Douk Audio DAC-Q11--The first USB DAC with Switchable ESS9038Q2M and AK4493?

[JeremyFife]

Utterly pointless, please focus on features that improve sound (adaptive loudness, PEQ?) or just reliability instead.

Obviously, if your strategy is targeting a different market then that's your prerogative.

 

[JeffB1961]

would the fiio K11 R2R be a more realistic method to a "different sound" than switching between chips in this Q11 ?
is the K11 R2R dac actually superior to either of the chips used in the Q11 ?
or is all this splitting hairs or advertising nonsense ???????

 

[Killingbeans]

or is all this splitting hairs or advertising nonsense ???????

This.

People love R2R because it has a romantic aura to it. It's easy to spin some complete marketing BS around it, claiming it's "more analogue"

You'd might get a "different sound" from a really badly designed R2R DACs, but it won't be more "different sound" than what you get from a really badly designed DS DAC.

 

[JeffB1961]

i realize beauty is in the eye of the beholder , but i find the DAC-Q11 to be really nice looking and the remote is a plus .
will i be banned from here if i buy something mostly based on looks rather than superior audiophile performance ? jk
am i correct that it seems like no harm no foul sound wise compared to a su-1 ?

 

[Killingbeans]

will i be banned from here if i buy something mostly based on looks rather than superior audiophile performance ?

Nope. Most of us would be banned then

 

[JeffB1961]

i like what Haskil had to say in post 38 of this thread .
i think i'm gonna order the Q11 tomorrow and scratch the magni unity in favor of the atom amp 2 .

 

[4Real]

Hi, the sound is subjective. We won't say that one is better than the other, just provide two options to select for those who want to try two differernt DAC chips just via the same DAC.

Great product. The chips are definitely different. This Product gives you the ability to switch depending upon how the source is presenting the recording or how the music was recorded. Nice job.

 

[Killingbeans]

The chips are definitely different.

They are definitely designed and made by two different companies.

However, lab grade demineralized water, made using two different filtration systems from two different companies, probably still taste like the same nothing.

 

[Spkrdctr]

Well, I got so excited I put two on order. I was thinking this would stop the "stairstep" action of the DAC. I wanted something that would sound smooth and induce toe tapping while listening to the music. Those stairsteps always sound very rough to me. Nothing beats pants flapping bass and toe tapping rhythm and pacing. Now I am off to do some serious A/B testing of my old Sony boombox versus a $200 sound bar. So much cool stuff to test.......

 

[Killingbeans]

This got me thinking.

What happens if @Douk Audio adds a setting that lets you parallel the output of the two chips instead of switching between them?

The universe implodes instantly? Hell freezes over?

Maybe the "cold/clinical" ESS and the "velvety" AKM will cancel each other out, and all you'll hear will be perfect silence

 

[elliottut]

Can one swap out op amps here? What op amp is used?

 

[Sir Sanders Zingmore]

Can one swap out op amps here? What op amp is used?

Better to focus on upgrading power cables first ….

 

[Brian Hall]

This got me thinking.

What happens if @Douk Audio adds a setting that lets you parallel the output of the two chips instead of switching between them?

The universe implodes instantly? Hell freezes over?

Maybe the "cold/clinical" ESS and the "velvety" AKM will cancel each other out, and all you'll hear will be perfect silence

Douk should have at least reversed the controls so that the AKM switch selected the ESS chip and vice versa.

Wait 3 months after all the back and forth with audiophools saying how chip A is so much better/"velvety" than chip B or chip B is superior to chip A and then reveal the truth about the switches.

 

[Bleib]

output voltage isnt the same which bothers me for obvious reasons

Yeah, people will in almost all cases think the 2v out will sound better

 

[Eah123]

This got me thinking.

What happens if @Douk Audio adds a setting that lets you parallel the output of the two chips instead of switching between them?

The universe implodes instantly? Hell freezes over?

Maybe the "cold/clinical" ESS and the "velvety" AKM will cancel each other out, and all you'll hear will be perfect silence

Since the third mode outputs the ESS to 1 set of RCAs and the AKM to the other set, just plug in left speaker to output 1 and right one to output 2!

 

[Killingbeans]

Could actually be fun to try.

Depending on the design of the output stages it would probably work just fine... and be just as indistinguishable as the individual chips once level matched

 

[Blahzot]

This should be a great tool for people to find out for themselves whether different DAC chips sound different. A much better way to learn rather then being told or even mocked for wanting to know. The griping about this product by some people is pathetic. Hopefully, the outputs are matched though.

 

[EJ3]

I guess it would be good for people who wrongly believe one of those chips "sounds better" than the other.

Well, that is up to them (or me). Perhaps they do & perhaps they don't sound "better" than one another.
I like it because of the input/output options and that their appears to be no waste of space for XLR (which I still do not see the point of unless you are making LOOONG runs (like when I used to run a sound board for live bands in the middle of a club or concert venue).

 

[EJ3]

I appreciate engaging with the community on product designs, however at ASR it's generally believed that two good DAC chips should have no "sound" of their own at all. So perhaps this forum is not the best audience to get feedback on this concept.

If (and that's a big IF) the levels can be matched and they can be proven to be identical in sound, then when one has people over (as I do many times) one can prove to others that the DAC chips CAN sound exactly the same if both are properly implemented.
That could expand our community in a positive way.

 

[Bleib]

waste of space for XLR (which I still do not see the point of unless you are making LOOONG runs

There are amps which perform better balanced..