New Nagra DAC announced at CES - list price $65,000

[DACs_Lover]

I just want to know if there are measurements of megabuck DACs like DCS, MSB. Wadax.

 

[sergeauckland]

Ignorance is not bliss when you are listenIng to sh~tty sound. And from your reply, I know you are.
There’s nothing wrong with saying: “this is the best system I can afford”… instead, you’re saying: “you’re stupid if you spend more on gear,” which is laughable, at best.

Why don’t you borrow some better equipment and try it out?
Oh wait - because that you mean you would have to admit, to yourself, that you can’t afford it.
Anyone who is confident and comfortable with the size of their own dick can admit that.

You listen with your dick?
You certainly talk out of your arse.

S.

 

[Frank Dernie]

I just want to know if there are measurements of megabuck DACs like DCS, MSB. Wadax.

I did a very careful, level matched bling listening test a few years ago, but I didn't measure them.
I had Linn, dCS, Goldmund, Resolution Audio and pro ADC/DAC recorders.
When i compared all the differences I thought would be there were not.
I was surprised, but looking at the specs i should not have been.

The thing which did make a difference was different reconstruction filters, when switchable. This isn't a surprise either because some of them roll off early and others allow artefacts to pass through in the audible range, but they are, of course, simply wrong.

 

[FrantzM]

I just want to know if there are measurements of megabuck DACs like DCS, MSB. Wadax.

There were those (click here) of a $15,000 DAC and it did not fare better than the $9.oo Apple dongle...

 

[Ralph_Cramden]

We had a Nagra tape recorder onboard when I was in the Navy, mid-80s. No idea why, as it was a workhorse for reporters at the time. Played with it a bit - it was a great piece of industrial design, very rugged, with the "feel" of a precision instrument. Now that recording can be done without any moving parts, it's an antique, I suppose. Not sure if this was the version, but it looked something like this:

 

[sergeauckland]

Nagra used to be a totally engineering-led company at the time when Stefan Kudelski ran the company.

Later, it split into two parts, the 'HiFi' part, run by his daughter, went all 'high-end' bollocks, trading on the visual look and reputation of the original, whilst the more engineering side specialised and still does, on video encoding, security, and digital media.

Incidentally, dCS did something similar. In the days of Mike Story, they were a totally engineering-led company, doing some great work on digital audio and custom engineering, for military and civilian purposes. I think at about the time when it was clear that digital audio was becoming a commodity, they also went all 'hifi', with more and more expensive and visually interesting products, whereas previously, they were housed in prosaic 19" rack-mount boxes.

S.

 

[SIY]

Guys, please don't feed trolls. It just makes them grow and multiply.

 

[dtaylo1066]

When a DAC costs as much as a Tesla, I think I would buy the car instead. Which has more tech, design and parts? It is hard for me to imagine any design, parts or unique build elements that could equate to 65K of sonic value for any piece of audio electronics.

 

[ribonucleic]

My first system was an all-in-one Aiwa cassette and AM/FM system. It was horrible in performance.

My Aiwa "walkman" endured for an impressively long time.

That was a sturdy little trooper.

 

[Gringoaudio1]

You listen with your dick?
You certainly talk out of your arse.

S.

Indeed. I’ve never seen such an arrogant and ignorant response here. Shaking my head. Agree with you sergeauckland.

 

[dtaylo1066]

I put a Nagra DAC in my Tesla to upgrade the sound system.

 

[Littlemoule]

Thanks for bringing this thread back to the point. I hate how these conversations always degenerate to useless dribble about how much things cost and how it’s all about measurements, cables don’t make a difference, etc… as a way to make those who can’t afford a product feel better about the size of their own dicks.

The reality is that spending more does indeed result in far better sound — but you have to be careful on what you buy and how much you spend. Audio Note UK is junk. It’s a poor copy of Kondo Japan, which makes stunningly good products.

Nagra is also worth every penny. The sound from the Tube DAC is the closest to analog I’ve ever heard. It’s night and day better than my PS Audio DSD DAC, which itself is no slouch.

And, hate to say it, but digital cables make a HUGE difference to the sound. I feel sorry for those of you living in ignorance - you’re missing out on some incredible musical experiences with your $10 USB cables…


Why Digital Cables Make a Difference
First of all digital data is not transmitted in digital format (ones and zeros as many believe) over a cable, but as an analog signal representing the digital data. As such the signal is not a perfect square wave... in reality it exhibits overshoot, settling time issues, jitter, judder, etc. which are all types of distortion related to the timing of the signal transitions (when changing between the levels representing zero and one).
When transmitting computer data only the recovered 'digital' data is of meaning, but with audio signals the timing of the data is also of significance. The digital clock signal is embedded in the timing of those transitions, and can be directly affected and corrupted by the types of distortion mentioned above. So a digital cable transmitting an audio signal via the SPDIF standard will have the resultant analog signal altered from the original analog signal after D to A conversion from such timing related distortions directly impacting accurate recovery of the digital signal's clock.

Pardon me to revive the old thread. As I recently purchased Nagra DAC myself I stumbled across this. One thing, he isn’t wrong about digital cables though. Digital cables are not actually digital.

 

[SIY]

Pardon me to revive the old thread. As I recently purchased Nagra DAC myself I stumbled across this. One thing, he isn’t wrong about digital cables though. Digital cables are not actually digital.

Uh huh.

 

[threni]

Pardon me to revive the old thread. As I recently purchased Nagra DAC myself I stumbled across this. One thing, he isn’t wrong about digital cables though. Digital cables are not actually digital.

Well of course they're not, otherwise how could they convey that warm, analogue sound?

 

[Dialectic]

Pardon me to revive the old thread. As I recently purchased Nagra DAC myself I stumbled across this. One thing, he isn’t wrong about digital cables though. Digital cables are not actually digital.

 

[Littlemoule]

Well of course they're not, otherwise how could they convey that warm, analogue sound?

Lol but why so mean to me? He is the one who said that not me. So mean to new fellow of the forum lol

 

[Littlemoule]

I mean are you guys telling me that my nagra is a waste of money?

 

[Littlemoule]

And before you guys characterize me as a troll I promise that I’m not I’m just here to learn about what other people use or don’t use that’s all

 

[Talisman]

And before you guys characterize me as a troll I promise that I’m not I’m just here to learn about what other people use or don’t use that’s all

Take a photo with your dac and today's newspaper or I won't give a cent of credit to your words.
I'm on this site because I don't trust words

 

[Littlemoule]

Am I busted? Ok fine I am very close to pulling a buy order on Nagra. Please don’t hurt me I’m just here to learn that’s all. But it does stand how can a $150 DAC be the same as one that’s $20,000+ no?