[chicken beer]

"It's tonality is also very good if you don't do critical listening."

That's a masterful "damn with faint praise" comment. (ie, "Their house seems clean if you don't look too close")

What happens if you do critical listening?

Then you'll find the details missing! Compared to some great DACs.

 

[chicken beer]

"It's tonality is also very good if you don't do critical listening."

That's a masterful "damn with faint praise" comment. (ie, "Their house seems clean if you don't look too close")

What happens if you do critical listening?

!!!!

 

[Bazirker]

If anybody has one of these and wants to sell it, shoot me a PM!

 

[Kerry56]

There is a new review of the SDAC at audiosciencereview, where it is compared favorably to the OL DAC.

 

[chicken beer]

There is a new review of the SDAC at audiosciencereview, where it is compared favorably to the OL DAC.

That review seems biased. Biased means when one does better than the other, it would speak for the inferior one and that review got caught there precisely. (Referring to THD, a 2.5db difference across all bands is considered 'similar', whereas at FR, a 1dB difference at very high frequencies and some even exceeded audible range, is called rooled off too quickly)

OL DAC is good at it's own price range. SDAC is great as a very basic DAC. OL DAC has added features. THD is better than SDAC, and that is something that actually matters, and the difference is not subtle.

I hate those who measure and not listen. Both sound good, both worth the $. There's no winner between these two.

I guess after all, buyers would still buy whichever is AVAILABLE when they need one.

I don't know how much money Massdrop or Grace paid this reviewer, but no one paid me anything to say this. I personally own a SDAC and don't hate it. Just trying to be fair when seeing notably biased reviews with totally misguiding interpretation to the measured data, without seeming to have listened to the DACs themselves.

After all it didn't seem to be a review at all it's just a biased opinion which everyone can be entitled to. Why would you call it a review at all.

 

[amirm]

I don't know how much money Massdrop or Grace paid this reviewer, but no one paid me anything to say this.

No one pays me a dime for any review. And I don't know anyone there. The Grace SDAC was loaned to me by an owner and I purchased the JDS OL DAC out of my own money. There is no commercial purpose to any of the work I do.

I have 20 to 30 DACs now in my pool that I have purchased for these reviews and measurements. I am without emotion when I test them. The measurements/design speak to whether I say something positive or not. I have actually given thumbs down to my Exasound E32 which retails for $3,400.

OL DAC is good at it's own price range.

It is and I said so when I reviewed it a while back: https://audiosciencereview.com/foru...ement-and-review-of-jds-labs-usb-ol-dac.2244/

"Summary:
From engineering point of view, JDS Labs and their design shop (same one as Objective DAC) have done a nice job of improving this DAC. At $99 with the same feature set, I really see no reason to purchase the NWAVGUY's Objective Rev B DAC. This is cheaper and better."​

THD is better than SDAC, and that is something that actually matters, and the difference is not subtle.

THD is perceptually blind because it puts equal weight on all harmonics. That is not what we hear. Please read my tutorial on audibility of my measurements: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/understanding-audio-measurements.2351/

On a personal note, I am doing all of this work as a service to the community. There are no ads, no sponsors, no nothing. It is disheartening to see such negative commentary on the work itself. The measurements are there for you to use or ignore. But if you are going to stomp on them, I appreciate not doing so at the expense of me personally. My words in the review can be ignored and data used in however you like. I put them there because people want to know how I think of the data.

 

[amirm]

After all it didn't seem to be a review at all it's just a biased opinion which everyone can be entitled to. Why would you call it a review at all.

Oh, I missed this bit. Really? All you saw was an opinion in there? No measurement data? No talk of its functionality and operation?

You are confusing my work with random subjective "reviews" which have no scientific basis for reliability, nor any way of confirming their outcome. I put forward data and measurements that can be duplicated and as such can be relied upon. It is difficult work, requiring specialized and expensive equipment together with lots of knowledge to know how to operate them.

I also provide side-by-side data so that you can immediately see under identical conditions how two competing products do. No one else does that. It provides great context so that the information can be digested easily.

 

[Povell42]

Any comparisons between the Grace SDAC and the Schiit Modi Multibit (Mimby)? I am surprised that I haven't been able to find a head to head comparison between the two. I own the Mimby and was thinking about getting the Cavalli Tube Hybrid Amp (CTH) and was contemplating on getting the SDAC + CTH combo for the $70 price difference. Or should I just use my Mimby with the CTH?

Any thoughts or experience with the DAC comparisons with the CTH?

Oh, and if anyone has some experience with the SDAC or CTH with the LCD-3, that is another combo that i haven't found any thoughts on.

 

[elira]

Any comparisons between the Grace SDAC and the Schiit Modi Multibit (Mimby)? I am surprised that I haven't been able to find a head to head comparison between the two. I own the Mimby and was thinking about getting the Cavalli Tube Hybrid Amp (CTH) and was contemplating on getting the SDAC + CTH combo for the $70 price difference. Or should I just use my Mimby with the CTH?

Any thoughts or experience with the DAC comparisons with the CTH?

Oh, and if anyone has some experience with the SDAC or CTH with the LCD-3, that is another combo that i haven't found any thoughts on.

By measurements according to that other forum the SDAC is better than Bimby (which is essentially a Mimby), by ear I can tell you that I feel Bimby to be much better than the SDAC.

 

[Povell42]

By measurements according to that other forum the SDAC is better than Bimby (which is essentially a Mimby), by ear I can tell you that I feel Bimby to be much better than the SDAC.

Thank you for your reply!

 

[chicken beer]

By measurements according to that other forum the SDAC is better than Bimby (which is essentially a Mimby), by ear I can tell you that I feel Bimby to be much better than the SDAC.

No no the Bimby is not essentially a Mimby, they measure different and sound different also, they use different wave filters and have different power transformer and different outer circuits. They are priced different and they look different. I want to say they are totally different but they in fact share the same DAC chip and the same architecture around the DAC pins. But there's 90% more aspects other than the DAC chit where they are totally distincted.

 

[amirm]

Any comparisons between the Grace SDAC and the Schiit Modi Multibit (Mimby)?

Can do. Right now I am trying to get out of the large backlog of loaned gear. I own the Modi Multibit so can do that review when I get through the current queue.

 

[amirm]

own the Mimby and was thinking about getting the Cavalli Tube Hybrid Amp (CTH) and was contemplating on getting the SDAC + CTH combo for the $70 price difference.

Someone is loaning me the CTH once they get it. So I should have data on that soon.

 

[elira]

No no the Bimby is not essentially a Mimby, they measure different and sound different also, they use different wave filters and have different power transformer and different outer circuits. They are priced different and they look different. I want to say they are totally different but they in fact share the same DAC chip and the same architecture around the DAC pins. But there's 90% more aspects other than the DAC chit where they are totally distincted.

They have the same filter, the only differences are power supply, usb gen 5, and the modularity.

 

[chicken beer]

Oh. That makes sense. Sorry for the mistake.