Which DAC measurements do you like to see next?

[Music1969]

@amirm any leads on a Merging Anubis yet?

Only USD1899 ! Quite a bit less than Merging NADAC !

https://vintageking.com/merging-technologies-anubis-pro

 

[Jose Hidalgo]

Has anybody found any measurements of the ESI Gigaport EX ? I have yet to find a single online review ! Thanks in advance.

 

[cyruz]

Has anybody found any measurements of the ESI Gigaport EX ? I have yet to find a single online review ! Thanks in advance.

Found something:

https://prosound.ixbt.com/interfaces/esi-gigaport-ex.shtml
https://prosound.ixbt.com/interfaces/esi/gigaport/2444.htm

It doesn't look so great...

 

[somebodyelse]

Why's the THD+N so much worse than either the THD or the Noise? Different measurement bandwidth?

 

[Jose Hidalgo]

Found something:

https://prosound.ixbt.com/interfaces/esi-gigaport-ex.shtml
https://prosound.ixbt.com/interfaces/esi/gigaport/2444.htm

It doesn't look so great...

Thank you Cyruz ! Those are the first measurements that I see.
Not so great, but not terrible either. I'd say average. If the product was stereo it would be clearly overpriced, but since it's 8-channel...
It's clearly a cheap-made product, with mediocre components. For Home Cinema use it would be OK. For HiFi use it looks insufficient.
Still looking for a multichannel DAC with decent specs. So far I only know the Okto dac8 Pro (great but way too expensive), the MOTU 4 (average, with the dreaded IMD hump, so not "up to date" tech-wise) and the Gigaport EX (average too).

 

[somebodyelse]

Still looking for a multichannel DAC with decent specs. So far I only know the Okto dac8 Pro (great but way too expensive), the MOTU 4 (average, with the dreaded IMD hump, so not "up to date" tech-wise) and the Gigaport EX (average too).

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/motu-624-audio-interface-review.9824/
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/motu-8a-measurements.2342/
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...s-of-motu-ultralite-mk4-akm-dac-version.3796/
There may be a few more kicking around too.

 

[AdamG]

General DAC testing FYI!

Sent a “HELM Bolt MQA DAC/AMP” to Amir for testing. Will take a week or so to reach him. Amir said it may take between 4 to 6 weeks to test the DAC/AMP.


Helm Bolt DAC/Amp

 

[Jose Hidalgo]

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/motu-624-audio-interface-review.9824/
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/motu-8a-measurements.2342/
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...s-of-motu-ultralite-mk4-akm-dac-version.3796/
There may be a few more kicking around too.

When I said "the MOTU M4" I was implying "all MOTU products", but that only echoed in my head, so thanks for your post.
In general terms, those are interfaces meant for studio use, not for Hi-Fi use. They have a bunch of stuff we don't use, but most importantly their audio performance isn't generally up-to-date vs. the latest Hi-Fi products (even cheap products like Topping E30).

Take this up-to-date "ranking" (for lack of a better word) for instance. This is only SINAD, there are of course other important measurements, but it can help filter results. Among these "top tier DACs", how many are 4 channels or more ? (besides the Okto dac8 Pro and the MOTU).

 

[somebodyelse]

It's actually not a bad proportion of all the multichannel DACs tested - both MOTUs that have been tested here, the MiniDSP SHD and the Universal Audio X16. The 8A would probably make it on there too. Remember that they're all balanced output, so you should be comparing to multiple instances of a Modius or Soncoz rather than an E30.

The heart of the problem is that there aren't multichannel DACs aimed at hifi use, with the exception of the MiniDSP models. Even the Okto is aimed at pro - hence the AES inputs rather than SDPIF.

 

[Jose Hidalgo]

The heart of the problem is that there aren't many multichannel DACs at an affordable price. Most MOTUs, MiniDSP SHD, X16... they're all pro stuff at four digit prices. If I have to pay 1000 € for a DAC, I will just pick a dac8 and stick with it. But that would be unreasonable.

The MOTU 4 is the closest thing to what I need, its measurements are pretty good actually... but the IMD hump proves that it still needs refining (plus it's hard to get around that studio look with inputs in the front, knobs and such). Maybe the next version.

Hence the Gigaport EX, which looks taylor-made for HiFi use, but who doesn't seem to deliver up to the expectations...

 

[Seta Seta Pop]

No more dacs, pleeeeease! We want headphooooooones!
I'm kidding... No, I'm not...

 

[Jose Hidalgo]

No more dacs, pleeeeease! We want headphooooooones!
I'm kidding... No, I'm not...

Please, read this topic title again.
Then realize that you're in the wrong forum.
Then go rant in this other topic instead.
Thank you.

 

[Seta Seta Pop]

I'm sorry Jose. It was just a little joke...

 

[Jose Hidalgo]

No worries buddy.

Back on topic : other "potentially testable" multichannel DACs include M-Audio products :

• Air 192-8 (4 outputs)
• M-Track Eight (8 outputs)

Like MOTU, it's "studio stuff", not "hifi stuff", but at least they're not dramatically expensive : 165 € for the Air and 339 € for the M-Track. I'd love Amir to be able to test them someday.

Here's a link with a lot of DACs sorted by number of channels : https://www.gearank.com/guides/audio-interface
Focusrite, Steinberg... and of course RME which is great stuff, but it's dramatically expensive.

Temporary conclusion : currently the MOTU M4 seems to be the "best" affordable multichannel DAC, even if it doesn't keep up with the best "Hi-Fi" DACs.

 

[somebodyelse]

Here's a link with a lot of DACs sorted by number of channels : https://www.gearank.com/guides/audio-interface
Focusrite, Steinberg... and of course RME which is great stuff, but it's dramatically expensive.

At thomman.de you can filter the interface selection using a number of parameters, including number of output channels. It has the same problem as the gearank.com guide though - output channels aren't necessarily analog line outs - so you need to be a bit careful. If I understand correctly the M4 has one pair of fixed outputs and one pair of variable outputs, making it awkward for some multichannel use cases. If you do find something suitable with 6 or 8 channels I'll be interested - especially if it doesn't have problems with linux.

 

[Jose Hidalgo]

If I understand correctly the M4 has one pair of fixed outputs and one pair of variable outputs, making it awkward for some multichannel use cases

That's often the case with "studio" stuff : for exxample a 8-channel DAC will often have 6 fixed outputs and 2 variable outputs (if I understand it correctly). But since you can adjust the variable outputs it shouldn't be a big problem.

Now if a manufacturer like Topping decided to launch a cheap multichannel HiFi DAC, that would be another story !

 

[AlCapwn]

Since I'm currently rocking a Clarett 2pre this is the one I absolutely can't wait for as I've been extremely impressed with the output sound quality over my MBox 3 Pro. If you ever felt like reviewing the old MBox 3 Pro I would gladly ship you mine.

Personally I would love to see you review the new SPL Marc One. I know it only uses the AK4490 and not the newer AK4493 or AK4499 I'm actually not 100% sure the Marc One is a true audio interface as they aren't specific on the website and even contacted them without getting a clear answer.

Edit: It would be really neat to see you review the newer generation of onboard motherboard audio if you happen to have easy access to it. (ex: the ALC1220-VB or other ALC1220 variants). Most mobo makers will claim anywhere from -114db to -120db SNR and I'm guessing this is the spec of the chip and not actually measured results of the implemented circuit.

 

[AllanDavidson]

No worries buddy.

Back on topic : other "potentially testable" multichannel DACs include M-Audio products :

• Air 192-8 (4 outputs)
• M-Track Eight (8 outputs)

Like MOTU, it's "studio stuff", not "hifi stuff", but at least they're not dramatically expensive : 165 € for the Air and 339 € for the M-Track. I'd love Amir to be able to test them someday.

Here's a link with a lot of DACs sorted by number of channels : https://www.gearank.com/guides/audio-interface
Focusrite, Steinberg... and of course RME which is great stuff, but it's dramatically expensive.

Temporary conclusion : currently the MOTU M4 seems to be the "best" affordable multichannel DAC, even if it doesn't keep up with the best "Hi-Fi" DACs.

What truly magnificent times we live in. A complete studio suite (Pre-amps, ADCs, Digital Interfaces, DACs, Headphone amps, MIDI controllers) available for $200 or less, bus powered and even portable!

 

[Cahudson42]

None. Nada. No more DACs - until most popular headphones have been reviewed.

 

[Masza]

Found an interesting 4K blu-ray player: Tascam BD-MP4K

It's meant for professional installations

But it offers some interesting audio features (based on the manual):

• volume control
• ...which affects also HDMI and S/PDIF outputs
• S/PDIF can be switched to output LR downmix, FL FR, C SW, SL SR or SBL SBR channel pairs
• different downmix modes (Dolby headphone, Dolby virtual speaker etc.)

Would be nice to see how it measures. If it would have had eARC, HDMI input and SACD & DVD-Audio playback it would have been a perfect compact home theater processor by specs.