DAC for Piano

[scriabin]

In the “attractively priced“ category let us not forget the recently released SONCOZ QXA1, designed by our fellow ASR member @Ben1987, of Khadas Tone Board fame (another high-performing, moderately priced DAC that proved a wild commercial success).

Prior to this latest DAC design, @Ben1987 had already distinguished himself by achieving top rankiNg measurements and “recommended by @amirm“ status in the ASR reviews of the —slightly higher priced— SGD1 and SGA1 models.

Besides strong performance, Soncoz products have the advantage, in my view, of a premium look for their price range.

Thank you.

 

[JayGilb]

No EQ or room correction.

 

[ahofer]

Thank you.

Happy Scriabin’s Birthday, @scriabin !

 

[FrantzM]

Hi
@scriabin

I appreciate the candor and sincerity. I have posted this often in this forum. I was about 10 years ago, a proud subjectivist audiophile.. I know very much where you are coming from. The shock, and joy, of my audiophile life, is the current system that I have : it is miles better than anything that I had before when in my book , a decent loudspeaker started north of $15,000.oo ... My current audio system would cost someone who emulates it about $2500. It is in a small dedicated room (3.2 x 5 x 2.8 . WxLxH) . it is full range covering 20 to 20 KHz following the Harman curve ... Speakers are $600/pair, 2 subwoofers for $500/pair, an AVR for $800(yes an AVR, I , now believe in AVR) and a DSP for $250. Full range , full scale (capable of more than 110 dB at the LP, yes I measured it). I may have to improve it but have been reluctant to....

Stay here, learn, If your budget was at one point $5000.oo for a DAC, following Science here, at ASR, you could end up with a supreme SOTA Audio system ...

High Performance Audio doesn't have to cost a lot. This is the truth, our reality here at ASR. It requires adherence to, and respect of, Science and research. The level of audio knowledge here , of general Knowledge is high. They are ready, almost eager to help.

Stay here, ask questions, follow the advices . It may take some time but you will end with a superlative Audio System better and that for a small fraction of your provisionary budget. Small fraction. Yep SOTA. Full range, any kind of music Audio system.

Just for laugh and for your information, try to find out if with knowledge removed (try to have someone switch it for you , not telling you what is playing), see if you can readily hear the differences between whatever DAC you currently have and this DAC click here . Seriously.

Peace.

 

[neg]

I am new to this forum. I listen primarily to classical piano music. I listen to CD's only no streaming. I have been researching DAC's for about 6 months and reviews focus primarily on streaming. What DAC (s) would you recommend I research? Price range below $5000. Thank you.

I recommend you try the basic smsl su9pro. Set it to 0dB volume to make sure you are not overloading xlr output. It's very compact, cheap, extremely resolving, not mushy at all and subjective sonic experience is super enjoyable. Despite the fact that all they say that DACs do not have sound, I have a different experience. However, I also have the experience that not all good devices are expensive. Not all expensive devices are good.

I also had the misfortune to listen to holo audio may kte that you mentioned here. For my taste, all who praise him are liars. It's very, very boring and uninvolving. I don't understand what's wrong with it, it's not dirty like many r2r's but I just wanted to turn it off. Many r2r's sound like a cassette deck. I call it dirty sounding. This one isn't like that. However, there is something wrong with the sound. You may not believe me, but I am sure you can certainly find similar reviews on the web. It's extremely unengaging.

Just try to compare it. I am sure you can confirm what I said.