe it, I find Chaintech rather craptacular myself

 

[commando]

I really like the chaintech. I just wonder if anyone else has the same opinion, and if the emu's much better.

 

[Wodgy]

The Chaintech uses a Wolfson DAC, which has a flavor people seem to really like. I can imagine some people preferring it to the Burr-Brown advanced segment sound (PPA DAC), which is a little more sedate and neutral. Also, the Chaintech has the advantage of no op-amps in the signal path, which in my experience does improve the sound quite a bit, though sometimes at the expense of lower bass control (not necessarily volume though). So it could be a closer fight than it might seem at first.

Over an extended period of time, I personally usually end up gravitating back to DACs with a more neutral signature and conventional design (e.g. PPA DAC) but then sometimes I switch over to another one with a bit more "verve" and enjoy it for a while. Depends what sound you like.

 

[lcachola]

Quote:

Originally Posted by commando Has anyone compared all three? Or even two of them? After A/Bing for a few minutes I find the Chaintech 710 sounds just as good as the DAC daughterboard in my PPA.

Y'know, I can't tell the difference between the Chaintech 710 >> analog out >> Gilmore Lite and the Chaintech >> TosLink >> AOS Sostenuto. Both sound about the same through my Grado SR225. I might hear more of a difference with other headphones, though.

Mind you, I have no idea what RCA cables I'm using for my analog IC, but they seem more transparent than any other I've ever heard (I've noticed the analog out on my Chaintech sounds flat and lifeless when paired with lesser RCA cabling).

 

[lan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wodgy The Chaintech uses a Wolfson DAC, which has a flavor people seem to really like.

That's one of the key things. Some people like the sound certain DACs make and it may all come down to preference. Sometimes it's hard to separate the actual quality from preference.

I solve the situation by having multiple sources myself. Having a choice is the best answer.

 

[kyrie]

I recall reading that the sound quality of AOS DACs are highly dependent on the quality of the carrier.
In other words, if you're using the Chaintech as the carrier, you may not be anywhere close to hearing the potential of the DAC.

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kyrie I recall reading that the sound quality of AOS DACs are highly dependent on the quality of the carrier. In other words, if you're using the Chaintech as the carrier, you may not be anywhere close to hearing the potential of the DAC.

That is true, I found the Sostenudo's DAC to sound much better from the EMU than the Chaintech, and that much better than the Sonica.

All I can say on the matter, not really having listened to the AOS DAC enough, it that the EMU 1212M is a significant upgrade over the Chaintech, it has mroe details, better soundstaging, and just an overall more transparent sound. Not 8x better as the price difference is, though.

 

[Zoide]

I think I asked this before, but I don't recall getting a direct answer:

Would the E-MU 0404 be as good as the 1212m if you're just using it's digital out for use with an AOS DAC? Or is the fact that the 0404 lacks the 1212m's power conditioning going to affect it's digital out quality (jitter, etc)?

Thanks.

 

[lan]

It's going to be about the same. The modded 0404's digital out sounds better to me than stock 1212m.

 

[Glassman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lan It's going to be about the same. The modded 0404's digital out sounds better to me than stock 1212m.

how exactly modded?

 

[commando]

I'm about ready to declare the chaintech better than the AOS DAC. It's brighter and seems to have more detail, especially in the high end. The DAC sounds like it's got some cotton wool in it by comparison. I'm not doing anything special with foobar, just 16 bit output going to the chaintech, no dsps active, chaintech outputting analog and digital to the dac/ppa.

 

[lan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Glassman how exactly modded?

Nothing special just replaced the capacitors.

 

[Richteralan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lan Nothing special just replaced the capacitors.

Is there possible to replace opamps?

 

[lan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richteralan Is there possible to replace opamps?

You mean if I could do it? I'm not really interested in analog out performance of internal soundcards. Doing the opamps will require more time and money which I rather spend elsewhere.