[Collusion[FIN]]

I've had Soekris dac1541, Chord Mojo&Hugo and Marantz HD-DAC1 in the same setup ( but not simultaneously ). This is a desktop setup with Genelec 8030B monitors and AKG K702 headphones.

Out of those four, Hugo is probably my favourite. Soekris exceeds Hugo's performance in some aspects, it is certainly more dynamic and perhaps has a slighty better soundstage. It also sounded more clean, without any sibilance problems in the treble. But at the same time, to my ears, it has a somewhat unnatural frequency balance. There seems to be some brightness or a bumb on the upper midrange/lower treble. With some busy material including symbals, I could hear distortion in dac1541's treble... cymbals would just crash / abruptly stop. It didn't sound bad per se, but it showed limitations of the technology. Soekris isn't very sweet or euphonic sounding... I wouldn't call it sterile, but if you are looking for something "musical", it may not be your top choice. Otherwise, I'd say give it a go, since it does a lot of things correctly. I felt the headphone output was very adept and the frequency response balance issues were more apparent with my Genelecs.

 

[omniweltall]

I've had Soekris dac1541, Chord Mojo&Hugo and Marantz HD-DAC1 in the same setup ( but not simultaneously ). This is a desktop setup with Genelec 8030B monitors and AKG K702 headphones.

Out of those four, Hugo is probably my favourite. Soekris exceeds Hugo's performance in some aspects, it is certainly more dynamic and perhaps has a slighty better soundstage. It also sounded more clean, without any sibilance problems in the treble. But at the same time, to my ears, it has a somewhat unnatural frequency balance. There seems to be some brightness or a bumb on the upper midrange/lower treble. With some busy material including symbals, I could hear distortion in dac1541's treble... cymbals would just crash / abruptly stop. It didn't sound bad per se, but it showed limitations of the technology. Soekris isn't very sweet or euphonic sounding... I wouldn't call it sterile, but if you are looking for something "musical", it may not be your top choice. Otherwise, I'd say give it a go, since it does a lot of things correctly. I felt the headphone output was very adept and the frequency response balance issues were more apparent with my Genelecs.

I really like Soekris' sound. Clean and clear with good soundstage/imaging,

I haven't heard the Marantz. So, out of the 3, Hugo is very easily the one I dislike the most. Never liked it since it came out. I actually prefer Mojo's tonality to Hugo, although Hugo does have more air than Mojo. Was not immpressed by the Mojo too. That's why I sold it quickly after I bought it. Hugo 2 is better than both of them. But at that price, I would take the Spring dac easily.

I'm gonna keep listening to the Soekris for now. So far it is a very impressive dac, better than I expected. This is a very revealing dac with nice layering and pinpoint accuracy. I can imagine it can keep up with complex passages better than my mimby. Very different tonality though. Smart kid (Soekris) vs fun kid (mimby). But I can see the Soekris is at a different playing field than mimby. Perhaps the Gumby's level.

Anyone can compare this to the Gumby?

 

[LocalMotion]

Aloha everyone.

Anyone been able to compare a Soekris DAC (preferably 1321) to a Maverick D2?

I currently own the Maverick D2 with Tesla tube and Sparkos op-amps, but looking to upgrade to the 1321

 

[Takeanidea]

I have finally put the review up on headfi and I liked the Soekris a lot. Long live ladder tech!

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/so...nitude-dac-headamp.23117/reviews#review-20342

 

[airborne11b]

I am attempting a build using a dam1941. I would prefer to use an interface other than the one offered by soekris. I would like to retain all of the functionality, i.e. volume control/indication, filter selection/indication, bitrate indication, etc. I have looked at the "dimdim ARdam lite" and the "AudioZen AZOLED" kits but nobody has stock of these. Anyone else hear or know of anything else that has similar functionality?

 

[vijayravisekar]

Looking for a used 1521 or a 1421

 

[robo24]

Recently got used both a 1421 and an ARES 1. Been listening to the 1421 and the ARES now which just arrived.

The ARES is getting sold. While very good, the 1421 just has more life to it. It was clear on some acoustic guitar. It was less prominent and a bit muddy sounding in comparison. I've seen others state the 1421 is more detailed and that's what I experienced too. I was thinking I'd get the Pontus if I loved the ARES, but after reading some other comments it seems like the 1421/1541 are still quite a bit better and more detailed. I was even testing the ARES balanced, but there was no difference I could hear vs single ended. This was with the iFi Pro iCAN, which allows 3 RCA and 1 balanced input and makes for pretty easy comparisons.

Without spending a ridiculous amount more, this feels like end game for now. Though if Soekris makes something higher end I'd probably buy it.

 

[adeadcrab]

^ Good review of these R2R options.

I'm thinking of getting a 1421 in the next few weeks.

 

[robo24]

I had moved up from the Drop Airist and on first listen there wasn't a lot of different. Spent a day with the 1421 and back to the Airist and it was no contest. The Airist was just muddy in comparison, and a bit warmer (which I liked).

 

[adeadcrab]

IMO the warmth shouldn't ideally come from a DAC. There are a million ways to warm up the signal to your ears (Burson and others make both warm and neutral opamps for rolling in amps or preamps, tube amps and tube rolling, earpads, headphones themselves etc). You can add warmth if your headphones are a little fatiguing but you can't really take away that warmth that easily.

 

[robo24]

I agree. It was just the most noticeable aspect of the Airist, which I thought greatly improved the sterile 789 I was using it with.

 

[kostas6a3]

I'm convinced and I'm going to replace my DAC Audiolab M-DAC+ with 1421. I hope it's the right move.

 

[adeadcrab]

I'm convinced and I'm going to replace my DAC Audiolab M-DAC+ with 1421. I hope it's the right move.

Will let you know. My 1421 should be arriving this week.

 

[kostas6a3]

Will let you know. My 1421 should be arriving this week.

Any news from 1421? I also found a 1101 at a good price. I read good reviews for that too. I care about the power supply, he says 3W but how many A's is it?

 

[adeadcrab]

Any news from 1421? I also found a 1101 at a good price. I read good reviews for that too. I care about the power supply, he says 3W but how many A's is it?

Been in transit for 26 days
I knew I should have ordered the express option, but the regular shipping was still 40 euros so I thought it was somewhat speedy. Non-express right now is a long wait. Hoping this week or next I get to check it out!