Recent content by srkbear

Thanks! I should have clarified that I wasn’t responding to the thread topic of your post, I was just curious what unit you had, and what you’ve encountered with the multichannel button! Sorry I’m terrible about paying attention to the topic at hand…

I’ve always been curious about this outfit—I’ve seen a number of their digital audio products pop up on Shenzhen periodically that always seem to use top-notch components and have comparable measurements to competitors such as Topping and SMSL. This latest is an integrated AKM4499EX...

Which unit are you using, the one that outputs S/PDIF or I/S? Are you utilizing SACD for this purpose? Do you also find that you have to have the multichannel switch engaged to obtain the hi res signal?

Ba dum chik!

Do you still feel the same way about this? The majority of the most SOTA digital audio devices that have been measured and lauded here are from Chinese manufacturers. What about China, per your sweeping generalization, makes it not worthy of consideration in “audiophile” circles, assuming that...

I’m inclined to agree, but with some exceptions, when it comes to pure bass boost in the absence of tuning other frequencies. I have Roon’s DSP engine at my disposal, along with an ASP “xBass” four-setting analog bass enhancement on my iFi Pro iCAN Signature amp (which I bought primarily for the...

Beware of Poe’s Law in my post—all cables sound the same. Irrespective of conductor. And cost.

I’ve had great success with the analog bass boost on my amp. It has no impact on the overall gain and I’ve experienced no clipping at all. I use Roon’s DSP PEQ when I need to, but the biggest issue I have with it is that no matter what adjustments I make, if I don’t decrease the global gain I...

Thanks for this terrific review! So should I assume that the PEQ is digital and not applied after the conversion? Sorry if I missed the explanation in your review but I’m still unclear on this. To me it would be worlds better if the EQ was at the analog stage, instead of mucking with the digital...

It may be a pride of ownership product, but I know of no other market or commodity where the most exclusive and luxurious option available was able to achieve such eminence without representing the pinnacle of quality at every imaginable criteria. You buy Armani couture, it’s going to reek of...

Maybe it’s just me but in this day and age, where everything is transparent at this point, cost tops my list of criteria when assigning a rating to a DAC. Given that our Chinese friends are cranking out the best you can buy for a few hundred bucks, I can’t even justify this box of screws for the...

I own these, along with the Edition XS, the HE1000se and and HE1000 Stealth. I traded in my Arya Stealths for the latter utilizing Hifiman’s ridiculously reasonable trade in policy—they’ll accept any lower-priced option for the higher-priced item of your choice for just the cost of outbound...

I think it’s awfully interesting how Topping, SMSL et al have been eschewing MQA of late. The cynic in me wonders how beholden to Tidal these DAC manufacturers are—is it a coincidence that now that Tidal has gone FLAC MQA is going by the wayside as well, or is it just because MQA went belly up?

I think the EQ is quite a thing with this unit! I’ve been aching for a DAC that has some simple tone modeling other than the RME—I already have an amp and don’t need a second one. What I can’t seem to confirm is whether this is a DSP or ASP EQ—if it’s the latter I’m hoping that they’ll implement...

Point taken about being off-topic. I admit that I didn’t sufficiently review the entire thread, my apologies.