Theta or Young DAC?

[Jonneville]

After working in Hong Kong in the early '90s, where there were dozens of shops selling expensive audio gear which I had previously only seen in magazines, I became hooked on heavyweight American gear (all Robert Harley's fault!). Partly due to climate - the humidity was not record-friendly - I had to make the reluctant switch to CDs. A Wadia would have been my first choice of CDP but was too expensive after buying VTL valve amps and Logans, so I had to compromise - in any case, I intended to go back to vinyl the minute I returned to England.

Roll on 20 years and I have a TEAC VRDS 25 cdp and a Wadia 8 transport for silver disc duties.

I have an M2Tech Evo DAC ready to try (hopefully tonight!) but am wondering about how an older Theta dac would perform, or how much of an improvement the more expensive Young would be over the Evo?

I only have a very cheap Toslink to try with the Evo but that will be replaced with something decent like an Oyaide silver from Mark Grant.

I should add that right now, I am looking at the dac purely for use with the VRDS 25 and/or Wadia.

There seem to be quite a few Thetas about right now - Pro Prime, Progeny and Basic III.

Any thoughts would be very welcome.

Regards

Jon'.

[DSJR]

AT THE TIME, I compared the Theta's you mentioned to the cheaper competition and they did stand head and shoulders above them. The thing is, and others here might not agree with me, that DAC chips and all the ancilliary chips that surround them have condensed further into far simpler AND CHEAPER packages. Some even have good audio output stages built into them, removing another place where designers can mess things up. Power supply quality is still all-important though IMO and again, here is a place where some so-called 'designers' can still balls things up if they're not absolutely careful.

So my suggestion is to regard and enjoy vintage Theta as the great and now affordable stuff it undoubtedly is, but accept the fact that you could possibly equal or even better many aspects of the performance with the best new sub £500 or so DACs out there. Many of the sub £200 models of quality seem to be USB only, so no good for your purpose - the chips are really cheap (as in a quid or two) to the larger manufacturers such as Fiio and Behringer for example, who buy them in zillions...

One well liked DAC here is the Beresford Bushmaster. At least one chap here has compared it very favourably to some of the Theta's you mention and in addition to the basic unit/supply, there's a host of additional linear supplies available, claiming improvements in performance, by which time you're into £400 or more - your choice. By then, you're in Rega DAC territory, and this one has become a bit of a benchmark I think. I'm not saying you can't buy better for less than the Rega, but it's wide availability, good sales and sound-for-pound and great after-sales care should you need it ensures a healthy market. A few do come up used for £375 or so, by people who like to try new things, but it's a safe-as-houses DAC that should be in the running.

[purite audio]

Jon Hi, the M2Tech EVO is an async USB to s/pdif (and other outputs) converter, their Young is a 24/384 Dac with the async USB built in.
Keith.

[apollo]

Jon,

Most older Theta dacs, especially the Pro series, have substantially better analog stages and better power supplies than most of the modern dacs of comparable prices.. though the perception of the resultant of sound quality may vary among listeners.
A Theta Pro Gen-Va(18/44) is probably the best DAC I have heard.. if I ever decide to go strictly red-book and don't need high-res capabilities, I wont hesitate to go with that.

However, if you think you will like to keep the option of listening to high-res music open, you will have to choose something else. The Young is a good dac for the price, especially if you have it paired with an external power supply.

[Werner Berghofer]

Jon,

There seem to be quite a few Thetas about right now - Pro Prime, Progeny and Basic III

Mike Moffat, formerly hardware designer of Theta and now co-founder of Schiit Audio, often has claimed in public that the current Schiit DAC models outperform the Theta DACs. I don’t know if this is true or just marketing speech.

Werner.

[walpurgis]

I've used the Theta Cobalt and Chroma in the past and they are to my ear superior to any modern or older budget DAC I've heard. I currently have as my back-up DAC a Theta DS Pro Progeny at the moment and this is a very good unit, far better than the Cobalt and Chroma.

[Yomanze]

I've used the Theta Cobalt and Chroma in the past and they are to my ear superior to any modern or older budget DAC I've heard. I currently have as my back-up DAC a Theta DS Pro Progeny at the moment and this is a very good unit, far better than the Cobalt and Chroma.

I also have a DS Pro Progeny as a backup, it is very analogue and natural in comparison to newer DACs with huge dynamics. Walked all over my Beresford.

[Yomanze]

A
There seem to be quite a few Thetas about right now - Pro Prime, Progeny and Basic III.

I would avoid the Prime as it's the only Theta to use a bitstream (1 bit) DAC. The Progeny is a classic, would also take a punt at a Basic III, which uses very good DACs.

[Gazjam]

Cant speak for the Progeny or Theta Dacs but have a Young with the matching aluminium finish linear PSU.
Went from a hot rodded Caiman to a Rega to the Young.

A big step up between the three Dacs, the Young is fantastic, maybe the last Dac I'll buy.
Taking it to Owston next weekend if anyone wants a listen.

[Mark Grant]

There is a Young DAC for sale on the forums, a great price with a PSU.
http://theartofsound.net/forum/showt...ighlight=young