I have the Linn Selekt DSM mono organic DAC in my system, that I paid tad more than 15K. I settled on that after trying the T+A DAC 200 and the mola mola Tambaqui.. I have had the Linn for a little less than a year and been very happy with the rest of the system. Recently I came across the reviews of DAC here and ended up getting the SMSL SU-10 just to experiment. I have to admit, in some cases this DAC seems to sound better than the Linn when I select certain color filters of sound in the SMSL.. less fatiguing but at the same time very clear.. Its really impressive how beautiful this SMSL sounds with the rest of my system for such a reasonable price. Just wanted to share my experience.. The Linn has a fantastic interface and also dead quiet but I am still clutching at straws and I am at a loss..
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Hi-end DAC
- Thread starter rman9
- Start date
Well they are ultimately just converters.
Keith
Keith
Your loss was Linn's gain.
But seriously...
Once you get a glimpse behind the curtain, and it becomes clear what is likely to matter, like the speaker and the room, it becomes less of a crapshoot and far less expensive to get great sound.
Not everyone could be so honest, so thank you for sharing the experience
You are not the first one to experience this. I did the same, without spending such money. At least you needed a SMSL SU-10 to find out. I had even cheaper (much cheaper) DAC's that showed me that sound is no matter of price, but more a personal thing.
Sell it to someone who hasn't realized what you have and be happy that you know better now.
Some really can sound different of course, those that add audible distortion, but the majority of properly engineered dacs are more or less identical, listeners believe they hear differences because they compare without any controls.
Keith
You pay a lot for the aesthetics of the Linn Selekt and integration into a single box. Assembled in UK is also a big jump.
The Organik DAC is a FPGA based design so it may have some sort of sound signature to it. It is likely to have the type of performance seen from something like the Marantz SA-10, which means it may not fully be different from the SMSL in blind testing.
If you are in the U.S., I would consider sending the unit to Amir to test. You may coordinate with him to expedite the turnaround time. It may be humbling if the performance is poor or even cause a drop in your resale value, but the old DAC was good with excellent rolloff at the Nyquist
www.audiosciencereview.com
If Linn has better measurements with Organik over Katalyst, it would still offer premium sound.
The Organik DAC is a FPGA based design so it may have some sort of sound signature to it. It is likely to have the type of performance seen from something like the Marantz SA-10, which means it may not fully be different from the SMSL in blind testing.
If you are in the U.S., I would consider sending the unit to Amir to test. You may coordinate with him to expedite the turnaround time. It may be humbling if the performance is poor or even cause a drop in your resale value, but the old DAC was good with excellent rolloff at the Nyquist
Review and Measurements of Linn Akurate DSM DAC/Streamer
This is a (performance) review and detailed measurements of the Linn Akurate DSM DAC and networked streamer. A local member kindly brought it over to our house to measure. It retails for .... get ready for it... USD $10,250. Yes, we are moving up in the world! Linn is a Scottish company that...
www.audiosciencereview.com
If Linn has better measurements with Organik over Katalyst, it would still offer premium sound.
I mean $15k could get you 7 pairs of 705Ps if you were lucky enough with deals? Now that's the most impressive thing I personally ever heard, just too bad nobody sells them in my country without a huge markup.
