[jestercow]

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.

lolkbai, I hope you find audio bliss somewhere <3

 

[kukkurovaca]

because the DAC should not be coloring the audio signal.

This is a value judgment, to which you are welcome, but (a) don't be surprised that not everyone will share it, and (b) most importantly, consider not taking hobbies quite this seriously. In particular, there's no need or reason to get personal when hyperbolic descriptions of audio gear are entirely ubiquitous.

 

[PopZeus]

I'll never get over others telling me that what I actually want is maximum objectivity and accuracy, despite having more than enough of it to satisfy me, and in fact, looking for something else (more elusive) on top of it.

 

[MarkArtz]

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.

LMAO! I buy what I like. I never let some dude I've never met with some outdated testing equipment tell me what to buy or what to listen. I am happy If it sounds good and I enjoy it. I finished high school long ago and so many others in this forum. I am no idiot following a false messiah that calls himself engineer and bulls others work, but can't make one himself.

 

[Guidostrunk]

What amazes me is the cult like mentality these people bring with them from that place. I've never purchased anything by measurements. It's been trial and error for the last 10 years I've been on here. One thing I've learned is you don't have to spend massive amounts of money to get great SQ. Even gear I didn't care for I never trashed it or people who preferred it. This has always been a personal hobby for me. Not some scientific research and development tour. Lol

 

[erniejade]

I finally got a chance to hook it up. It is not broken in yet and i am only using it via coax ( bnc to rca) using a Cullen cable from my lumin d1. Sounds darn good especially for the money.

I listened to a few songs using the D1's built in dac, and now listening to the same songs on the r2r. The lumin dac is generally warm and easy to listen to. So going from the internal Dac on the Lumin to the r2r, i did not think the r2r was warmer. I have read where a lot of folks reviews state the r2r is warm sounding so i figured i would mention i dont feel it was warmer vs my lunin. The r2r seem to pull a bit more detail. Soundstage is a bit more up front and in general well balanced sounding especially for the money.

After it breaks in more, i can use my aurilic mini with a w4s recovery usb as the streamer and compair it to my trusty grant fidelity tube dac11, and ps audio direct stream jr. with the mini feeding both so the source is the same.

 

[ohcrapgorillas]

Does anyone know what the deal is with the availability on these? I have been really wanting to snag one of these for my office rig (CTH > ZMF Blackwood, thinking this combo would be phenomenal), but just saw that they aren't available on the Drop website anymore.

 

[elira]

Does anyone know what the deal is with the availability on these? I have been really wanting to snag one of these for my office rig (CTH > ZMF Blackwood, thinking this combo would be phenomenal), but just saw that they aren't available on the Drop website anymore.

Stock in massdrop is not a guaranteed thing, they only keep stock for popular items. Click the request button and hope for the best.

 

[Guidostrunk]

Or keep an eye on the for sale forums here. You'll have better luck there lol.

 

[ohcrapgorillas]

Yeah, but in the case of this unit, I'd pay extra for a warranty. Oh well, I think it's time I bite on the Bifrost 2 for my main rig anyway.

 

[ustinj]

I know this dac dac high distortion measurements, but is it at the point of audibility?

I have one and I think it sounds nice, but I can hear audible distortion when playing single frequency tones in the bass.

Anyone else able to check this for me?

 

[Sapientiam]

How are you generating the single frequency tones and what kind of distortion is it you hear ? Could you describe its character?

 

[ustinj]

https://www.szynalski.com/tone-generator/

Using this tone generator, @ 30hz I can hear what sounds like a faint sawtooth wave (sharp) on top of the sine wave, present in both channels but just barely to the right -- turn volume up to pick it up. Using my CMA600i's DAC, there is no such noise (nor with the Grace M9xx). Though for the most part music and general use sounds fine, I do notice that at times -- I am unsure if this is the reflection of the higher distortion measurements, or a defective unit.

 

[erniejade]

Whats the rest of the system? Could it be the speakers causing the noise or does it only do it with this dac?

 

[ustinj]

Whats the rest of the system? Could it be the speakers causing the noise or does it only do it with this dac?

PC>USB into Airist R2R>CMA600i amp/ZDT Jr amp>hd800

It could be the interconnects / cables, but my first assumption was the dac.

It is not an issue with M9xx or cma600i's dac.