We had a nice little gathering today and had the 'cream of the crop' of DAC's to audition. Thanks to everyone for working with me to compare what we could.
We ended up with 5 DAC's to compare:
Shane brought the 3 mentioned earlier:
1) PS Audio Perfect Wave DAC (PWD) MKII
2) Abbingdon Music Research (AMR) DP-777 DAC with remote switchable 16 bit NOS DAC or 24bit high rez DAC
3) Antelope Audio Zodiac Gold DAC with Voltikus power supply
I had:
The Buffalo DAC with special output transformer that Rich built for me.
Dave brought:
The EE Minimax Plus DAC with dual OPA2604's and single OPA827's on Brown Dog adaptors. (We listened in SS mode without a tube for most of our listening.)
There wasn't a bad DAC in the bunch.
For me, I love how the Buffalo that Rich put together sounds.. I like the liquidity and rich tone of its sound. There is intimacy, good punch, and detail. It's the kind of DAC you listen to for a little while and say, 'yeah, that's nice'.. then after a while, you can't stop. All the details are there, just not splashy at all, kind of laid back but not rolled off.
I was also a bit surprised at how much I liked the Anteloupe/Zodiac/Voltastica DAC. Very beautiful presentation with lots of air and a space in the soundstage. It seemed to interpret bits as music quite well, especially in the mids and highs.. but felt a little lean in the midbass compared to the others.
The AMR is a nice blend of detail and the loveliness of music. In today's comparison it missed a little impact (punch?) for me, maybe because I'm used to that in the Buffalo. It is a near perfect DAC. So, it is a nitpick. But, at its cost, I don't expect much compromise. It is musical and non fatiguing. Detailed and a little lush sounding.
The EE is the surprise value of the group. For a fourth or fifth the price of some of the other DAC's, it really held its own. The midbass and deep bass were excellent like the Sabre DAC has proven to do well in both. The differences were more in the mids and highs. There was nothing 'wrong' with it... just the other DAC's had a little more meat or resolution in those areas. I didn't notice much 'etch' or 'digititis' in this version, pretty musical. It's an excellent DAC, you can't go wrong with it. I did try this DAC with a tube in it towards the end of the night and I honestly don't hear much of a difference with it in or out.
That's what I remember for now. If others chime in with their thoughts, it might remind me of stuff I forgot.
-C
PS, no green smoothies this time! I had one for breakfast, though.