[kothganesh]

  My experience is the Soloist is a little laid back, GS-X just right and the Mjolnir a little forward.  A lot of which you prefer comes down to source and preference.  All three are very clean and clear though.  No mud, no veil to be found.

Fourth row, second row and front row respectively, right Regis ?

. I can see you are in bliss with the LCD 3 and the PWD/GSX combo.

 

[Chikolad]

  No idea... not a one.

 
Was worth the try

 

[Duckman]

Has anyone here heard the Auralic Vega to Auralic Tarus to LCD 3 suppose to be really good but have yet to hear it.

 
Have never owned the Taurus, but only demo'd it twice with the 3, and in my opinion it is a poor match.

 

[NZtechfreak]

Have never owned the Taurus, but only demo'd it twice with the 3, and in my opinion it is a poor match.

Interesting, I heard the LCD-3 from that pairing and thought it was wonderful (Taurus MKII, if that makes any difference, apparently Auralic turned their attention more to its performance with planars than the MKI).

Project86, whose Taurus MKII review should be up on Innerfidelity any time now was also enthused about the pairing from his comments in the Auralic owners thread.

 

[XVampireX]

Now that I've finally decided on the GS-X mk2 amp (And that's final - putting an order in this coming month) I would like to ask you people a question, I need a DAC with the following requirements: Sabre 9018 chip, Balanced, DSD, DXD - No treble harshness! everything else should be perfect and I'm thinking $2,000 tops
 
Keep em rolling, I got the LCD-3 because of the high rave about them, and I'm not disappointed (and good for those who prefer the LCD-X). So the amp, I'm betting I'll be very happy with it... and now I need a DAC that I might be getting before the amp (I mean while I wait).
 
Thanks people

 

[Jd007]

  Now that I've finally decided on the GS-X mk2 amp (And that's final - putting an order in this coming month) I would like to ask you people a question, I need a DAC with the following requirements: Sabre 9018 chip, Balanced, DSD, DXD - No treble harshness! everything else should be perfect and I'm thinking $2,000 tops
 
Keep em rolling, I got the LCD-3 because of the high rave about them, and I'm not disappointed (and good for those who prefer the LCD-X). So the amp, I'm betting I'll be very happy with it... and now I need a DAC that I might be getting before the amp (I mean while I wait).
 
Thanks people

Yulong DA8 or Matrix X-Sabre seem to both fit the bill. I've used both (but recently went to DA8 permanently for the built-in headphone amp) and have a GS-X mk2 on order as well

 

[citraian]

  Now that I've finally decided on the GS-X mk2 amp (And that's final - putting an order in this coming month) I would like to ask you people a question, I need a DAC with the following requirements: Sabre 9018 chip, Balanced, DSD, DXD - No treble harshness! everything else should be perfect and I'm thinking $2,000 tops
 
Keep em rolling, I got the LCD-3 because of the high rave about them, and I'm not disappointed (and good for those who prefer the LCD-X). So the amp, I'm betting I'll be very happy with it... and now I need a DAC that I might be getting before the amp (I mean while I wait).
 
Thanks people

If you're not looking for harshness you should not be considering the Sabre I find it a bit harsh

 

[Greed]

You shouldn't be in a rush to find a DAC. You have several months (atleast 6) to wait after all... By that time there probably will be something else very interesting up and coming.
 
Check out the Vega. Seems like a Sabre based DAC that doesn't suffer from treble hardiness as much as your typical Sabre DAC. 

 

[XVampireX]

  You shouldn't be in a rush to find a DAC. You have several months (atleast 6) to wait after all... By that time there probably will be something else very interesting up and coming.
 
Check out the Vega. Seems like a Sabre based DAC that doesn't suffer from treble hardiness as much as your typical Sabre DAC. 

 
Vega is a little bit on the pricey side, and justin told me it would take about 3-4 months for the order atm,
but if you're saying ATLEAST 6 months, that is a bit long...
But I guess that it's worth waiting for!
 
Anything you know that will be coming up with DSD and DXD support that should be good?
 
 

  If you're not looking for harshness you should not be considering the Sabre I find it a bit harsh

 
Ok, so lets say not the sabre, but with everything else included, what would you suggest?

 

[Greed]

   
Vega is a little bit on the pricey side, and justin told me it would take about 3-4 months for the order atm,
but if you're saying ATLEAST 6 months, that is a bit long...
But I guess that it's worth waiting for!
 
Anything you know that will be coming up with DSD and DXD support that should be good?
 
 
 
Ok, so lets say not the sabre, but with everything else included, what would you suggest?

 
Then I would take Justin's word over mine. He might have found a way to speed up the building process. Most GS-X owners have been waiting at least six months. Because Justin has such a small operation, there are bound to be some hiccups along the way. 
 
Other DACs that you should consider are the PWD MKII, NAD M51, AGD M7, Ayre QB-9, maybe the new Yggdrasil. None of which are sabre based and some don't do DSD. Depending on your budget, you might be looking at only a handful of DACs that meet your criteria. 

 

[Solude]

Last GS-X mk2 batch shipped late June, early July... second batch hasn't shipped.  You do the math
 
Sabre and no harshness, really more of a upper mid problem than treble, under $2000 will be a short list.

 

[Greed]

Come to think of it, I can only think of a few DACs under $2K do DSD and are Sabre based.

 

[XVampireX]

  Last GS-X mk2 batch shipped late June, early July... second batch hasn't shipped.  You do the math
 
Sabre and no harshness, really more of a upper mid problem than treble, under $2000 will be a short list.

 
What would that short list be? X-Sabre and Yulong DA8? I've heard good things about both, is it good enough to start me out maybe second to last DAC, I'm not that picky about DACs and Amps, but specs should be promising and both on paper gave me a slight wow (SNR/THD+N/Features/etc...) any other good choices?
 

   
Then I would take Justin's word over mine. He might have found a way to speed up the building process. Most GS-X owners have been waiting at least six months. Because Justin has such a small operation, there are bound to be some hiccups along the way. 
 
Other DACs that you should consider are the PWD MKII, NAD M51, AGD M7, Ayre QB-9, maybe the new Yggdrasil. None of which are sabre based and some don't do DSD. Depending on your budget, you might be looking at only a handful of DACs that meet your criteria. 

I've heard a lot of raving going on regarding the PWD MKII, but sadly it only supports PCM up to 192KHz... QB-9 supports DSD64 only and specs don't look that very promising, the other two I'm not sure about.

 

[mrcasey]

Yulong DA8.  Top shelf DAC. 1200 to 1300.  DSD 64 and DSD 128.  Nice features as well.  Well revied here on headfi. I am very pleased with this DAC.

 

[Solude]

   
What would that short list be? 

 
No idea.  Personally gave up on the Sabre after the W4S DAC2.