R2R RIP or Resurrection?

[Jimmyblues1959]

In some cases it is even worse; you can pay a fortune and get a negative return (in terms of fidelity at least).

It all depends on how you define "return". Beyond a certain expenditure the "return" has a strong tendency to bifurcate along different axes and either stay at zero or go negative along the axis of audio fidelity

Like I said it's subjective.

 

[goodvibes]

Thanks for the link, I’ve come across Audiosciencereview and respect their rigorous approach

It's not about type nut execution. A lot of R2R are now favored by hobbyists with NOS (non over sampling) input settings. If that's how they sound best, they got the upsampling wrong, LOL. Problem with really good r2r is that it's expensive to do it at it's best with symmetrical upsampling and a 5 or 6 pole post filter etc.

That said, my favorite DACs are the past 2 top Naim streamers but they're astronomically priced. As tech advances the differences become fleeting and there's some great D/S chips that do most of the leg work onboard. I particularly like the current ESS pro chips as the have a solidity about them when correctly implemented. I've heard them sound meh or even crappy in some costly kit that measured well but you could say that about any chipset.

 

[Jimmyblues1959]

It's not about type nut execution. A lot of R2R are now favored by hobbyists with NOS (non over sampling) input settings. If that's how they sound best, they got the upsampling wrong, LOL. Problem with really good r2r is that it's expensive to do it at it's best with symmetrical upsampling and a 5 or 6 pole post filter etc.

That said, my favorite DACs are the past 2 top Naim streamers but they're astronomically priced. As tech advances the differences become fleeting and there's some great D/S chips that do most of the leg work onboard. I particularly like the current ESS pro chips as the have a solidity about them when correctly implemented. I've heard them sound meh or even crappy in some costly kit that measured well but you could say that about any chipset.

I've never spent much on digital to analogue converters. That is, relatively speaking, with regard to what can be a very expensive hobby. My foray into digital front ends began in the early 1990's with a Rotel RCD 855 used as a transport with a few different dac's that were popular at the time: a PS Audio Digital Link, a Meridian 203, and later an Anodyne Adapt Hybrid dac manufactured by a man named Scott Nixon. The Adapt was a large hybrid dac based on Burr Brown chips, and to this day remains one of the most pleasant sounding dac's I have heard.

I sold it long ago back in my gear chasing days but always wished that I had kept it. The only dac's I use these days are an older Audio By VanAlstine Insight R2R based dac from the late 2000's, an original version iFi Zen Dac Signature, and a first generation Schiit Modius. I'd like to tell you that I can easily discern between these three dac's, but I can't.

I still prefer the sound of my vintage Naim CDi from 1992, which for whatever reason just sounds more natural.

 

[JamoBroGuy]

Fellas, I’d recommend taking this discussion elsewhere. It’s generally frowned upon to talk about subjective stuff in a science forum.

 

[redrol]

My take is R2R is old tech that has been FAR surpassed. I see Delta Sigma as being better technically and soundwise. Objectively it is better.

 

[goodvibes]

I've never spent much on digital to analogue converters. That is, relatively speaking, with regard to what can be a very expensive hobby. My foray into digital front ends began in the early 1990's with a Rotel RCD 855 used as a transport with a few different dac's that were popular at the time: a PS Audio Digital Link, a Meridian 203, and later an Anodyne Adapt Hybrid dac manufactured by a man named Scott Nixon. The Adapt was a large hybrid dac based on Burr Brown chips, and to this day remains one of the most pleasant sounding dac's I have heard.

I sold it long ago back in my gear chasing days but always wished that I had kept it. The only dac's I use these days are an older Audio By VanAlstine Insight R2R based dac from the late 2000's, an original version iFi Zen Dac Signature, and a first generation Schiit Modius. I'd like to tell you that I can easily discern between these three dac's, but I can't.

I still prefer the sound of my vintage Naim CDi from 1992, which for whatever reason just sounds more natural.

Yup. That one used an TDA1541 and Naim were the first people to address transport and other forms of induced jitter. Transport seemed to matter more than the DAC back then and it's silly that 50 ohm dig cables (still) sound so different.

I just read this was the science forum above. Oops. Will stop my opinions. Sorry guys, I clicked into the topic without checking the category.

 

[bigshot]

I’m pretty sure Bigshot owns a DAC that costs significantly more.

I have an Oppo HA-1, but I don’t use it because my cans don’t require amping and the outputs of my Macs are already transparent.

 

[Jimmyblues1959]

Fellas, I’d recommend taking this discussion elsewhere. It’s generally frowned upon to talk about subjective stuff in a science forum.

Sorry about that!