jamato8
Headphoneus Supremus
Jamato,
Would you be able to give me a quick summary of the HM801, 901, DX100 and CLAS (assuming you have heard them all, which I think you have)? I've grown tired of the Sabre sound and found that my DAC preferences are in the R2R architecture camp. With that in mind I was wondering if you found the HM801 competitive with the other units. It may be time for me to look beyond my DX100 and your input here would be valuable.
I have heard two of those so go get a real rundown of all four, someone else will have to pipe up. I have the DX100 and the HM901 and those are both Sabre dac daps, as you know.
Besides the R2R, and it is all about implementation, what type of sound do you like? See, I enjoy detailed, transparent and not too warm. I don't like sterile but am a little more towards that than a warmer sound. I used to build my own tube equipment and everyone always reads about the warm tube sound but that is a fallacy. It depends upon implementation and as mentioned, I can't not stand overly warm mushy sound. I like as neutral as possible with a slight hint of warmth, as to my ear, live well done music has this, in the right venue and so on and so forth.
So you have grown tired of the Sabre dac. Have you heard the 901? I think it is a little bit warmer sounding than the DX100 and still natural and real sounding, though it does have two of the Sabre dacs. The different amp boards also offer possibilities.