Some interesting high end Chinese DAC's

[r100]

Hi, I have been looking around for a new DAC that wouldn't ruin me financally. What I found was that Chinese designers are hard at work to bring very high end converters to the market that cost from 500 to 1200 $ whith specs reserved in much more expensive devices in the past. Some interesting ones I came across are listed here. All have good reviews for what that is worth. Some have dual PSU's and some have dual decoder chips and dual PSU's.

I had a Yulong DA8 Mk1 which was excellent. I can only suppose that these new generation DACs are even better.

Does anyone have any first hand experience with one of these devices ?

Thank's
Ru

LKS MH-DA003 (http://www.shenzhenaudio.com/l-k-s-audio-mh-da003-es9018-2-dual-channel-decoder-amanero-usb-dsd-dac-crystek-femto-clock.html) and here (http://www.mu-sound.com/da003_index_en.html)
Gustard X20 (http://www.shenzhenaudio.com/gustard-dac-x20-super-ultimate-2-x-es9018-xmos-hifi-dac-384khz-dsd-dop-decoder.html) and Gustard X12 (http://www.shenzhenaudio.com/gustard-dac-x12-es9018-xmos-balance-dac-32bit-384khz-dsd-dop-decoder.html)
Yulong DA8 Mk2 (http://yulong da8 ii review)
Aune S16 (http://www.shenzhenaudio.com/aune-s16-hifi-diy-32bit-384khz-dsd128-fifo-full-isolation-usb-dac-headphone-amplifier.html)
YSDZ DA-03 (http://www.shenzhenaudio.com/ysdz-da-03-fpga-dsd-dac-amanero-comho384-dual-es9018-xmos-usb-dac-mytek-stereo-192-dsd.html)

[r100]

sorry for bumping my own thread back to the top of the charts but does anyone know of these DAC's

thank's

rupert

[tiguan]

I did not listen personally to those you wrote but similar to your experience with yulong da mk1 they are promising.
I listened to lks Mh da 002 swith modification femto clock and power supply stage caps. It was wonderful comparing the price.
Recently I started DIY version of Lks dac.
Probably you saw the topic dedicated to gustard x20 at head-fi forum

[r100]

yeah, i did check out Head-Fi. And the Gustard X-20 gets some good opinions. Interesting times for DAC's. This new generation seems to focus on dual power supplies and dual converters.. and all that at the same price the previous generation with single ps's and single converters was :)

[StanleyB]

yeah, i did check out Head-Fi. And the Gustard X-20 gets some good opinions. Interesting times for DAC's. This new generation seems to focus on dual power supplies and dual converters.. and all that at the same price the previous generation with single ps's and single converters was :)
I think that DAC buyers have matured over the years and have come to see through the idea that these sort of cost additions would guarantee to make a DAC sound better. It doesn't. The problem with the Chinese designers is that they are many years behind in terms of understanding what makes a DAC sound good. Many of these companies release a large number of different designs at more or less the same time, and then wait to see which design sells well. Then they concentrate on marketing that one aggressively.

[r100]

Stan, with all due respect, I have one of your DaC's and I know how good it is. I also had a Chinese Yulong DA8 which cost about three times as much as the BM. It wasn't 3 times better but it had a naturalness to it no other DAC I have owned has had. (Rega, BM, Raspberry Sabre DAC, etc, etc.). It just felt right. Of course paying three times more doesn't guarantee anything. The difference between all my previous DACa and the Yulong where minimal but they where there... or was i just convincing myself that more expensive is better... i duunnnooo anymore... My perception is blurred right now.

These new Chinese DACs have dual PS's, dual converters and are fine tuned by humans. It would be great to have a proper comparison between, very expensive and very cheap DACs to determine what the real difference is, if any. I sometimes wonder if the difference in price is just buying more hardware or is it buying the extra couple of points to be in the high-end class.

I remember comparing the BM mk1 i think, to the Rega and I was struggling to find any difference at all although the price ratio at the time was something like 1:2

[mossy]

http://i333.photobucket.com/albums/m362/Bruce1958/nailonthehead.jpg (http://media.photobucket.com/user/Bruce1958/media/nailonthehead.jpg.html)

[StanleyB]

Stan, with all due respect, I have one of your DaC's and I know how good it is. I wouldn't say that the Bushmaster DAC that you bought from me is the best one I ever designed. So if you think that is good them you should really try out the Caiman MKII.
But that's deviating from your original post. The fact that you were so detailed in your response and felt it necessary to even mention the fact that you have a DAC of mine does make me wonder however if you are on a shilling trip, or are genuinely interested in engaging in the technology, design, and construction of a DAC. I am offering my input as someone with first hand experience, and outlining my opinion of the Chinese DACs. Just about every single DAC with UK connection is £ for £ vastly superior to its equivalent priced Chinese version, without having to go to the extreme lengths that the Chinese designers are engaged in in terms of loading their circuit with impressive sounding waffle. Surely there must be a reason for that?
Of course, if you are making a sales pitch then my apologies for attempting to make a clear headed assessment of the market.

[r100]

no, I was not shilling. I didn't even occur to me. I'm not sure I follow your drift though.. you seem to be "promoting" UK/EU hardware and "dismissing" Asian hardware as second class ?

[r100]

Just about every single DAC with UK connection is £ for £ vastly superior to its equivalent priced Chinese version, without having to go to the extreme lengths that the Chinese designers are engaged in in terms of loading their circuit with impressive sounding waffle. Surely there must be a reason for that?

It's probably a cultural thing ? They are learning (fast).

[tiguan]

One addition to my previous post;

LKS differs from the rest Gustard and Yulong by better power stage, regulation and separate power supply for analog and digital and even within digital stage crystal and the rest. They gave to clean power more importance then the others.

[r100]

what about the sound ? have you had a chance to listen to both ?
greets
ru

[Hudz]

This guy seems to know his onions Ru http://www.digitalaudioreview.net/the-darko-dac-index/

Worth a read as he is a bit more in touch with the likes of Audio gd and Yulong, I suppose being based down under helps

[r100]

hi, yep i saw Darko's list but it is a little outdated. head-fi has some information about the latest gen. They where right about the Yulong so I guess one can rely on it.
thank's

ru

[robtweed]

It would be interesting to see where Stan's Caiman II would sit in Darko's league table.

[r100]

"En effet" :-) maybe Stan could send one to Darko I'm sure it would get good marks (relative to the price)

[tiguan]

what about the sound ? have you had a chance to listen to both ?
greets
ru

I listened LKS kit and LKS MH DA002 and Yulong D18
Lks MH da 002 > LKS kit = Yulong d18
But have to tell LKS kit was made with a stock power stage. Deserves a better power regulation.
Additionally by opamp rolling ( both chip and discrete opamps) you will be surprised. For LKS da002 and kit it is easy no need soldering skill

[Mr.Ian]

Bumping an old thread, what's new; how do the topping dacs compare to Chord for example