Paul,
That clinical, analytical sound is what I’m striving to avoid as I’m working on rebuilding my system.
I have the Auralic Mini that you mentioned. It’s a very good and inexpensive product. I bought a dedicated power supply for it. Their DS Lightning app works quite well, although I have been using Roon instead. My dac budget will be somewhat limited depending on what I can get for my Antelope Gold.
Nick
Hi NIck,
Yes. Best to stay away from Meridian. I already paired the Direct dac with my Bottlehead crack and an RCA 6as7 tube (a lush and round sounding tube) and still the midrange bothers me. In the thread I mentioned they're saying that Meridian dacs might sound wonderful - if processed with MQA (another can of worms). For some reason they abandoned MQA support with the DIrect but not for he smaller Explorer dac.
A few questions about your Aualic:
What storage device are you using with it? I read that you can install an HDD internally?
How does the stock on-board dac sound?
What power supply did you get for it? I've seen some very good ones such as the sBooster but these cost more than the Aries itself.
I am looking for an all-in-one solution so I can get rid of the computer entirely.
Paul
Paul,
I use a 500 G usb external drive. Just plug it in. You can use an internal drive and I have one laying around somewhere, but that’s for another day. It’s been ages, but the stock dac sounded pretty good. But I ordered the Auralic and the Mojo Audio power supply at the same time and basically just broke those in together. I paid too much for the Mojo ps...over $500, but don’t tell anybody 🤫
Yes, I am prone to overkill. But it’s a wonderful combo. I looked at the s booster, but frankly didn’t care for the look of it. You could probably get a reasonably priced power supply, but I really can’t recommend something. Maybe some of the guys can chime in.
I think the Mini needs about 16 volts, but that’s just from memory.
When I get around to the new dac, the Border Patrol and dB Audio Labs will be at the top of the list....assuming there’s enough money left......
Nick