Anyone compare the May to a Ferrum Erco? Both have independent power supplies, different approaches, similar-ish costs?
There are a few ways to compare 2 products.
1. Measurements (Audiosciencereview... there are DAC's that measure superbly well for around 1000 bucks; there are people who buy them purely based on these measurements.
2. A/B audition (a lot will depend on the rest of the actual system and auditors' personal preferences)
3. Carefully checking the PCBs and comparing, if you know electronics, what's going on inside, what is required and what constitutes outstanding digital audio reproduction design. It is also possible to figure out if the designer, apart from implementing something phenomenal, has also spent time to fine-tune the end result by ear.
I look at 1, try really hard to do 2 as well, but I definitely place the highest importance to 3 (because I can, and because I've been playing with High-End HiFi for the past 3-4 decades).
May is a product of outstanding engineering. A lot of fine-tuning whet into that DAC as well. It is the only DAC that has really great PCM R-2R conversion, AND (on the underside of those DAC modules) - a great DSD DAC as well.
Its supply rails' regulation to each IC, each stage (heck, each Vcc pin on each of those ICs), is pure art. Low voltage references, followed by a series' pass transsistors).
Its analog stage runs class A and dissipates 50-60W of heat.
Its PLL parts (low phase noise xtal oscillators) are one of the best that can be sourced at the moment (staying on the sane side of cost). Its PLL implementation is the best in the industry at the moment,
Its USB module will process everything.... PCM up to 1.536MHz / DSD up to 1024. Of course, the DAC modules will handle these frequencies as well.
But, most of all and what swayed me to buy May, was the fact that the designer used fine-tuning of parts combinations, and a lot of fine-tuning of the PCB tracks' layout/geometry/lengths (clearly visible on both, the PCM and DSD side of DAC modules), to get a beautiful sound and great measurements results.
Usually, these boutique components do not measure that well... apart from May which measures exceptionally well.
Also, you either get a DAC that does PCM well, or DSD well, or NOS well.
For 8-9-10k, May is unbelievable DAC.
Of course, there are DACs that have everything that May has and then some extras, cost 10x more.... but do not sound that much better, or not better at all if you like NOS and R-2R architecture.
I can tell you that May will do NOS exceptionally well, but will accept anything that HQPlayer can spit out, being PCM or DSD (if your PC is up to it) - for those who may think that overprocessing is the path to digital audio nirvana...
Then I looked at the insides of that other DAC you mentioned (and found its PS unit as well)... and thought to myself... move along, nothing to see here.
Of course, there are DACs that have everything that May has and then some... but cost 10x more. Do they sound better? Probably, if the status is important.
However, I have to see a DAC that will do NOS better and have better R-2R implementation.
For a sane price of 6-7k, May is an unbelievable product.
. I was hoping to isolate my Power supply and DAC but the power cable between them just wasn't long enough to do that on my desk without a major change. Right now, I'm streaming Tidal and Qobuz from my desktop computer. Any opinions on how much better a dedicated streamer would sound? Interested in opinions from those who own this DAC and who actually tried both? I was considering the Aurender N20. All my cables are new with the exception of my USB cable. It's just a standard computer-based cable. Still looking for a replacement.
