[matthia]

I guess the number in the middle indicate the year of manufacturing. Any mine is a 2010 man301 lol.

It seems you have an old board, at least not this one which @lithiumnk mentioned in post #108, the Golden MAN301. It is a similar board as in the Hifistatement review but maybe even a bit older than this since the last numbers are -0100 and not -0200.

Matt

 

[someyoungguy]

Hmmm, the Weiss product page says “no less than four oversampling sigma-delta D/A converters per channel, operated in parallel”, but now it seems there’s just one DAC chip. They seem to be basing their statement off the fact there’s 8 channels in the ES9018, but to me their statement implies four separate chips in parallel, not one.

 

[matthia]

They seem to be basing their statement off the fact there’s 8 channels in the ES9018

Yes, nearly all manufacturers who use one of the Esstech 8-channel chips make these statements.

Matt

 

[matthia]

Edit: I send an Email to Daniel and will post the answer.

Just received the answer from Daniel Weiss:

"The initial plan for the DAC204 / DAC205 was to use the WPCB-02010 type DAC board. We did that for the first lot of units.
Later on we decided to go with the WPCB-02023 type DAC and stay with that."

Great customer service, btw.

OK, there are two versions on the market. I assume that Weiss use in the later higher priced DAC204s the 02023 board.

Matt

 

[greyforest]

Just received the answer from Daniel Weiss:

"The initial plan for the DAC204 / DAC205 was to use the WPCB-02010 type DAC board. We did that for the first lot of units.
Later on we decided to go with the WPCB-02023 type DAC and stay with that."

Great customer service, btw.

OK, there are two versions on the market. I assume that Weiss use in the later higher priced DAC204s the 02023 board.

Matt

Can you ask him if the performance is different...Have to say the 301 In my 205 looks ..... aged

 

[greyforest]

I mean the output stage on 2010 and 2023 looks very different....

 

[GoldenSound]

Unfortunately it seems the DAC 204 doesn't have anything close to the objective performance of Weiss' other products. That was a bit surprising and a shame to see.

https://goldensound.audio/2023/09/19/weiss-dac204-measurements/

 

[greyforest]

how is your subjective opinion regarding the sound？

 

[greyforest]

Unfortunately it seems the DAC 204 doesn't have anything close to the objective performance of Weiss' other products. That was a bit surprising and a shame to see.

https://goldensound.audio/2023/09/19/weiss-dac204-measurements/

how is your subjective opinion regarding the sound？

 

[matthia]

Unfortunately it seems the DAC 204 doesn't have anything close to the objective performance of Weiss' other products. That was a bit surprising and a shame to see.

https://goldensound.audio/2023/09/19/weiss-dac204-measurements/

The DAC204 has NOT the ES9038Pro inside as you wrote in your review. Please see post #106 and my post #124.
Maybe you got one with the old 02010 board.

Matt

 

[GoldenSound]

The DAC204 has NOT the ES9038Pro inside as you wrote in your review. Please see post #106 and my post #124.
Maybe you got one with the old 02010 board.

Matt

Ah thanks! Updated the post.

A bit of a shame to see a lower end chip like that in a product costing this much

 

[GoldenSound]

how is your subjective opinion regarding the sound？

It's fine but personally I would take various much cheaper options over it.
If still happy to spend a decent chunk the Ferrum WANDLA was noticeably better

 

[Papaw]

Unfortunately it seems the DAC 204 doesn't have anything close to the objective performance of Weiss' other products. That was a bit surprising and a shame to see.

https://goldensound.audio/2023/09/19/weiss-dac204-measurements/

According to your review. “Dac 204 forgoes much of the proprietary digital processing offered by the 502 and instead runs a more ‘basic’ ESS9038 implementation.”

From my reading, Weiss dacs have their own unique filters and algorithms and I would assume that the 204 follows the same. Such as upsampling to 195khz. It does not make sense not to use their own.

Maybe you misunderstand that while 204 don’t have the DSP capabilities of 50X Series, it does not mean it is just a basic ESS implementation.

 

[Highfive99]

Ah thanks! Updated the post.

A bit of a shame to see a lower end chip like that in a product costing this much

The 204 is about 1/3 of the cost of a 501 for one thing. Lower end chip? lol. The 9018S is a $35usd chip when purchased in quantities. The 9038Pro is $63usd and the specs are only marginally better if they are even audible. I have a 204 and it blows my U18 DDC+X26Pro(both with sr purples) and OCXO into the weeds. That's a great sounding setup but just it can't match the 204.
I don't give a crap about measurements. All I know is my 204 still in the burn in process (and still with the cheapo SMPS) has micro detail, bass, and overall soundstage and dynamics that can't be matched by the X26Pro with it's 2 9038Pro chips, a DDC and master clock.
Another reviewer who spent significant time with the 501 indicated the 204 has the same Weiss sound as if it's coming off a master tape as the 501/502. Which also, BTW, don't have 9038Pro chips either. I don't see anyone bemoaning the fact those $10k+ DAC's don't have 9038Pro chips.
I listen with my ears not scopes or measurements and the 204 is a keeper to my ears. Weiss does better with a 'lesser' chip than others with a more costlier chip(s). There's a reason Daniel Weiss won a grammy for his design work. Luckily I got mine at the original price but unfortunately with the 204 price increase last month I can see where it is now less desirable to some especially if they fret over not having a 9038pro chip.

 

[matthia]

Ah thanks! Updated the post.

A bit of a shame to see a lower end chip like that in a product costing this much

All versions of the 204 have one ES9018 chip inside. The first release of the 204 with the old 02010 board was priced quite ok. Later on they upgraded to the 02023 board
and increased the price by about 30%.

Matt