High end cd players

[Filterlab]

I suspect the reality is that nobody would be able to tell what type of drive their music was coming from.

To be honest, as it generally plays from RAM anyway (or certainly a cached buffer of some type), even HDD held data would still be solid state at the point of stream. The only thing that remains is that mechanical vibration of course. But you're right, I bet in reality it'd be impossible to tell the difference.

[dave2010]

I have no doubts about reliability, given that it's modern technology.

There are only 2 values in the resistor ladder, the required accuracy just makes them more expensive. I don't expect any drift as there is no power/heat in the resistor ladders.

Are there many R-2R designs? Do you think that they are generally better than other designs?

I've probably still got other things I'd rather spend money on than a fairly expensive DAC.

[fiddlemaker]

My CD playing experience has gone from 'meh' to astonishing.

I can now believe in the 'Perfect music forever' tag line. Listening to the CD collection is like listening to brand new music.
The reason - I have moved onto a new R-2R Dac, the Musician Pegasus.

The detail and separation of complex passages, with absolute pin point imaging is an absolute joy.
So my advice is ignore high end players, get a reasonable transport and a Pegasus.

Hi Alan
How did you come across this "wonder DAC" and what did you have before?

[Filterlab]

One thing that's really clear from this thread; DACs are definitely a crucial component which have the ability to transform a digital source into something special. I remember my first off-board DAC - an Apogee something or other. Within five minutes of using that on the end of my 2006 iMac, I had my Musical Fidelity A3.5CD all packed up and ready for eBay.

[walpurgis]

I only use a DAC for CD replay, as I don't stream music. However, the little five quid USB DAC I had sent from China was an eye opener, it's certainly better than all the old Cambridge Audio DACs and the like I used to play around with, probably on a par with the Thetas I've owned. There again, nothing so far has beaten the Monarchy Audio ones I have.

[Firebottle]

Hi Alan
How did you come across this "wonder DAC" and what did you have before?

Hi John, I had progressed up the range of Delta Sigma Dac's having used Topping D30, Xiang Sheng D01A, Topping D50, Raspberry Pi with Allo Boss, Topping D90.

Over the past 2 years the system has been improving in out and out transparency so any improvements, also shortcomings, have been easily heard.
My 'partner in crime' throughout this transformation has been Bigman80 who system has also undergone a similar transformation.

Bigman80 identified an R-2R Dac through research into what some high-end Dac manufacturers and keen hobbyists were using, namely a Soekris OEM R-2R board.

A Soekris 1421 was bought and I had the pleasure of hearing it, also modifying it with a linear power supply. The separation and image clarity and depth was a bit of a revelation compared to the relatively flat presentation of delta Sigma based Dac's.
Looking around for (affordable) alternatives I found the new Musician Pegasus and took a punt, which has paid off tremendously.

There are a lot of manufacturers, to answer Dave's question, that are making advanced R-2R Dac's now, some with eye watering prices.
Manufacturers include Border Patrol, Monarchy, Denafrips, Audio-GD, MHDT, Holo, Soeskris, Metrum, Schiit and Musician.

[Lawrence001]

I bought a relatively very cheap Audio Gd R2R 11 I think it's called and I'm very happy with it. The quality headphone amp is just a bonus at the price.

Sent from my BKL-L09 using Tapatalk

[fiddlemaker]

Hi John, I had progressed up the range of Delta Sigma Dac's having used Topping D30, Xiang Sheng D01A, Topping D50, Raspberry Pi with Allo Boss, Topping D90.

Over the past 2 years the system has been improving in out and out transparency so any improvements, also shortcomings, have been easily heard.
My 'partner in crime' throughout this transformation has been Bigman80 who system has also undergone a similar transformation.

Bigman80 identified an R-2R Dac through research into what some high-end Dac manufacturers and keen hobbyists were using, namely a Soekris OEM R-2R board.

A Soekris 1421 was bought and I had the pleasure of hearing it, also modifying it with a linear power supply. The separation and image clarity and depth was a bit of a revelation compared to the relatively flat presentation of delta Sigma based Dac's.
Looking around for (affordable) alternatives I found the new Musician Pegasus and took a punt, which has paid off tremendously.

There are a lot of manufacturers, to answer Dave's question, that are making advanced R-2R Dac's now, some with eye watering prices.
Manufacturers include Border Patrol, Monarchy, Denafrips, Audio-GD, MHDT, Holo, Soeskris, Metrum, Schiit and Musician.

Thanks for that, Alan. There seems to be a bewildering array of really nice DACs coming out of China at the moment, so it's nice to have a bit of insight. I'm delighted with the Gustard A18 I bought recently, but the Pegasus certainly looks like something to bear in mind for the future.