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R2R DACs .. Comeback?

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four PCM1704 multibit DAC chips.

skyfiaudio.com

Mark Levinson No.360s DAC - 24-Bit, Quad Multibit, Burr-Brown PCM1704's

This unit was upgraded by Mark Levinson to the greatest and best specification 360s at a substantial cost. While it was a very expensive upgrade, it was well worth the price and benefited greatly by the addition of four PCM1704 multibit DAC chips. It represents the pinnacle of non Hi-Res...
skyfiaudio.com

I'd rather have this than any current production R2R DACs.

I'd have to use coax instead of USB to connect to my Raspberry Pi Roon Endpoint, but should work.
 
Delta Sigma DACs were widely used when 1-bit DACs became a real thing. But the multibit (R2R) chips, like the PCM63P-K and the PCM1704 were regarded as huge improvements over Delta Sigma chips.

Then came the MSB Link Dac, using the PCM1716, a Delta Sigma chip. It was capable (on paper anyway) of 24/96 performance. That was followed by the craze over the ART DI/O, which had probably the first AKM chip audio enthusiasts in the States were exposed to. And the multibit chips started to be abandoned.

I'm not sure that was an improvement for CD playback.
 
More experience, not happy with the Topping D30 pro, ( yet) but finding most of the issues may be with Windows WAE and bypassing my EQ with their driver. So, with the Bifrost still on backorder, I have time to see if I really want to move to an R2R. The subjective comments suggest yes, but the objective measures still suggest not.
 
Stokdoof said:
The audiophile world is populated by old man with too much money to spend and searching for a way to spend it.
Click to expand...
The sad thing is that as our old ears start to fail, we keep trying to beat nature at its cruel game by throwing money at the problem. Guilty as charged. Ordering Cayin RU6 next week.
 
True, but it is actually too much top end that is killing us. I got APO running on the Topping driver, but I assume WAE. More testing. Now, I tuned the crossovers in my desktop to roll off more than my mains, so it sounds not too bad. That opens another avenge, to rework my crossovers.
Peterinvan said:
Here is the anthem for 2022


Puma (Andrew Bird)
Click to expand...
Or 2018, but one must pay for Tidal to listen.
 
Enjoying my new Cayin RU6 out of an iPad Pro.
First impressions are that this is a "bright" DAC with very good ambiance, wide sound stage, good PRAT and isolation. Nice detail.
It easily drives my LCD-XCs (on high gain) and brightens up my Focal Elegias (on low gain).

Still waiting for Qobuz here in Canada.
 
Peterinvan said:
Enjoying my new Cayin RU6 out of an iPad Pro.
First impressions are that this is a "bright" DAC with very good ambiance, wide sound stage, good PRAT and isolation. Nice detail.
It easily drives my LCD-XCs (on high gain) and brightens up my Focal Elegias (on low gain).

Still waiting for Qobuz here in Canada.
Click to expand...

Any idea if the 4.4 out of the RU6 could be used as the DAC signal to another headphone amp? In other words, do you think it would be possible to go 4.4 headphone out from the RU6 to balanced xlr like is done with some iFi products? I can't seem to find documentation from Cayin. Have you happened upon a fixed DAC-out type mode? Thanks!
 
I just ordered the Cayin RU6. I spent quite a bit of money in below-average, or even crappy, gear. It’s part of my “audio education budget”: finding out if I can measure the flaws, whether I would have detected them without the help of a site like ASR, and ultimately, can I hear these flaws. My biggest disappointment has been… my ears. It’s amazing how little of the objective flaws I can actually hear…. But that’s although the fun part: realizing what I can and can’t hear!
So why the RU6? I have no experience/reference with R2R and Cayin seems relatively honest, talking about “a (very) different experience to music lovers”. Different would include bad, so my expectations are set low and I hope I’ll learn something about R2R! :cool:
 
CedarX said:
I just ordered the Cayin RU6. I spent quite a bit of money in below-average, or even crappy, gear. It’s part of my “audio education budget”: finding out if I can measure the flaws, whether I would have detected them without the help of a site like ASR, and ultimately, can I hear these flaws. My biggest disappointment has been… my ears. It’s amazing how little of the objective flaws I can actually hear…. But that’s although the fun part: realizing what I can and can’t hear!
So why the RU6? I have no experience/reference with R2R and Cayin seems relatively honest, talking about “a (very) different experience to music lovers”. Different would include bad, so my expectations are set low and I hope I’ll learn something about R2R! :cool:
Click to expand...

Did you get your Cayin RU6?
 
guddu said:
Did you get your Cayin RU6?
Click to expand...
I did! I have only done "casual" listening so far... It is pretty good and I have not spotted major differences with... say my EIDA 9038D or 9038S dongles. That's a positive but also a negative in way: I have yet to hear this "very different experience..." Maybe I am not a true "music lover" that's why... I think I am more a case of (too) average hearing and lack of targeted training to spot these R2R differences (if any...). Next step would be to play with the different setting (NOS...), do some loop back recording and see if I can spot measurable differences that would correlate with something I can actually hear. I have not done that yet.
IMHO, Archimago's opinion of the RU6 is most likely the correct one: it is "good"... probably no far from "good-enough"... but not "outstanding" and there is certainly no "magic sound" here. At $250, it is on the pricey side for a dongle, but built quality appears excellent and I don't feel I have been robbed.
 
Killingbeans said:
There's no risk at all that people just enjoy the idea of DACs sounding wildly different, and that it makes them hear what they'd like to hear? Or that they make the purchase based on a ton of other factors that has nothing to do with the output signal of the device?
Click to expand...
And fire a potshot at ASR for good measure:
"there has been a real effort on this forum to promote a healthy approach to audio measurements as a result of the tomfoolery over at the AudioScienceReview forums. this is a noble cause, and i can appreciate the burning desire to combat blatant misinformation of the masses. but to do so means actually taking the time to buy, measure and listen to D/S DACs which otherwise aren't really worth the time of day (Topping).

"It took hearing a very good one without glaring flaws to realize that S/D converters, for me, are not true high-end(tm) and R-2R is the only way to go. It is the nagging feeling that something in the reproduction of music is missing and the ear-brain system is disturbed. The illusion is shattered, or worse yet not created at all. I'm afraid the only way around this is to inoculate yourself by either a) never experiencing better or b) being one of the blessed few who cannot tell the difference."
www.superbestaudiofriends.org

Delta Sigma: An Inconvenient Truth

Index to this thread (updated 2021-04-13) abbasaudio DAC0.1SE loaner impressions impressions by @k4rstar impressions by @dubharmonic impressions by...
www.superbestaudiofriends.org www.superbestaudiofriends.org
 
Audiofire said:
It is the nagging feeling that something in the reproduction of music is missing and the ear-brain system is disturbed. The illusion is shattered, or worse yet not created at all.
Click to expand...

Ignorance can be costly...
 
Maybe they function as a hive mind ;)
 
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