I usually just troll or buy things around here, but I have been following ya'll and thought I'd give some input with my limited experience. I'm not a headphone guy, nor do I have golden ears. This is about my experience with use in my listening rig. I had used a slightly modified by Dr. Poon Monarchy 22A DAC that he installed a 1704UK BurrBrown chip in with my setup for years. I would probably say 7 years. Besides that, I have heard EAD 7000 MKIII, EVS Millenium II, and most recently a Denafrips Terminator. The Terminator was not in my system though. Additionally, when I was considering a new DAC, I listened to 3 DACs in OCD Mikey's main rig-Vermeer, AGD Adante and Audiobyte. I'm not in a position to shuffle in and out a lot of different gear regularly/constantly. When I do get a piece, I try to be contented with and make the best of it. Typically when I get something, it is going to be in for a long while. Over stock sources, Monarchy was definitely an improvement. It made music sound more weighty and musical. Weighty is the main descriptive word for sure. Next, I would also say a smoother sound with that weight. Soundstage and detail were not found in abundance in my opinion and I just was always wanting more. What do you expect from a 20 yr old DAC? I know.
About 3 years ago, I took a new job that required travel, so I picked up a Chord Mojo to accompany some noise canceling PSB headphones for use during plane rides and hotel stays. One day I swapped the Monarchy & Mojo in and out of my system to compare them. Again, I do not have golden ears, but from all the ravings over the Chord I thought I was going to be blown away, but that didn't happen at all. I honestly could not figure out what all the fuss was about. I might even go as far as to say that the Monarchy had more meat on the bones, but it was very close. I didn't find an improvement in soundstage, detail, or any other audiophile descriptor. I continued on with the Monarchy for 3 more years.
I watch Youtube quite a bit these days and discovered OCD Hi-Fi Guy's channel. I found out that he was based in Atlanta and I have to travel their monthly, so I talked to him and he was more than welcoming. I listened to a 20 or 30 thousand dollar (not sure which) Vermeer DAC, the AGD Adante which I believe is in the 15 thousand range, and the Audiobyte Vox/Zap. All three sounded really great. I couldn't hear much difference between the 3. Between the most expensive Vermeer and Audiobyte, I actually said to Mikey, I can't really hear that much of a difference. He said, I know, crazy, right!?! In my opinion, the Vox was AT LEAST 90% of that 20-30 thousand dollar DAC. Again, take this for what you will with my limited experience. Mikey didn't know me from Adam, but accepted a down payment only, and let me walk out the door with the DAC to try at home for myself. I couldn't believe it!
This is getting too long. Let's cut to the chase. In my system at home, I have never heard music sound so good as I have with the Audiobyte. I just want to listen and listen to music. The soundstage width/depth, amount of detail, texture, attack/decay, and sense of space are all amazing. What else? You name it. It's there. It's just very fun to listen to. There may be a slight amount of weight missing compared to the the Monarchy, maybe, but everything else is just SO good. Remember, I listened to the Terminator in a different system so this is like comparing apples and oranges, but there may have been slightly more weight to that one too. Hard to say, not a fair comparison. Maybe it is just something that I pick up on using a ladder DAC compared to one with an FPGA chip-IDK. What I do know is that I have no regrets with the Vox/Zap. Keep this in mind too, my source is only a 2019 Nvidia Shield Pro using a USB connection and streaming Amazon Music HD. Up until a month ago, I wasn't even getting the HD part. I think that this DAC can make anything sound musically enjoyable!
