Just thinking ahead...Dac upgrade, but to what?

[Gazjam]

Using modded M2Tech Young with linear PSU...sounds great, saw off a Naim Dac (imo) at a dealer comparison the last time I got the upgrade itch.
Sounds organic, analogue with no digital-itus at all.

So fantasy football time; looking ahead a bit, what's the next step to significantly upgrade?
Chord QBD76 HDSD, Nad M51, even an entry level DCS?

...or a left of field valve dac?
Heard a very well thought of valve dac in my system and it was 50/50 with the Young, some parts slightly better some slightly worse.
Thinking a significant step change level up.

No digital preamp needed.



Thanks. :)

[Firebottle]

LampizatOr?

[Stratmangler]

Thinking a significant step change level up

I don't think you'll find a significant step up!
Sideways move, yes, step up a definite no.
The dCS stuff generally does some kind of upsampling thing, so all the difference you'll hear will be directly attributable to the cut off filtering. Is it possible to use their stuff in non upsampling mode?

And ultimately, how can you hear stuff that doesn't exist in the first place?

[Ali Tait]

Nick's dac?

[Gazjam]

Nick's dac?

See my original post Ali...

[Gazjam]

I don't think you'll find a significant step up!
Sideways move, yes, step up a definite no.
The dCS stuff generally does some kind of upsampling thing, so all the difference you'll hear will be directly attributable to the cut off filtering. Is it possible to use their stuff in non upsampling mode?

And ultimately, how can you hear stuff that doesn't exist in the first place?

I hear you Chris...
Would need to hear anything first with my own kit.

More bake-off's required!

[RichB]

:popcorn:

[Gazjam]

Thanks chaps, good food for thought.
To be continued...or maybe just buy more vinyl. :)

[Ali Tait]

Phono stage instead maybe..

[Firebottle]

What's he want with a phono stage Ali, he's got one :eyebrows:

If the KIN phono stage is as good as the KIN line stage preamp then I shall be delighted. Will be building and proving it very soon :)

[Gazjam]

What's he want with a phono stage Ali, he's got one :eyebrows:

If the KIN phono stage is as good as the KIN line stage preamp then I shall be delighted. Will be building and proving it very soon :)

Got my eye on that Alan... ;)

[Ali Tait]

What's he want with a phono stage Ali, he's got one :eyebrows:

If the KIN phono stage is as good as the KIN line stage preamp then I shall be delighted. Will be building and proving it very soon :)

Aye, could go for the two box though..

[Ali Tait]

IS the KIN a different design?

[Juha]

On left field DACs.
How about going pro...

Avid Digidesign Protools dacs, Apogee, RME
There is plenty of choice. External dacs, firewire, usb, pci-card.
At least the pro dacs come with a neutral sound.

These are the ones sound engineers trust when they mix music.

[Firebottle]

IS the KIN a different design?

Yes it is Ali and I'm finding it difficult to keep the excitement in check.
I will get a sample of the KIN phono/line preamp up to NEBO6.

:) Alan

[Ali Tait]

Cool, will bring mine to compare.

[Yomanze]

IMHO to beat a Young with a PSU in a 'significant' way then you need something special, and unfortunately new these are £2k at least.

If there were demo units I would recommend listening to an Audial Model S or S USB, but it's only sold direct. Welcome to have a listen if you're ever in the North West of England of course. :P

[CageyH]

Anybody here tried the Graham Slee Majestic DAC?

[Gazjam]

IMHO to beat a Young with a PSU in a 'significant' way then you need something special, and unfortunately new these are £2k at least.

If there were demo units I would recommend listening to an Audial Model S or S USB, but it's only sold direct. Welcome to have a listen if you're ever in the North West of England of course. :P

Neil,
Come the time later in the year, I'll give you a shout mate, and bring my (Si's) Young and PSU down for a comparison. :)
Only way to do it in the real world...
Had a rummage online, and on paper the Audial is the only dac spec wise (on paper) that beats the Young.

It's better even than the M2Tech Vaughn, which I was looking at, but that has issues with its battery supply that never really were fixed.

[Yomanze]

Cool Gaz, always welcome, I think most DAC changes for you would be a sideways step at best. Enjoy what you have but if you want to scratch the itch get in touch. :)

[roob]

You will probably need to shell out £4000 to get a "significant"upgrade.
Something like a Mirus Invicta or if you want different but cheaper then maybe one of the flavour of the month Chord dacs Hugo or 2Qute

[Andrei]

DACs are absolutely critical but most DACs out there are pretty poor. There are good DACs but you have to spend. This however looks pretty good - some connection limitations though.

https://wyred4sound.com/products/digital-converters/remedy-reclocker

Some commentary here: http://www.audioaficionado.org/wyred-4-sound/28450-wyred-4-sound-remedy-review.html

I would get one but I'm going to upgrade my DAC to one with a Femto clock anyway.

[roob]

DACs are absolutely critical but most DACs out there are pretty poor. There are good DACs but you have to spend. This however looks pretty good - some connection limitations though.

https://wyred4sound.com/products/digital-converters/remedy-reclocker

Some commentary here: http://www.audioaficionado.org/wyred-4-sound/28450-wyred-4-sound-remedy-review.html

I would get one but I'm going to upgrade my DAC to one with a Femto clock anyway.
It's not a dac though.
It's main use is reclocking the signal from cheap streamers etc into the dac, if the OP has a decent digital source then it will be of no use.

[struth]

its pretty much the same as my Theta Timebase i think.

[Andrei]

It's not a dac though.
It's main use is reclocking the signal from cheap streamers etc into the dac, if the OP has a decent digital source then it will be of no use.
Not a dac? Well done! - but that was already a given.
There are a number of features to a dac, any dac - good bad or indifferent. Most dacs suffer from jitter to a greater or lesser degree - hence the Remedy Reclocker will improve performance. This won't improve other elements, for example the output stage, but it will help with jitter. Think of it as doing a similar job to the highly regarded Off Ramp from Empirical Audio http://www.empiricalaudio.com/products/off-ramp-converter or their reclocker http://www.empiricalaudio.com/products/synchro-mesh.

'decent digital source': a species of tautology? Of course if his source has no jitter he won't need it.

[Yomanze]

its pretty much the same as my Theta Timebase i think.

I've got one of those with the Theta Goliath but in my setup but preferred having no reclockers. The Young won't respond to one of these - including the Remedy - IMHO unless it sounds very different already on SPDIF vs. USB. If I had an Airport Express or set top box TOSLINK available then would very likely use it into a TLC, but a modern low jitter transport or DAC is unlikely to need it.

[struth]

yes i doubt it would help the young although you never know til you try. it helped my async1 when it probably shouldnt have.

[roob]

The Young won't respond to one of these - including the Remedy -
My thoughts exactly.

[337alant]

interesting thread Gaz I have had the same dilema myself as I have a young Dac with modded power supply for 3 years now and cant find anything else to beat it
I bought a Sabre ES9018 X-Dac 10 from ebay which is very well made with a very nice power supply in comparrison they both sound very similar but I end up prefering the Young each time.
Im not prepared to spend thousands for a small improvement so Ill just hold on to it for now

Alan

[Sovereign]

Hi Gaz

Would you consider the DIY dddac? Not popular on this forum but have a butchers on DIY audio
I have heard most of the DACS mentioned above including I used to own a Young with the Palmer psu, the DDDAC is considerably better than there by some margin.