Weiss DAC501 Streamer and DAC Review

[musicforcities]

10k is obscene. DACs have been solved and perfected for $100 to $300. The Transformers and ac power filter inlet look like the standard stuff you can get on eBay for a few bucks. Even if one is so rich that 10k is like burning pocket lint, spending it on a DAC is madness and a waste.

For 10k I want it milled out of solid aluminum (like my $2000 MacBook), be either as thin as an iPad or thick with massive exotic wood side panels hand finished by virgins, vu meters or the equivalent and a button that feels so good it will make you go blind if you push it too often.

And to outperform a jds atom by a mile

 

[MacClintock]

10k is obscene. DACs have been solved and perfected for $100 to $300. The Transformers and ac power filter inlet look like the standard stuff you can get on eBay for a few bucks. Even if one is so rich that 10k is like burning pocket lint, spending it on a DAC is madness and a waste.

For 10k I want it milled out of solid aluminum (like my $2000 MacBook), be either as thin as an iPad or thick with massive exotic wood side panels hand finished by virgins, vu meters or the equivalent and a button that feels so good it will make you go blind if you push it too often.

And to outperform a jds atom by a mile

I agree, just wondering , have you ever gone blind pushing a button?

 

[amirm]

EDIT: Just a thought, does increasing settling time setting of the AP change anything?

I played extensively with that and there was little correlation with it (this was the suggestion from Daniel). I must have spent 2 hours on it thinking that was the cause. Then I tried Toslink and with it having no problem with the settling time, I realized that was the wrong direction.

 

[JSmith]

I have a QuantAsylum

Have you received it yet? I ask as they say back in stock last month.

I'd be interested in your usage feedback on this updated model.


JSmith

 

[Kane1972]

A company who has a good rep again in the Audiophile and recording industry, but fails to better much cheaper devices on ASR.

 

[weiss2496]

Here is a measurement of the DAC501 linearity via the USB input. I have chosen a low step rate to take care of the latency.
Daniel

 

[GXAlan]

Here is a measurement of the DAC501 linearity via the USB input. I have chosen a low step rate to take care of the latency.
Daniel
View attachment 318299

Is this new firmware or is this with the different ASIO buffers to fix the bug with the existing driver?

 

[weiss2496]

Is this new firmware or is this with the different ASIO buffers to fix the bug with the existing driver?

This is with MacOS as the USB source. Tomorrow we will do a measurement with Windows as the source. There isn't any new firmware involved.

 

[amirm]

Here is a measurement of the DAC501 linearity via the USB input. I have chosen a low step rate to take care of the latency.
Daniel
View attachment 318299

Thanks but how are you generating the USB sweep and sync'ing it with your AP? To the extent you are not replicating how APx555 is streaming data/capturing it, this type of testing will not be helpful. As I noted, I too am able to get this type of result with specific set of parameters for ASIO.

 

[weiss2496]

Thanks but how are you generating the USB sweep and sync'ing it with your AP? To the extent you are not replicating how APx555 is streaming data/capturing it, this type of testing will not be helpful. As I noted, I too am able to get this type of result with specific set of parameters for ASIO.

The AP generates the sweep and goes through an AES/EBU to USB interface to the DAC501. I will get an APx555B in a few weeks and will run more tests then.

 

[musicforcities]

I agree, just wondering , have you ever gone blind pushing a button?

No…but using the volume knob on the Luxman C1000 was a sensual experience. It was I believe a resistor based attenuator attached to an inch thick and two inch wide machined knob of solid aluminum that locked into each detent firmly yet gently. And would unlock muting .

Really? How many examples do you want of affordable DACs with similar performance that predate this one?

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I’d wager all of them still work fine in 2023!

lol. Facts are inconvenient.

 

[musicforcities]

Actually, I think I have to agree here as regards individual makers going it alone with buggy software. One of the major streamer makers in the UK has a dealer reputation for glitches and bugs in the software in older models and now, as these older streaming models don't seem to work with the updates over the years so well, they offered over the summer a trade in towards the latest models - only 10% or so, but a kind of token I suppose

Arcam? They have been making the audio equivalent of the old mg’s for a while now. Buggy, unreliable and sort lifespans. bespoke software for small market devices is a bad idea most of the time. DACs are essentially solved and a commodity device these days, no excuse for bad performance or huge price tags.

 

[musicforcities]

Some $100 Dacs did better.... All is said

And better enough that any further improvement is very likely not audible to almost anyone…

 

[musicforcities]

The crap steel chassis and the crude looking plugs on the back are something I would question on a $1k streamer/dac, but asking 10x that is really just riding on their reputation.

Schit manages to make devices that look far better constructed in the USA for $100 and up. Not fancy but using economical construction techniques that have a stylistic flair. Their recent offerings also seem to perform well too.

 

[daniboun]

And better enough that any further improvement is very likely not audible to almost anyone…

I agree, Science is a fact, human ears have their limit)

 

[daniboun]

Here is a measurement of the DAC501 linearity via the USB input. I have chosen a low step rate to take care of the latency.
Daniel

Hi Daniel,

I saw you sent a DAC204 to Cameron Oatley and APx555 measurements show it measures better than the DAC501. I'm trying to understand consistency and price positioning ?

 

[weiss2496]

Here is the linearity via the USB input with Windows / ASIO as the source and with enough time between level steps to handle latency of the whole chain. The buffer size is 1024.

An example when the level steps follow too quickly after each other.

Such measurements we were able to generate with too short level steps in relation to buffer sizes. Smaller buffer sizes mean lower latency and thus the level steps can be made shorter - to some extent.

 

[nagster]

I don't have a WEISS that can be connected via USB, so I tried to reproduce the level jump using TOPPING, which was nearby, but I failed.
I also tried changing the red circled part in various ways, but it didn't work. Ugh...

 

[amirm]

I don't have a WEISS that can be connected via USB, so I tried to reproduce the level jump using TOPPING, which was nearby, but I failed.
I also tried changing the red circled part in various ways, but it didn't work. Ugh...

I did the same and was not able to make Topping fail.

 

[nagster]

is that so.
I thought the story was about plotting the previous step value, but that may not be the case. Or maybe even the maximum value of 2048 is not enough.