[hpamdr]

2 ladder vs 4 ladder means SE vs full Balanced design.

Mickey is exactly right !

For 2541: New design makes resistor net to auto compensate which lead to less distortion and cost reduction. The need to have balanced output is just handled by the output buffer and not by complete balanced design. Cost of 2541 reduced makes also better price for customers (not always the case in this market)

 

[sajunky]

2 ladder vs 4 ladder means SE vs full Balanced design.

Mickey is exactly right !

Denafrips users claim that two ladders (one per channel) in the Ares give fully balanced design. They may have a point, as there is no active buffer that would convert SE output to the balanced. On the other side there is no significant physical difference in the resistor layout. Sorens may have a comment on this, he is a designer, not a guy behind marketing force.

 

[adydula]

DAM is for DIYer or for DAC builder which use Soekris board. The cost is the main advantage but you have to build yourself case, power, and output buffer. This can be a tricky task to be efficient. You can also put your believe with large power transformer or separate power with many capacitor and discrete output or whatever.

I did many test with 2541 and I think that Soren did a good job being very pragmatic and efficient (even more than with 1941). Friends who are hifi dealer always complain about not matching with audiophile needs/believe about large case design, better screen, not heavy enough ... to be sold 5 to 10 time more. Most of their job is not to give good advise but to bias listening to makes customer chose component with high margin.

OMG, well said.
Lots of gear that does cost alot more do provide sonic excellence.
The point here is so do a lot less expensive devices......

:>)

 

[Daiyama]

Hi there,
I finally joined the 2541 club.
My first R2R. I upgraded from a Topping D70 and will use the DAC with my Cayin HA-3A and iHA-6 and my Stax arm consisting of a highamp Antares + SR-009/L700MKII.
From the whole design philosophy it is a great addition to my RME-ADI DAC FS (1st Gen) which I now use for my secondary system.
So far I still have to figure out a smooth intergration into my Roon/HQPlayer system.
But what I hear I really like.
Crazy detailed but not stressfull (maybe some would call this smooth) and for me a more spacious sound compared to the D70.
Still contemplating if I should play with DIY filters or if I should leave this to HQP.

 

[Basco]

Hi there,
I finally joined the 2541 club.
My first R2R. I upgraded from a Topping D70 and will use the DAC with my Cayin HA-3A and iHA-6 and my Stax arm consisting of a highamp Antares + SR-009/L700MKII.
From the whole design philosophy it is a great addition to my RME-ADI DAC FS (1st Gen) which I now use for my secondary system.
So far I still have to figure out a smooth intergration into my Roon/HQPlayer system.
But what I hear I really like.
Crazy detailed but not stressfull (maybe some would call this smooth) and for me a more spacious sound compared to the D70.
Still contemplating if I should play with DIY filters or if I should leave this to HQP.

Hey, great to hear and welcome to the club

As for the filters for me, they don’t really work and have just very minor (almost imaginary) effects, even though I have resolving headphones.

Maybe to really hear a difference you have to listen to white or gray noise. Other than that, I really like the soundstage and the smoothness that you mentioned, and for my kind of music it works really well too.

Back when I was in my DAC selection process I choose the DAC2541 over digital ESS (Guatard X26 Pro) and AK4499 (VMV D2) and would stick with R2R DACs for their musicality.

 

[gumisb]

Hi there,
I finally joined the 2541 club.
My first R2R. I upgraded from a Topping D70 and will use the DAC with my Cayin HA-3A and iHA-6 and my Stax arm consisting of a highamp Antares + SR-009/L700MKII.
From the whole design philosophy it is a great addition to my RME-ADI DAC FS (1st Gen) which I now use for my secondary system.
So far I still have to figure out a smooth intergration into my Roon/HQPlayer system.
But what I hear I really like.
Crazy detailed but not stressfull (maybe some would call this smooth) and for me a more spacious sound compared to the D70.
Still contemplating if I should play with DIY filters or if I should leave this to HQP.

DAC2541 does not support DIY filters.

 

[Basco]

DAC2541 does not support DIY filters.

I thought so also in the beginning but then I found a guide at diyAudio where people are giving advise how to do "Filter brewing for the Soekris R2R" but I never tried as it is a somewhat technical and I didn't understand it throughout. Not sure though If it's also possible for a MacBook?

​

 

[gumisb]

As you can see below DIY filters are not for DAC2541. For others DACs no problem at all, and yes there could be significant difference in sound according to chosen filter.

I did the same comment to Søren many months ago (almost a year) about this issues on dac 2541.
Response was : "The dac2541 do not support custom filters yet, it will probably come at some point...."

To reach this point, first we need to have a new firmware but nothing new in download folder......
Søren also was working on new filter on his own but no news either...
Ask about support and report if you have news about firmware and filters ... 'Soren Kristensen' info@soekris.dk he respond

Fortunatelly i still have a 1541 which support filter flashing ! (i use 1541 (usb) with my main SS amp and 2541 (AES) with tube headphone amp and standard black filter is not bad at all)

Link

 

[Basco]

…there could be significant difference in sound according to chosen filter.
Link

What is your finding with the available reconstruction filters for the DAC2541 do they make a difference at all between Red/Orange/Green for you?

Maybe I messed something up when saving the volume level while pressing the „FILTER“ button for 4 seconds?

 

[gumisb]

Dac2541 was on my radar for its calibration feature until I notice that I couldn't replace original filters with DIY. Build-in filters appear be similar or identical to filters from other Soekris products family and are quite similar in sounding. When I wrote that difference could be significant I meant filters made by the community vs the factory.

 

[adydula]

Listening to Creedence "The Complete Studio Albums" with the Soekris 2541 into a Nitsch Piety and Rad 0's..
Simply amazing!!

9.9999 out of a 10....

Wonderful Tone, Soundstage is Huge...

Marvelous band for those times!!

Alex

 

[adeadcrab]

Listening to Creedence "The Complete Studio Albums" with the Soekris 2541 into a Nitsch Piety and Rad 0's..
Simply amazing!!

9.9999 out of a 10....

Wonderful Tone, Soundstage is Huge...

Marvelous band for those times!!

Alex

Have you tried the 1421 / 1541?

 

[adydula]

Have you tried the 1421 / 1541?

Nope...have several other dacs, this one is the only Soekris.

 

[KEKPOG]

In your case, IMO will go for a Gustard R26 next. Not only does it sound very good, It has also a good quality built in streamer as a plus (can cut down your chain, no more ddc). Look in to it. It has a thread in here (2 actually).

How does the 2541 compare to R26 in sonic performance? Are they at the same bracket or one is an upgrade to one another?

 

[Basco]

I had the Gustard in audition back then when I was looking for a suitable DAC together with my solid state Violectric V280.

I found the X26 too narrow and less 3-dimensional, kind of ‚flat’ The DAC2541 was definitely the more musical one with a bit less mid-bass, but a better sub-bass imo. It has that special musically, less neutral presentation that allures you in music.