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Another Discrete R2R Multibit PCM/DSD DAC from China


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On 1/28/2018 at 4:22 PM, rotur said:

Has anyone ordered through Taobao? If so, what was the experience like?

 

It is quite straight forward even just using google translate, they do ship to Australia however it will need to be shipped twice, once to a consolidation location then to your address.

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On ‎27‎/‎01‎/‎2018 at 12:51 PM, rotur said:

Ares owners...did you have to pay any duties when landed in Oz? My calcs puts the amount paid under the threshold of customs...right?

 

On a side note...I see that an enterprising seller on Singapore Ebay is asking SG $1070 for the Ares...almost SG$200 above retail...!

Wow..$ going up on these..

Edited by Porkbuns69
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  • 3 weeks later...

Demo'd the Terminator with pleasing results, many thanks to Stavros who provided the opportunity. Too bad there is a delay until March, same with the Soekris dac1421 which I'd order in a heartbeat if it was instock and shipping.

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3 hours ago, Rob181 said:

More info please...what were your impressions...

I get pleasing results from a slice of Opera cake from Brunetti's...

Sorry I didn't get the chance to do a proper controlled blind A/B test to confirm anything. But for the few hours I had it, its extremely intimate especially vocals and classical piano tracks just sounded so very natural. At first, the differences was not as obvious however after 30m~1h or so of playback is when the Terminator truly started to shine. It was at this point I decided to commit to upgrading to a R2R dac (If this is any indicator of their performance). First time in a long while I have gotten gotten goose bumps while listening to my favourite tracks, it keep me wanting to try just one more song. It reminds me of a well recorded DSD track.

 

After switching back to my NAD M51 felt a little bit too clinical, the sound stage in particular seems artificially inflated and glare especially noticeable with HE6. 

 

I predominately used USB output to Singxer then AES to Terminator to keep things consistent although I have heard most people prefer the i2s hdmi output. I was surprised to see DSD can be played back natively over AES although the i2s over hdmi cable was also connected so either it auto switches inputs or it works over AES. Not that it matters as the entire point of going R2R is for native redbook playback and avoiding the delta-sigma woes, not the mention the lack of DSD sources.

 

I will probably try to get an extended demo once the item is back in stock but very happy with first impressions.

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  • 3 months later...

Guys, I have only started hearing about R2R and wondered what all the fuss is about. 

 

So I am looking to try an R2R out.

 

I noticed there is a fairly affordable Audio GD R2R15 for $370.

 

What do you think about that? Or should I just pay $500 for the more popular R2R11?

 

Honestly there is very little reviews or info on the R2R15 so makes me hesitant to purchase. 

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7 minutes ago, pezzy said:

Anyone with experience on the denafrips ares can comment on the supposedly imbalance of the channels? Where 1 is less dynamic than the other?

I've had mine (Ares) for nearly a year and a half now.

No issues at all.

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I havent bought one yet. Was about to, but came across the posts on superaudiofriends. It's backed up by measurements, but could be a faulty unit. It's suppose to be subtle, and probably only revealed listening via cans. But still a problem nonetheless.

Edit: i'm having quite a hard time deciding which dac to get. the more i read, the more i become sus with all these technical features and listening impressions of users. i have ares, dac1421, and holo spring lv2 in my sights.

ares - good pricing. seems to have a sound signature i'd like. but lacking in a few features which i'm not sure how critical they are. plus that channel imbalance (not sure if real) looms over me.
dac1421 - good pricing. seems to be a neutral dac, where as i prefer a warmer signature.
holo spring - i'm most confident about this as a blind purchase. however the price is a little expensive. not sure if i want to spend 2k on a dac, not to mention on a product with a sub standard usb input where it's recommended i add a DDC for max performance. i know ares would benefit from one as well. but i accept that with the much lower price of ares.

how important is compensation/error correction/or whatever in r2r dacs? is this something someone with average hearing will be able to discern immediately?

 

Edited by pezzy
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  • 3 months later...
On 18/06/2018 at 10:35 PM, pezzy said:

I havent bought one yet. Was about to, but came across the posts on superaudiofriends. It's backed up by measurements, but could be a faulty unit. It's suppose to be subtle, and probably only revealed listening via cans. But still a problem nonetheless.

Edit: i'm having quite a hard time deciding which dac to get. the more i read, the more i become sus with all these technical features and listening impressions of users. i have ares, dac1421, and holo spring lv2 in my sights.

ares - good pricing. seems to have a sound signature i'd like. but lacking in a few features which i'm not sure how critical they are. plus that channel imbalance (not sure if real) looms over me.
dac1421 - good pricing. seems to be a neutral dac, where as i prefer a warmer signature.
holo spring - i'm most confident about this as a blind purchase. however the price is a little expensive. not sure if i want to spend 2k on a dac, not to mention on a product with a sub standard usb input where it's recommended i add a DDC for max performance. i know ares would benefit from one as well. but i accept that with the much lower price of ares.

how important is compensation/error correction/or whatever in r2r dacs? is this something someone with average hearing will be able to discern immediately?

 

I've been using the Pontus for a few weeks (~100 hours) now. No difference of any kind between channels that I've noticed. I'm using a Curious USB cable out of an Antipodes DS streamer/server and am really enjoying the results. This was a blind purchase and one that I have not regretted. I would not mind trying the Singxer DDC option but have heard that for some, the difference is negligible and dependent on the source quality more than anything. Maybe someone would lend me one for a week or two.

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Great price, can't wait to hear how it sounds

 

This is something new to know.

 

"For those who know DSD well, they will know that pure DSD does not allow for volume control. In fact if a DSD dac claims to have volume control then you will know that it’s first converted to PCM internally to achieve this." 

 

Cheers George

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 26/02/2017 at 6:36 PM, Mivera Audio said:

Look at the Chord Dave. $12000 USD, and rave feedback from everyone. If you went by pictures alone, it would be very hard to see the value, Look at that horrible SMPS!!!. We all know SMPS's are terrible for audio!

 

 

Chord Dave.jpeg

it's all about marketing!!

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On 13/10/2018 at 10:52 AM, georgehifi said:

"For those who know DSD well, they will know that pure DSD does not allow for volume control. In fact if a DSD dac claims to have volume control then you will know that it’s first converted to PCM internally to achieve this." 

As I posted earlier, this isn't necessarily true (probably, but not necessarily).   You can have a volume knob on a DSD DAC by:

 

Having a variable gain amplifier in the output stage (ie. an analogue volume control)

 

Controlling the volume of the DSD while it is digital.  Contrary to what is commonly said, this isn't impossible.   It just requires that the data is remodulated, and this is computationally expensive.   It is not something which can be fit inside a DAC chip, and it is not something which could be computed in real-time at any useful quality, until the last decade.

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27 minutes ago, davewantsmoore said:

As I posted earlier, this isn't necessarily true (probably, but not necessarily).   You can have a volume knob on a DSD DAC by:

 

Having a variable gain amplifier in the output stage (ie. an analogue volume control)

 

Controlling the volume of the DSD while it is digital.  Contrary to what is commonly said, this isn't impossible.   It just requires that the data is remodulated, and this is computationally expensive.   It is not something which can be fit inside a DAC chip, and it is not something which could be computed in real-time at any useful quality, until the last decade.

I was thinking something similar… I know of some people who do DSP natively in DSD. If this can be done then surely volume control is possible

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