dermott
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2005
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My DAC is a Yulong DA8 MKI (circa 2013/2014). This was the FOTM and briefly at the top of the heap when it was the first around. It was touted at the time as one of the first Sabre DACs that had a modicum of warmth vs the sterile sound of other contemporary implementations. I also liked that it was a single solution for me at the time because of the "decent" amp section. When I finally got into external amps (Schiit Jotenheim, then a Drop AAA THX-789) I found out how lacking that amp section really was. It has served me well as a DAC, but now I am wondering if the DACs that can be had now would outpace the Yulong by a simiilar margin. I am particularly interested in R2R/Multibit offerings like the Schiit Bifrost 2 or the Holo Spring 2 (Lvl 1). The thing is that I am only listening now to Tidal for quality and Spotify for convenience/tracks missing from Tidal via my Bluesound Node 2i (coax out, no real hi-rez).
I did run the analog out from the Node 2i to see what that DAC sounded like, but I preferred the way the Yulong sounded. Perhaps that was a level matching thing since the balanced out from the Yulong is probably twice the output voltage of the Bluesound via single ended RCA. Regardless, I thought the sound was just more clear. However, sometimes it can be a bit edgey, hence the interest in R2R/Multibit. If I pick up a Bifrost 2 at half the original price of the Yulong DA8 will I be delighted or disappointed? If I throw down with authority on something more like the Holo Spring 2 Lvl 1, is there anything to be had there? Is a guy just listening to PCM, mostly CD quality going to get any juice for the squeeze given these parameters? Current cans are Audeze LCD-2 (pre-Fazor, DA8- MK1 contemporary).
I did run the analog out from the Node 2i to see what that DAC sounded like, but I preferred the way the Yulong sounded. Perhaps that was a level matching thing since the balanced out from the Yulong is probably twice the output voltage of the Bluesound via single ended RCA. Regardless, I thought the sound was just more clear. However, sometimes it can be a bit edgey, hence the interest in R2R/Multibit. If I pick up a Bifrost 2 at half the original price of the Yulong DA8 will I be delighted or disappointed? If I throw down with authority on something more like the Holo Spring 2 Lvl 1, is there anything to be had there? Is a guy just listening to PCM, mostly CD quality going to get any juice for the squeeze given these parameters? Current cans are Audeze LCD-2 (pre-Fazor, DA8- MK1 contemporary).