Rank the DACs you have tried

[Strayngs]

1. Rockna Wavelight
2. Elac DDP-2
3. Elac Discovery Music Server (DS-S101-G)
4. M2Tech Young MK 2
5. Yulong DA9
6. Woo Audo WA7 (Mk 2)
7. Chord Mojo

 

[Marutks]

1. Holo Spring 3 KTE
2. Topping D90

 

[ChrisMcNeil]

Does DIY count?

….only listing DACs I have owned or currently own and have done extensive A-B listening tests to contrast with other DACs

1. DIY NOS AD1865 DAC with Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W with Ian Canada ConditionerPi Ultracapacitor enhanced power on Ian Canada StationPi + FifoPI + ReclockPi with Accusilicon AS338 clocks to i2s-PCM board as front end, 62r passive IV, passive LC filter and separate DIY discrete jfet gain stage. Powered with “Studer 900” LRPS’s with 150F+ Ultracapacitors in parallel for each of 3 power supplies to DAC chip

2. DIY NOS AD1865 DAC with same front end as #1 except also Transport Pi i2s over HDMI to HDMI Receiver to HC74 series logic front end, 200r passive IV, passive C filter and no gain stage. DAC powered by 3x 5V of LTO batteries (2 in series per)

3. Chord Mojo

4. DIY NOS TDA1387 DAC with Ultracapacitor + LRPS 5V power, 2700r IV, LCLC passive filter, and no gain stage (fed by Ian Canada stack as per 1&2 but over optical out from TransportPi to ReceiverPi to i2S in)

5. Allo Boss 1.2 with 5V LRPS, Allo relay attenuator
6. Schiit Modi 3
7. Schiit Modi 2 Uber
8. HiFiberry DAC + Pro

I’m just a few years into the hobby and like seeing what I can achieve DIY. I feel I need some higher end off the shelf DACs for better benchmarking, at a minimum, at this point, though, so this thread is very useful.

The next stage on the DIY front end is likely even better clocking, probably with one of Andrea Mori’s solutions. The next stage DIY DAC will be guided by experimenting with LTO batteries in parallel with Ultracapacitors, or, perhaps, pure Ultracapacitor solution, possibly with MOSFET switches alternating between 2 UC banks … either way, for total isolation from the “grid”.I have a DIY build based on TDA1541a in the works to compare with the AD1865 and want to next progress to my own FPGA programming plus discrete D2A conversion…As well as trying the best I can do with Delta Sigma based conversion to contrast.

 

[vulup]

Bricasti M1 Series 2 /w M5 Endpoint (via AES)
Aqua Acoustics La Scala Op.
Bricasti M3 /w M5 Endpoint (via AES)
Bricasti M3 /w internal streamer
COS D2
Hugo TT2
Soekris Dac2541
Aqua Acoustic S3 La Voce
COS H1
RME ADI-2
Soekris dac1451
Holo Audio Cyan (og)

Hard to list (from top to bottom) as sone are completely different from others, especially the NOS R2R ladder DACs from Aqua Acoustic.

 

[HalloweenJack23]

Here’s mine, entirely subjective and what resonates with my tastes, rather than what is the absolute “best” DAC :

1) Chord Hugo / TT / Benchmark Dac3 - Hard to choose! Great subjective resolution & insight in all of them, but not ‘in your face’, organic, superb tone, superb dynamics. All offer an absolute steal on the used market now for either. I’d place TT about 10% better overall than Hugo. Technically TT2 is better, but I find the Hugo/TT more relaxing, organic & involving overall. Dac3 is slightly better balanced top to bottom for me, and more ‘solid’ in terms of its performance, less apparent depth than the Chords, but (possibly…) more accurate. Dac3’s bass depth and sense of tonal weight (i.e. grand piano!) in particular is incredible. I love them all frankly! Highly subjective at this level.

2) Chord Hugo TT2 - Superb resolution and involvement. Gorgeous build & looks. Upgradeable with the M-Scaler, at a price… Subjectively, not quite as enjoyable overall to me as those at no.1.

3) Chord Hugo 2 - Astonishing insight for a portable dac. Slightly “bright” (VERY slightly) to my ears sometimes, but highly involving and nuanced. Superb sense of acoustic space and depth.

4) Naim DAC - Hugely enjoyable listen, really gets into the groove when the music calls for it. Great soul & involvement. Not as good as the Chord DACs on Classical or Soundtracks, but more fun on Rock, Indie, Dance etc. A bargain in the used market. Better still - it is said - with an external Naim PSU… but they always say that

5a) Marantz HD-DAC1 - Fabulously involving listen on all genres. Reminds me of high quality vinyl. Can relax into the music. Not as detailed as newer DACs, but easier on badly mastered CDs. I still rate this highly, and love the hefty build quality and design.

5b) Naim DAC-V1 - 80% of the Naim DACs performance, with a superb headphone stage too. If you can find one with a display that hasn’t faded, still a superb headphone amp and DAC. Great straight into a power amp too. Lovely build.

6) Chord Mojo - Still an astonishing music maker, particularly for its size and price. Just a “little” too warm for my tastes, but superb overall.

7) RME ADI-2 - Very detailed and a hugely impressive range of features. However I seldom found myself really involved with the music in the same way the DACs listed above did. Left me feeling somewhat detached from the music.

8) Audiolab M-Dac - Lots of detail, and a great user interface. Sadly I found it too analytical at the expense of musical enjoyment. And the less said about the business ethics of its designer the better…..

 

[BrucYSN]

Here’s mine, entirely subjective and what resonates with my tastes, rather than what is the absolute “best” DAC :

1) Chord Hugo / TT / Benchmark Dac3 - Hard to choose! Great subjective resolution & insight in all of them, but not ‘in your face’, organic, superb tone, superb dynamics. All offer an absolute steal on the used market now for either. I’d place TT about 10% better overall than Hugo. Technically TT2 is better, but I find the Hugo/TT more relaxing, organic & involving overall. Dac3 is slightly better balanced top to bottom for me, and more ‘solid’ in terms of its performance, less apparent depth than the Chords, but (possibly…) more accurate. Dac3’s bass depth and sense of tonal weight (i.e. grand piano!) in particular is incredible. I love them all frankly! Highly subjective at this level.

2) Chord Hugo TT2 - Superb resolution and involvement. Gorgeous build & looks. Upgradeable with the M-Scaler, at a price… Subjectively, not quite as enjoyable overall to me as those at no.1.

3) Chord Hugo 2 - Astonishing insight for a portable dac. Slightly “bright” (VERY slightly) to my ears sometimes, but highly involving and nuanced. Superb sense of acoustic space and depth.

4) Naim DAC - Hugely enjoyable listen, really gets into the groove when the music calls for it. Great soul & involvement. Not as good as the Chord DACs on Classical or Soundtracks, but more fun on Rock, Indie, Dance etc. A bargain in the used market. Better still - it is said - with an external Naim PSU… but they always say that

5a) Marantz HD-DAC1 - Fabulously involving listen on all genres. Reminds me of high quality vinyl. Can relax into the music. Not as detailed as newer DACs, but easier on badly mastered CDs. I still rate this highly, and love the hefty build quality and design.

5b) Naim DAC-V1 - 80% of the Naim DACs performance, with a superb headphone stage too. If you can find one with a display that hasn’t faded, still a superb headphone amp and DAC. Great straight into a power amp too. Lovely build.

6) Chord Mojo - Still an astonishing music maker, particularly for its size and price. Just a “little” too warm for my tastes, but superb overall.

7) RME ADI-2 - Very detailed and a hugely impressive range of features. However I seldom found myself really involved with the music in the same way the DACs listed above did. Left me feeling somewhat detached from the music.

8) Audiolab M-Dac - Lots of detail, and a great user interface. Sadly I found it too analytical at the expense of musical enjoyment. And the less said about the business ethics of its designer the better…..

Hi i was wondering if going from hugo 2 to DAC3 would be enough of an upgrade that worth the trouble? Getting an used WA33 next week to use with SUS and Utopia2 , was thinking about a more neutral , revealing and fast sounding DAC to coupe with the tube amp. Given the sheer size of the amp, a compact one would be much prefered hence the consideration among hugo2/tt2/dac3, or any other suggestions are all greatly appreciated. Cheers~

 

[chesebert]

In order of preference - not precise obviously and based on auditory memory which is not reliable.

Tier 1 Outstanding
PBD MPD8
PBD Merlot (feeding with PBD streamer via St Optical)
Linn Klimax Organik with Utopik PSU (new design not the upgraded version)
dCS Vivaldi APEX with clock
Emm Labs DV2 (needs right system otherwise I don’t like it as much as the less expensive dac2x)
Emm Labs dac2xv2
Grimm MU2

Tier 2 Very Good
Linn Akurate Katalyst with Utopik PSU
Linn Klimax DS2
Lampizator Atlantic
dCS Rossini Apex with clock
dCS Bartok Apex

Tier 3 Good
dCS Lina with clock
NewOntech dac7 or dac8
Jeff Rowland Aeris
Sonic Frontier SFD1mk2

Tier 4 I tried but don’t care
Chord Dave
Holo May
Chord Hugo TT2
Denafrips Ares 2
Topping D90

 

[g4ndr1k]

Not all are dedicated DACs; some of them are built-in DACs.

• LAiV Harmony
• Sony WM1ZM2
• EverSolo DMP-A6 ≈ FiiO R7
• iFi xDSD Gryphon
• FiiO Jade Audio J11

Listened briefly to CenGrand and Rockna. They are excellent. I cannot rank them as they are using different amps, so I cannot compare them with mine.

 

[Spawn300Z]

Hi i was wondering if going from hugo 2 to DAC3 would be enough of an upgrade that worth the trouble? Getting a used WA33 next week to use with SUS and Utopia2 , was thinking about a more neutral , revealing and fast sounding DAC to coupe with the tube amp. Given the sheer size of the amp, a compact one would be much prefered hence the consideration among hugo2/tt2/dac3, or any other suggestions are all greatly appreciated. Cheers~

I would keep your Hugo 2 until you’re ready for a next tier DAC. This way you can still use your Utopia on the Go.

 

[Burkebang]

Lite Audio DAC-38 2x PCM1704U-K. As good as it gets.
Audio GD R2r 11. Fantastic.
Audio GD NFB-15. After 10 years it stilll wipes out new budget oriented DACs. It will soon be tested against a SMSL RAW-MDA1, I have high hopes for that one

 

[Redwingnine]

1. PS Ausio Direct Stream Digital MK1 with Sunlight FW: Incredible sound, espcially at the current price for used. Currently have it paired with a Aurouasound HEADA headphone amp. A great combination.
2. Chord Hugo TT. Although technically not as advanced as the Chord Hugo TT2, to me, it just sounds more organic, more natural compared to the TT2. Just one's opinion.

 

[jjb3]

Includes units that has DAC inside:

Chord TT2
Chord Hugo 2
iBasso DX340
Chord Mojo 2
Cayin N7
Auralic Vega
Bryston BDA 2
Chord Mojo
Chord Hugo