Massdrop x Airist Audio R-2R DAC: A Discrete Resistor Ladder DAC For $350
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erniejade
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Mine is still in the box. I have not had a shot to hook it up. With the colder weather, i will have more time.
- I don't "have a name in audio reviewing".
- If I did, since I write reviews purely as a hobby (I receive no compensation either direct or "in kind", accept absolutely no free gear, no junkets, no lifetime/longtime loaners and deliberately do not run my own site - so no sly ad revenue, no Patreon, no Youtube, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and no online begging for gear/donations etc.), I would say nothing of value was lost.
Slade01
1000+ Head-Fier
Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Me personally I do respect what Amir tries to do in his approach. That being said, many R2R DAC implementation does not measure anywhere near as good as "analytical" dacs (although @Baten will make a good point below) . Maybe some people are purists and want those measurements of being noise free up to the super human beyond hearing range. While others take the subjective approach and know what is musical, involving, etc.
Personally for me, as I have the Airist R2R, @Torq was spot on with his review in my opinion. This DAC to me still does maintain a pristine quality in sound, so much so that I have happily abandoned my topping D50 in favor of the R2R outright. The D50 measures pretty damn good at Amir's site. But I enjoy the Airist way more. I have never heard a lick of distortion or noise or anything that would suggest anywhere near awful SQ.
Off topic it's the same with my Darkvoice amp which measures like complete crap on Amir's testing, but it still sounds damn good. Measurements aren't everything and subjective listening counts just as much.
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Baten
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Slade01
1000+ Head-Fier
LOL. Of course. Well for a 2500+ dollar DAC it better measure pretty good. My point simply was measurements don't always tell the complete story.
Baten
Headphoneus Supremus
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Haha point taken. it's just, people seem to think "well it's a ladder DAC of course it measures like crap". While good measuring ladder DAC isn't an impossible thing.
moriez
Headphoneus Supremus
Nice introduction as first post. A real name maker!
And these flaws and distortion you could actually hear when you listened to this DAC? Or was it the graphs that really said it all?
Marlowe
500+ Head-Fier
Your final sentence is the reason why, after much thought, really have very little respect for Amir's approach and have stopped reading his site (the final straw was his blanket condemnation of tube amps in one of his reviews based on their testing). I did click on his so-called review of the RDAC from this thread. I say "so-called" because although he calls it a review in the caption and body of his piece, there is actually no indication that he ever even listened to the damn thing, let alone wrote about how it sounded. It's just a presentation of, and commentary on, a bunch of graphs. Sorry, not interested.
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LuckyLuke575
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Well in that case either you are being made a fool or Massdrop is doing something wrong because your 'review' is quoted on the Airist DAC product page.
kukkurovaca
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Bringing up ASR style measurements in this context is extremely funny, since surely anyone who has bought or is interested in buying an R2R DAC has already put themselves on the other side of the "what measures best is best" philosophy.
What is it that you think Massdrop is doing wrong here - at least as it relates to me?
And how is it that I'm "being made a fool"?
Are you basing that statement (and the rather large and obvious assumption that goes with it) on the fact that I have no need, nor desire, to make money from audio reviews (or audio in general) and that, as a result, I have purposefully and deliberately eschewed doing so?
That'd be a pretty cynical view, and about as dysfunctional and abnormal as those that go out of their way to join a community just to be aggressive and accusatory.
I should also note ...
Those questions are rhetorical ... I don't actually give a toss.
Those questions are rhetorical ... I don't actually give a toss.
LuckyLuke575
New Head-Fier
I can now tell why I've never been attracted to this site. It's made up of a bunch of amateur reviewers / charlatans / biased and compromised individuals / useful idiots (take your pick) writing about their own experience with no objectivity whatsoever. Come to think of it, I had actually bought a DAC/AMP based on glowing reviews on this site, and sent it back to Amazon after 2 weeks after realizing what bad value it was compared to other alternatives out there. Most them the terms used to explain the audio equipment is pure hogwash. Particulary when it comes to a DAC, the thing needs to do it's job, meaning convert digital to analog as accurately as possible. I get wanting a unique / customized / EQ'd sound; that's what preamps with EQ settings, tube amps, and tone controls are for. I use an integrated stereo amp where I tune the bass and treble. That's not the issue. But when it comes to the performance of a DAC, the objective measurements apply 100%, because the DAC should not be coloring the audio signal.
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