[Torq]

As I said, I've more specific impressions posted elsewhere.

Getting a different opinion on the Singularity S19 from me will require getting several, independently sourced, units from other parties.

Gear I post comments on isn't gifted to me, I don't get, and wouldn't accept, discounts on things I review, the write-ups are not posted anywhere that yields any kind of gear or financial consideration, and I don't run a website of my own to drive traffic, clicks or hits to.

I also have precisely zero manufacturer loyalty and no issue calling out value/performance problems even on gear I own when I find something that outperforms it for less (e.g. my rather expensive Linn DSM vs. a number of much cheaper DACs).

All that said, I'lll refrain from further comment here.

Given the absolute horrow show that is the new Head-Fi site, it's not exactly going to be hard to stay away.

 

[TurbOSquiD67]

Interesting.

 

[Bombik]

blablabla.. no detailed weakpoints named from Torqso far. Only loads of words.
Having owned 3 AGD units, these need much more time to fully burn in than 100, 300 or even 500hrs. Give it 1500hrs or 2k.. My Precision 2 was burn-in for almost 3 months..
When I had switched it on 1st time it was horrible. Much worse than DENON 1500AE which I was replacing..

 

[oyster]

If something is expected to turn from un listenable to gold with just burn in, that's just fooling yourself.
People first say 'you didn't burn it enough' ......then the defective component excuse....and now 1000+ hrs burn in, what's next?

 

[Bombik]

Well.. defective unit then?
Or the s18 is so weak DAC.
Definitely looking for more impresions and opinions.

 

[landroni]

Well.. defective unit then?

Nope, not according to testing measurements or listening tests. Just lousy performance.

 

[mscott58]

One does not always have to agree with the voice of experience (here it's a very well respected member of the greater community with over 5K posts across the two sites) but one would be unwise to disregard it. Cheers

 

[joeexp]

Don't shoot the messenger. If anything, our community needs more whistleblowers!
Torq has a lot of experience and I usually find his reviews to be spot on.

 

[Ancipital]

Given that Torq is a filthy plutocrat, able to take his pick of DACs, and has enough of an engineering background to understand why things are good or bad, he's probably congenitally incapable of being a proper fanboy. When he hates stuff, it tends to be because it's bad. While I don't wish to further inflate his monstrous ego, he's a smart dude, and recognises good equipment in any price bracket; he has a good ear and knows what's out there.

I know it's uncomfortable when someone disrupts the fervour of the HF echo chamber with a dose of reality (just try dissing the vastly overrated Mojo to see how insecure it makes people).

There exist more detailed impressions, measurements, and indeed detail of blind ABX testing available elsewhere- by both Torq and the ever-informative Atomicbob.

When a DAC performs so poorly that you can pick it out blind versus a compariviely-priced unit 100% of the time, there's a problem.

Don't blindly accept what anyone says, but do consider useful datapoints.

 

[winders]

I know it's uncomfortable when someone disrupts the fervour of the HF echo chamber with a dose of reality (just try dissing the vastly overrated Mojo to see how insecure it makes people).

I would posit that saying the Mojo is "vastly overrated" in reality and especially here is a vast understatement.

 

[oyster]

There is a reason to Mojo's popularity. Most of the Mojo crowd are DAP/Portable stuff users. And most of the portable stuff suck so bad that even the average sounding Mojo appears to be a "one eyed man among the blind".
I myself never liked the Mojo but after having the (dis)pleasure of listening the A&K300/70/Jr., Fiio Stuff, Aune M1S,Aune S6, Walnut V2..... I would say Mojo is actually a lot better.
BTW, Aune M1S and Walnut V2 are some of the worst sounding portables. My jaws dropped reading their respective threads.

 

[Astral Abyss]

Well, I'm sticking to my original opinion that the S19 sounds excellent. It compares favorably against both my DAC-19 and Yggdrasil. Now, the S19 does not have the resolution of the Yggy, but that's to be expected. It definitely has more than the DAC-19. Maybe I got a golden sample or something. I'm really OCD about my music and the sound quality of all my setups. If the S19 was really as bad as has been said, I would have gotten rid of it already. I got it because I wanted to try a discrete ladder DAC. I definitely didn't need a new DAC, just thought it would be fun to try. Wasn't expecting much, but was pleasantly surprised.

It's unfortunate that it appears to not measure well in tests. I can only postulate that either the tested unit was faulty, or there is some type of manufacturing issues that need to be worked out. Might be a firmware related issue as well. I wonder if reflashing it might be worth trying?

 

[mscott58]

If you want to try a good R2R DAC, then I'd suggest trying out the Holo Spring. I have the L3, but the other versions I've also heard good things about. True, they're much more expensive than the S19, but you get what you pay for. Cheers

 

[Astral Abyss]

If you want to try a good R2R DAC, then I'd suggest trying out the Holo Spring. I have the L3, but the other versions I've also heard good things about. True, they're much more expensive than the S19, but you get what you pay for. Cheers

Isn't the Holo Spring a NOS DAC though? I don't think I'd like that.

 

[landroni]

Isn't the Holo Spring a NOS DAC though? I don't think I'd like that.

You could use it in OS mode as well, but as per @Torq's findings (see LaY) you would likely not want that. It seems to perform best in NOS mode.