[TheRealDz]

I just snagged one of these.

https://aoshida-audio.com/products/musician-draco-r2r-decoder?DIST=Q0U=

It is roughly the same price as the highly regarded Denafrips Ares 2 DAC. I own the Ares as well, so I will do some comparisons as the Draco burns in.

Initial impressions:

1) it is much heavier than the the Ares.

2) it already has a larger soundstage and greater resolution than the Ares.

3) it has that fantastic, musical R2R sound that I have come to love.

4) it has an I2S connector, which the Ares lacks. I can now get the full benefit of my SingXer SU-1 DDC - which all else equal is reason for me to keep the Draco instead of the Ares.

More to come...

 

[kfotheringham]

Can’t wait to hear your review side by side. Mine arrived from the same store about 4 weeks ago. I can only compare it to my Schiit Modius - now sold, but the difference was very audible, in terms of layering, attack, precision.

 

[TheRealDz]

As it is nearing 100 hours of break in, here are a few more thoughts:

1) choice of hdmi cable matters for the I2S connection. I bought a well-regarded monoprice cable, but could not get it to work at all, when cycling through the pin configuration settings. Just as I was getting totally frustrated, I tried a cheapo cable I had laying around, and it worked immediately via the stock pin configuration. I have an Audioquest Cinnamon incoming - I am eager to hear if there's any difference.

2) bass started out sounding wooly, but it has tightened up considerably.

3) I have had no trouble when listening to music, but videogames do not like the NOS setting; all I get is static. Since videogames are connected via a different computer, I need to see if it is the games or computer causing the problem. My Ares 2 never had that issue with NOS and videogames.

4) the sound is opening up more and more - ie, it sounds more and more like I am listening to music in a room, rather than via headphones. I love this - and hope that improves with more burn in. It beats the Ares 2 in that regard.

5) other than the videogaming troubles, I don't hear as much of a difference between OS and NOS as I thought I would.

 

[TheRealDz]

I think burn in is complete, with more than 200 hours logged. I will eventually put together a proper comparison, but in the meantime, TL;DR:

The Draco is only marginally better than the Ares, but it is better across the board - which is altogether pretty impressive.

 

[BuckAcog]

I think burn in is complete, with more than 200 hours logged. I will eventually put together a proper comparison, but in the meantime, TL;DR:

The Draco is only marginally better than the Ares, but it is better across the board - which is altogether pretty impressive.

That's really interesting, how do they compare in terms of details, soundstage, imaging, speed, dynamics and impact?

 

[Hoshi]

I have been considering a DDC for some time but have not moved forward because my current DAC, the Denafrips Ares II does not have an I2S input. I'm currently upsampling to DSD256 and when listening to PCM need I2S for higher sampling rates. I'm a current HQPlayer user.

I've owned the Ares II for I'm guessing a coupe years and am still enjoying the performance that it brings. After listening to both PCM and DSD, at this point, I'm currently set on DSD as I've found that with HQPlayer DSD sounds better. It is my understanding that playing DSD, the Ares II does not upsample which is important to me when using HQPlayer. I have to assume that the Draco does not upsample in DSD either and plays DSD natively. Can anyone confirm this? I realize that their is a NOS button on the Draco for PCM, but just want to confirm that this functions with DSD as well. I believe with the Ares II, the filters do not function at all with DSD.

Can anyone using this DAC give us feedback on its DSD performance?

I also look forward to you comments TheRealDZ on how well the Draco stacks up against the Ares II "with and without" using your Singxer.

 

[sajunky]

After listening to both PCM and DSD, at this point, I'm currently set on DSD as I've found that with HQPlayer DSD sounds better. It is my understanding that playing DSD, the Ares II does not upsample which is important to me when using HQPlayer. I have to assume that the Draco does not upsample in DSD either and plays DSD natively. Can anyone confirm this?

It is expected that DSD is not upsampled, as it involve double conversion and Draco has a separate resistor network for playing DSD. Good observation.

 

[viggen]

don't confuse upsample with oversample

 

[sajunky]

don't confuse upsample with oversample

There is no use of a term 'oversample' related to DSD. I used a proper term. If not, please let me know.

 

[viggen]

Hoshi asked whether DSD is upsampled in Ares/Draco and whether NOS button negates upsampling. AFAIK these DACs do not upsample and NOS button only attempts to negate oversampling not upsampling.

 

[sajunky]

Hoshi asked whether DSD is upsampled in Ares/Draco and whether NOS button negates upsampling. AFAIK these DACs do not upsample and NOS button only attempts to negate oversampling not upsampling.

NOS button do not affect oversampling rate (it is always the maximum rate for the particular model), it only change filtering from one of DSP based FIR filters to the linear interpolation. A very primitive reconstruction method, not used elsewhere anymore, except Denafrips.

To discuss it further I need your explanation what is in your understanding a difference between upsampling and oversampling, please.

 

[viggen]

NOS button do not affect oversampling rate (it is always the maximum rate for the particular model), it only change filtering from one of DSP based FIR filters to the linear interpolation. A very primitive reconstruction method, not used elsewhere anymore, except Denafrips.

To discuss it further I need your explanation what is in your understanding a difference between upsampling and oversampling, please.

That is Golden Sound's definition not Denafrip's definition.

 

[Hoshi]

Can you please explain your definition regarding the differences between upsampling and oversampling? I simply want to get someones feedback on the DSD performance of the Draco DAC and in a perfect world, compare DSD playback between the Draco and Ares II. I believe the Ares II does not add any type of filter during DSD playback. Does the Draco handle DSD in the same manner?

 

[viggen]

Can you please explain your definition regarding the differences between upsampling and oversampling? I simply want to get someones feedback on the DSD performance of the Draco DAC and in a perfect world, compare DSD playback between the Draco and Ares II. I believe the Ares II does not add any type of filter during DSD playback. Does the Draco handle DSD in the same manner?

AFAIK Denafrips and Musician dacs do not upsample but they do oversample. there is a NOS button that supposed to negate oversampling but, according to goldensound, these dacs do not truly negate oversampling. oversampling is increasing frequency to decrease noise. upsampling is increasing bit depth to increase resolution. this is true for PCM and, since i do not use dsd, I think it also applies to dsd but not 100% positive about the oversampling.

 

[sajunky]

oversampling is increasing frequency to decrease noise. upsampling is increasing bit depth to increase resolution.

Actually both cases involve multiplying frequency. Oversampling is a marketing term (as seen on old CD players), upsampling is a technical term, a special case of resampling or a sample rate conversion (SRC). Upsampling can be to any frequency (not limited to power of two numbers), this is a main difference.