Taurun, I watch and enjoy every one of your reviews no matter the product. You keep me up to date at the state of the world of hifi. Thank you for such great work.
I find myself amazed with Taurun's reviews of higher end equipment like this as his ability not only to hear and recognize specific minute differences between pieces but the way he articulates that experience into words creating a uniquely detailed presentation to really allow his audience to almost be in his shoes at that moment. It is not easy to explain such technical details without sounding either monotone and lifeless or using word salad technical terms that leave viewers wondering what did he really mean. Taurun's reviews are best described as an Artist who paints imagery for Audiophiles. Once you listen to him you understand why his reviews are a class above the rest.
The LTA aero is an R2R dac of approx £3500. It uses a ZOTL design with tubes. I have used it now for 4 months and it is very special. I can post mine to you if you would like to live with it and review it. It would be a gesture to thank you for all you do for the audiophile community.
The LTA gear all looks incredible. I've seen and heard it at shows, and I believe the company is located geographically close to me and yet I haven't brought any into the home yet. I'll definitely look into this DAC more
Tarun please accept this offer. This DAC is innovative and has an uncommon architecture. Would love to hear what you think. Thank you sir for making the offer.
I was thinking the other day, what is it that makes your reviews always excell compared to other audio channels, and I think I've found the right word Tarun: your presentations are...noble...(that is why I watch every video you make even when I don't intend to buy anything)
Hi Taurun, great review. Reading through the responses, the one high quality over $3K DAC not mentioned would be the PS Audio DirectStream Mk2 DAC with the Mountain Top update ($7999). PS Audio products get great reviews, but are rarely compared with other products. Thank you!
@@abritishaudiophile7314 Yes, I've been waiting for this one too. I'm hoping it's better than the ares, but competes with Vega s1, r26, pontus and A8. I love that it's just a simple stripped down dac with no features. It's such a competitive price here in the USA.
Hi Tarun, wonderful review as usual. I think a good digital comparison would be the Holoaudio May L3 (the best measuring true-NOS r2r DAC anywhere near its price and rivals the best delta-sigmas at its price) vs ANK kits best tube DAC at the same price (you can select for it to be fully built at the factory). Given your experience with the audio note DAC it would be really interesting to hear your thoughts on two DACs with such radically different philosophies.
great review as usual, tarun - i have been using the x30 since august and till today, the sound is still improving [average 1-2 hours of play a day], the greatest characters i enjoy about the x30 is its timing and dynamic, the bass line is full of impact, texture and can be followed easily, timbre wise, the initial metallic sheen has largely wore off and the tonality has become richer and fuller, the soundstage wider, deeper with almost pin point instrument focus and location, transience is phenomenal with the x30 - i compared this with the LAIV harmony before i fell for the x30 because it makes the music seems much more alive with life like macro and micro dynamic and realism, its goose bump stuff really - the LAIV is no slouch but compares to the x30, the only advantage it has over the x30 seems to be the slightly richer tonal balance [no offense is intended to LAIV users] ... i will be doing a comparison between the x30 and a terminator 2 soon ...
Thank you for your work Tarun. As a British audiophile Chord DACs come to mind and how DACs relate to other equipment such as preamplifiers/amplifiers.
Tarun, I recommend the all-in-one Lyngdorf TDAI 3400. It's a piece of equipment that has earned a permanent spot on my shelf after going through a ton of hi-fi gear.
Thank you Tarun - truly appreciate your thoughtful and balanced approach. Suggested review - T+A DAC 200. Also something that would be interesting to many of us McIntosh owners, compare the built-in DA2 to an external DAC of your choice. $2k-$4k.
Edit: I first thought you asked for DACs below 3K, sorry my bad 😅 Well, above 3 grand there's just a new world of possibility. Personally my short list to look into would be these : - Merason Reuss - Abbas 3.1 (tube) - Rose RD160 (this one freshly released is interesting for his SFP port) - Cen.Grand DSDAC Deluxe - Bricasti M3 - B. Audio Bdac one - Totaldac Core - Rockna Wavelight - Luxman DA-07X I'm guessing Abbas and Totaldac are very unlikely to get your hands on but i figured i'd throw it anyway in case someone else might want to check them out.
Great review. Like you I prefer R2R, and have a T Plus, but was tempted recently by the new Hifi Rose RD160, mainly because of potential synergy with my RS130 streamer. The fact it is a Delta Sigma machine put me off, but I would love to hear your take. It has lots of interesting tech including optical ethernet and optical USB. I believe it uses the new AKM flagship two chip module, the AK4499EX / AK4191 velvetsound. That itself is genuinely different. Not cheap at £4699
The Gustard X30 DAC is an outstanding piece of kit. I bought one of these a couple of months ago and I was flabbergasted at the level of detail, high quality sound and neutral tonality this quality DAC provides. Your bang on the button with this review as well Taurun and I agree with your appraisal. 👍👍
A dac above 3000? That is not that difficult. But the question is how much above.😮 Brands which come to mind are ; dCS, Grimm, and mola mola. Take your pick. For all brands, I am curious about your opinion. Thank you, for your nice review.
Hello. I am glad that you paid attention to this DAC and made a quality review of it. I was one of the first to recommend you to listen to it. And I completely agree with your conclusions. Gustard X30 is worthy of attention of die-hard music lovers - skeptics and proves that ESS in the right configuration can sound better than R2R. It is definitely worth the money. The only important thing you missed is the high sensitivity of this DAC to a quality fuse. Replacing the standard fuse with a more expensive SR moves the tonality to the analog side, makes the high frequencies even more controlled and full-bodied. In this case, it would not yield to Venus 2
Tarun, agree with many here posting on the consistent excellence of your reviews. This one in particular is among the best. A couple of points were raised by other R26 owners here: I optimized it via an external OXCO and using a DDC to feed it via I2S, and it was the performance then that allowed me to sell on my Terminator II. I am about to try a Gustard fuse upgrade, too, will come back here to report. FYI the LAN input if optimized is second only to its I2S. As for recommendations for other DACs above $3K, I would submit my tube DAC the Lampizator Baltic V4 at $7K as a worthy contender for timbral excellence under $10K. But, I've heard it's hard to get a Lampi to review as the proprietor and NA distributor are already busy enough fulfilling orders - and thus maybe too a bit review shy as the risk of a poor review isn't worth it.
Excellent review as always, thank you! I'd be curious about a review of the Lab12 Dac 1 reference, which is about 3000 E and certainly has a quite special architecture. Cheers!
Greetings Tarun from NZ. Thanks for your as ever thoughtful, balanced review. Gustard seem to be on a roll don’t they. I’m an R26 owner who over the last few years went to a bit of trouble - and expenditure - on a number external and internal tweaks to eke out a bit more of its potential eg. a better external clock and mu-metal encapsulation of its transformers satisfyingly improved its soundstage breadth and depth and bass definition and impact, whilst lessening the level of grain and glare it can have in my revealing system on some material. So I already had an appreciation of what their DACs could scale to with a little more resources applied to certain areas. Appreciate such tweaking isn’t most folks’ cup of tea, so to hear Gustard have delivered a one box upgrade model at such a standard is very cool. There’s a rumoured R30 early next year, a strong candidate for your new year’s review list methinks.
The X30 is £2,399.00 from UK Amazon and thus cheaper than buying direct from Shinzen (once you add VAT etc) as well as being a safer bet if anything goes wrong. I have the R26 which I got used (with a guarantee) for about £1000 less than the X30 from a dealer on on Ebay and have upgraded with a c. £80 external OCXO 10MHZ clock, feeding it I2S from a Singxer SU-2 DDC. Maybe the bare X30 is better, but until and unless I hear it I don't know. However, I've just been listening to Keb' Mo' and he's holographically in the room -- IMHO all the instruments as well as his voice have beautiful tonality. Besides, I have a self-imposed limit on what I'm prepared to spend on any one item, and the X30 is beyond that. Bearing that in mind, I'm loath to suggest DACs for evaluation at the £3K+ price point as it would only torture me with the next greatest thing! 🙂 That said, I'd be very interested to hear your take on less expensive DACs like the Holoaudio Cyan 2.
Wow...wow....wow... Great review indeed. This is the first time I’ve heard a reviewer say a delta sigma Dac chip can compete and even surpass (in some areas) a high quality R2R dac at around the same price (and in some cases even more). Oh and lets not forget, assuming a delta sigma DAC like the ES9039PRO can compete with a good R2R then it must surpass the AKM 4499 as I’ve never seen any popular youtube reviewer with any credible trustability & sincerity say they prefer the ESS over the AKM. I’ve always known that when designed properly Delta Sigam DAC’s can compete with similarly priced R2R, and the ESS vs AKM argument is total HiFi snobbery and is best ignored or are passed-off as ignorant.
Thank you very much Tarun for another excellent review. I would like to see a review of the Magna Mano Ultra MK3.5 streamer with Gentoo Player software. Some say that this combination of streamer and software is very close to the level of your Auralic Aries G1, so it would be very interesting to have Tarun's opinion. It is also a streamer that can have an I2S output, which is not very common, unfortunately.
Excellent review. I recently watched a Pearl Acoustic video comparison of the new Pontus 15th vs a Topping D90III, an SMSL AKM chip DAC and the NOS Sugden DAC-4. I preferred the DAC-4 Sugden with older tech far more than the Pontus 15. Even the AKM 4499ex chip SMSL sounded better than the Pontus 15 in terms of bass and lively,realistic presentation.
I downloaded the samples that were available from Pearl and came to conclusion that the Denafrips was muddy and bloated in the bass compared to the others. I liked the Sugden and the D90 III.
Hi Tarun, great and enjoyabel review. The X30 was also on my list but I fokus now on two other DACs which amy also good for a review: ANK DAC 5.1 Signature and T+A MP 2000 R. The latter one is a multisource player incluing DAC. Very interesting device.
I own both Holo Audio May and this Gustatd X30. Amazingly this X30 wins in terms of superb bass control. bigger sound stage and separations of instruments. DSD input with I2S and external clocks input had better performance 😊
Hmm, the Ferrum Wandla is close to that price point. You should check it out, I love mine. And it has HDMI. There is also the GoldenSound version which has some really interesting tweaks.
Yes with your extensive experience with Denafrips models it would be interesting to know what improvements the 15th models have managed with minimal price increases.
Thank you for the review, Tarun. It is super useful to know how the market offering of DACs is improving. My suggestion would be a top DAC from Holo Audio - May DAC Kitsune Edition. It would be great to hear how it compares to Spring 3 and the other lineup you have.
Thank you for your precious and fine detailed review, I really enjoy your way to show us The strenghts of thoee dacs. I would like to ear from you a review of The new Norma Revo Dac-2, which was awarded at The last Munich High End. Thanks again
The Musician Taurus is around that price range. Seems like great value for what it offers. Holo Audio also has a lot of great ones. Weiss, Lampizator Amber 3 - a tube dac. Still, and at a more reasonable price, i'd like you to give us your opinion on the discrete version of the Topping D90 iii as well as their DX9 dac/amp combo.
Gaia-->VenusII listener here with the latest 2023 firmware update. Some months ago I switched from OS(slow) mode on the VenusII to NOS mode. With recent changes in amp and speakers, I much prefer NOS mode now over OS mode -- NOS is tighter, better PRaT ... worth a look in any case.
Great review as always! I came so close to purchasing the X30 yesterday and was happy to hear your thoughts. For other DACs to review I’d recommend the Wyred4Sound Anniversary. It easily bettered my Denafrips Pontus II which I highly regarded. If you go for a demo, grab the companion ISO Recovery unit. For the $ this DAC is hard to beat.
Another great review Tarun. I always look forward to your take on new products. For something above the 3 pound and up price range to review, how about the Chord Hugo TT 2. In the cheaper category would love to see you review the Holo Audio Cyan 2. Cheers!
I can give you a little review, I've owned it for a couple of months now. It smokes my previous amps, the Audiolab 6000a and the Rotel A11 Tribute while being in roughly the same price range. 1st thing I noticed was an enhanced sense of presence/spaciousness in the upper mids. 2nd thing is it delivers a lot of bass. Very surprising how much more it delivers. So it sounds big, expanded and spacious. Holographic if you will. It is also to live with in a practical sense and I love the balanced inputs (a little extra clarity in upper frequencies). Downside is and there is only one, it doesn't have the most natural tonality. It's very exciting for music but when just watching regular YT videos sometimes the upper bass region (male vocals) sound muffled. Kind of murmur-y. Turning the bass down with the tone controls helps. It's not every video but when you hear it, it's really noticeable. Speech clarity and naturalness was much better on the other two amps mentioned. There is also a bit extra in the upper mids. It makes music sound cool but you can detect a smidge extra sharpness on S's than should be there. Not enough to really bother me but it's there. All in all i highly recommend it for anyone looking for the feature set, power and musical excitement. If you want the most refined and natural sound I'd consider other units. But besting it overall would likely take double or triple the price. Enjoy! I'd also love to see Tarun review it too and see what he makes of it. His ear is for more educated than mine!
A recommendation for a DAC above 3,000? Well, I am not sure what you meant by the internal architecture that does not match the price. I am no expert on that so maybe a shoot in the dark, but I would look into the Merason Reuss and or Sonnet Morpheus or Pasithea. Edit: I forgot to add the reason why. I own the Sonnet Morpheus and I think it to be exceptional. And Merason for almost the same reason. I considered initially the Frerot step down, because of good reviews, but decided to go higher and at that time Merason did not have Reuss. And I heard good thing about Reuss too. I was in the market for a DAC that does not weight "100lbs" as Denafrips does (yes, that was also a factor for me) and these DACs are small and light comparing to the other ladder DACs.
Hello Tarun. Can I suggest APL HI-FI DAC's for review. Even the cheapest one in the range is above 3k. At least one criteria is met.😊You might be pleasantly surprised about the sound. They are FPGA based DACS with proprietary hardware and software. If I could afford they would be my first choice.
Hi Tarun. All things considered, only leaving price aside. Would you pick X30 over the Holo Audio Cyan 2 or viceversa ? Would the holo Audio cyan 2 hold it's ground against the X30?
You can check the Fezz Equinox Prestige Balanced DAC by Lampizator, this is an audio Hi-Fi manufacturer from Poland, the dac was made in collaboration with Lampizator but its much cheaper than Lampizator dacs. Also you may check the Fezz Titania (KT88) or Fezz Silver Luna Prestige (el34) tube amplifiers.
Hi Tarun, I think it would be great if you could review the Chord TT2 and see how it fairs against the dacs you currently have. Maybe with the M-Scaler too?
Thanks for the review. You might want to check out Ayon; their Kronos Dac or other offerings. I use a ten year-old Ayon CD player and have tried to better it several times in the last few years with gear from Chord, Gustard and SMSL yet none of them got near the tonal mass, richness, sweetness or delicacy. I brought the Ayon based on a review that it 'doesn't sound like digital' and that has been my experience. They do use tubes extensively throughout their digital range and you may find it interesting to use companies like Ayon , Border Patrol or Musical Paradise to make a segment examining the pros and cons of using tubes in digital output stages or in choke power rectification.
Hi Tarun, I commented once before on the mola mola tambaqui dac. Expensive for sure but your thoughts would be interesting. I’ve not seen a bad review but they are a while ago and so modern dacs like this Gustard and Denafrips have not been considered competitively. What do you think?
Whenever I hear 'hold on to your hats' my immediate thought is 'pull up your pant legs, it's too late to save your shoes". Obviously not the case here. This must indeed be a special product to get such praise from you. It strikes me that once again, specific circuit design is secondary to excellent implementation. Case in point, the excellent SOUNDING Delta-Sigma DAC here.
Great to see this reviewed here Tarun. What would be the best trnasport on a budget for this, node 2i, entry level innuos streamer, or the internal streamer using Upnp?
Thank You Tarun. Good review. What I'd like is someone to explain the articture of Denafrips upgrades to date. It's a bit confusing and not likely to get better. I could use a benchmark.
Thanks Jim. I need to work out what has changed in the Venus 15th version myself. The 12th has a couple of minor component changes and the transformers increasing to 80VA each as opposed to 60VA. Not significant enough to warrant a standalone review over my Venus II IMO 😊
Agree about the need for Denafrips to do a better job on defining precisely changes from one generation to the next. With Vinshine gone the website and support has gone to shit IMHO.
Hi Tarun, I wondered what you thought of the internal streamer? Does it need a separate box to give of its best? If so what sort of level would it need to be? Thanks for your excellent reviews, I watch them all!
@@kentonR thank you. I didn’t have much interest in the streaming module as it is reliant on airplay or UPNP streaming software, I use neither. It is reported to work well as a streamer for people looking for a basic streamer 😊
I would appreciate a review of the Simaudio Moon 280D streaming DAC. Its been available for a few years and certainly looks the part. I have heard a demonstration and found it an interesting piece of kit. What do you think?
@@hargres the 280D is based on an old ESS9018K2M DAC and has a modest power supply. I can’t see what it has that justifies the price over sub £1,000 DACs from Topping or SMSL. Of course, the proof is always in the listening 🤔
Hello Tarun, I think you should review the Chord Hugo TT2 because it’s like you a British product from an English company made in Britain 😊 I would like a comparison with the Holo Cyan 2, Spring 3 for example or the May. I’d like to know where the TT2 placed itself in a hierarchy. Thanks
Here in Canada we have access to PS audio products. If you have a chance, a good candidate for a Dac review would be their Stellar Gold Dac which sells for $4000.00 US dollars.
Great review once again, many thanks. I suggest taking a look at the Merason Reuss and/or Hifi Rose Rd 160. Both come in around 5000 Euro and get very good reviews
Wow. It's 2024 and people are just starting to learn what we all knew in the 60s. Yes paralleling dac chips generally improves SNR. You know what will improve SNR further? Increase the output voltage of the dac. This is why balanced out has a better SNR. The signal is usually 4vrms while the noise remains largely the same, so the RATIO improves.
@@Pete.across.the.street It's because there is a full stop after the statement that Tristan is most likely referring to amplifiers (or other) running in parallel reduces SNR. I'm sorry, but this is a UA-cam channel, its motive is to report differences.
Let's not get all nostalgic. Sound quality of all components is vastly better today than back in the 1960's. I think some receivers and amps were pretty good from earlier eras but my goodness the speakers were pretty bad. You're just trying to give yourself a pat on the back for being old. And maybe you need it at that age. Glad you've enjoyed the hobby all these years though.
As others mentioned, LTA is probably the most interesting DAC of the moment. If you want to try a more exotic boutique DAC, Lampizator from Poland. And of course any DAC from Esoteric Japan and Playback Design, US - all very different philosophies in design and sound. You’d think as you go up in price DACs would converge sonically (after all there is only one digital data stream) and it’s actually the opposite that happens. Also forgot, the Mola Mola DAC - bloody expensive but quite special, and PS audio new Stellar line also novel and far more fairly priced. That should keep you busy 😊
I love my Denafrips Venus 12th anniversary….I have compared it to a lot of dacs, the Venus has a permanent place in my system….the only thing I miss is Alvin….
You could review one of the Bricasti Designs DACs. The M1SE is a highly regarded design and the base model M3 is particularly good at the point. The M21 has a selectable DAC architecture; delta sigma and R2-R ladder for PCM conversion and for DSD playback, true direct DSD.
i have to admit that before this video i would've never considered Gustard in the first place. but if Gustard showed inside their chassis like you did my opinion would've been higher. as a long time McIntosh stan anyone who takes the trouble to pot their own transformers is o.k. by me.
Thank you for this, it is much appreciated. By the way, Elise Audio sell it for £2399 (less than what you mentioned). It would be great to get your thoughts on the LTA Aero DAC.
Anybody want to buy an arm or maybe a leg…go on, you never know when a spare arm might come in handy…no? Very nice bit of kit, thanks for the peek Tarun. Still enjoying my budget Fiio K11 R2R and SR11 streamer, less expensive than 6 months of the platform it was designed for, Roon.
I would be very interested to hear your take on any McIntosh equipment - but regarding high end DACs there is the MDA200 - US$4,000. Are you just paying for the name and the green illumination? Other interesting US-made DACs: Bricasti M3 US$6,000 - does the Lexicon connection translate into something special? PS Audio Stellar Gold US$4,000 Benchmark DAC3 B US$1,899 - their incredibly well measuring power amps have lots of fans (love to see your take on them too) - does that approach translate to DACs where there still seems to be a bit of voodoo, I mean qualitative factors at play.
Hey Tarun …..I often wonder how a Dac that everyone seemed to love fairs after a few years against newer releases. The Holo Audio Kitsune May Dac comes to mind. Would love to hear your take on that venerable Dac.
That's a great question. I believe that DAC has a softer sound than this X30 based off reviews. But yeah, your broader question of how old favs compare is very relevant.
Thank you Tarun for another good review sharing lots of insights. Would a modern take on CD playback such as the Shanling ET3 with up sampling and I2S be a good match? Just a thought.
Dear Tarun, here are some DACs exceeding 3,000 you could take into consideration for a closer look and review...at least in my view: 1. LTA AERO 2. HiFi Rose RD160 3. Rockna Wavelight or even Wavedream 4. T+A DAC200 5. Audial S5b (but slightly below 3,000) 🔥🐹🔥
I would really love to see yourself review the T+A DAC 200, yes it is costly however it includes some useful features including HDMI ARC. The DAC 200 is essentially two DACs in one box, for DSD it uses a true 1-bit design, while with PCM signals use a quadruple Burr Brown converter. Would be Interesting to see Burr Brown go up against the ESS Sabre chips. I believe the value for money is there if one is also in the market for a preamp of matching quality.
Taurun, I watch and enjoy every one of your reviews no matter the product. You keep me up to date at the state of the world of hifi. Thank you for such great work.
Thank you my friend 😊👍
Please, it's Tarun!
@@llanfairpwyllgogogoch1279calm down
Appreciate you Tarun, you review something for every audiophile, not just the 1%. Keep up the good work!
Th am you. Much appreciated 😊👍
I find myself amazed with Taurun's reviews of higher end equipment like this as his ability not only to hear and recognize specific minute differences between pieces but the way he articulates that experience into words creating a uniquely detailed presentation to really allow his audience to almost be in his shoes at that moment. It is not easy to explain such technical details without sounding either monotone and lifeless or using word salad technical terms that leave viewers wondering what did he really mean. Taurun's reviews are best described as an Artist who paints imagery for Audiophiles. Once you listen to him you understand why his reviews are a class above the rest.
Thank you my friend. It is very gratifying to receive feedback like that 👍😊👍
The LTA aero is an R2R dac of approx £3500. It uses a ZOTL design with tubes. I have used it now for 4 months and it is very special. I can post mine to you if you would like to live with it and review it. It would be a gesture to thank you for all you do for the audiophile community.
The LTA gear all looks incredible. I've seen and heard it at shows, and I believe the company is located geographically close to me and yet I haven't brought any into the home yet. I'll definitely look into this DAC more
Zzzz
@@razzman2987 sweet dreams.. someday you'll wake up 🫡
Tarun please accept this offer. This DAC is innovative and has an uncommon architecture. Would love to hear what you think. Thank you sir for making the offer.
@@brendanmccarthy4218 Do they have a distributer in UK? Which retailer have them in stock?
The only DAC I could think of in that price range to review is the Chord Hugo TT2. Another great review Tarun. Thanks!
Thank you 😊
Great review Taurun, would you consider reviewing the Denafrips Pontus 15th Anniversary
@@kenny-i9d I am considering it. I need to find out what they have changed first 😊
My dream dac, I really enjoyed my time with the r26 it was a giant killer as well ❤
Excellent review 🙌🏻 Thanks Tarun !
Thank you kindly 😊👍
I was thinking the other day, what is it that makes your reviews always excell compared to other audio channels, and I think I've found the right word Tarun: your presentations are...noble...(that is why I watch every video you make even when I don't intend to buy anything)
Thank you. I really appreciate that 😊👍
Hi Taurun, great review. Reading through the responses, the one high quality over $3K DAC not mentioned would be the PS Audio DirectStream Mk2 DAC with the Mountain Top update ($7999). PS Audio products get great reviews, but are rarely compared with other products. Thank you!
Thanks for the review Tarun! I was one of the people who requested it, I guess its on my short list now :)
@@pr0gre551ve cool 😎
Really hope you will review Cyan 2 :)
Hopefully, it is coming 😊
@@abritishaudiophile7314 I will wait till your review before buying one. You're the best in the industry :)
@@abritishaudiophile7314
Yes, I've been waiting for this one too. I'm hoping it's better than the ares, but competes with Vega s1, r26, pontus and A8. I love that it's just a simple stripped down dac with no features. It's such a competitive price here in the USA.
Hi Tarun, wonderful review as usual. I think a good digital comparison would be the Holoaudio May L3 (the best measuring true-NOS r2r DAC anywhere near its price and rivals the best delta-sigmas at its price) vs ANK kits best tube DAC at the same price (you can select for it to be fully built at the factory). Given your experience with the audio note DAC it would be really interesting to hear your thoughts on two DACs with such radically different philosophies.
It would like to review it but I suspect I am going to have to wait for a new iteration before they will send it to me 😊
great review as usual, tarun - i have been using the x30 since august and till today, the sound is still improving [average 1-2 hours of play a day], the greatest characters i enjoy about the x30 is its timing and dynamic, the bass line is full of impact, texture and can be followed easily, timbre wise, the initial metallic sheen has largely wore off and the tonality has become richer and fuller, the soundstage wider, deeper with almost pin point instrument focus and location, transience is phenomenal with the x30 - i compared this with the LAIV harmony before i fell for the x30 because it makes the music seems much more alive with life like macro and micro dynamic and realism, its goose bump stuff really - the LAIV is no slouch but compares to the x30, the only advantage it has over the x30 seems to be the slightly richer tonal balance [no offense is intended to LAIV users] ... i will be doing a comparison between the x30 and a terminator 2 soon ...
DACs seem to be still getting better rapidly. A few years of patience can easily save thousands.
@@alphaniner3770 the downside of which is losing years of maximizing your enjoyment. Spoken like the old man I am. 😊
@@markwilliford7471 oh yes, that is a very valid point - yolo ❤
👍 another top notch review! Only half way in and gets the 👍 from me!
That is much appreciated 😊👍
Fab review Tarun. The X30 sounds extremely tempting.
Thank you Ajay 😊
Thank you for your work Tarun. As a British audiophile Chord DACs come to mind and how DACs relate to other equipment such as preamplifiers/amplifiers.
@@davidrudman thank you. I would like to review more Chord products but they are a bit shy in sending me stuff 😊
Tarun, I recommend the all-in-one Lyngdorf TDAI 3400. It's a piece of equipment that has earned a permanent spot on my shelf after going through a ton of hi-fi gear.
I use lyngsdorf bw sub, their demo room in munich was impresive few years ago.
@@VeliborSI, agree. Friend of mine uses 1120, he is very happy guy since buying this amp 😊.
@@veliborkusic4595 I appreciate the suggestion 😊
Aqua HiFi DACs deserve your attention 🎉
Thank you Tarun - truly appreciate your thoughtful and balanced approach. Suggested review - T+A DAC 200. Also something that would be interesting to many of us McIntosh owners, compare the built-in DA2 to an external DAC of your choice. $2k-$4k.
@@markwilliford7471 thank you. It is on my shortlist 😊
Golden already did an absolutely perfect and outstanding review of the T+A 200.
Edit: I first thought you asked for DACs below 3K, sorry my bad 😅
Well, above 3 grand there's just a new world of possibility. Personally my short list to look into would be these :
- Merason Reuss
- Abbas 3.1 (tube)
- Rose RD160 (this one freshly released is interesting for his SFP port)
- Cen.Grand DSDAC Deluxe
- Bricasti M3
- B. Audio Bdac one
- Totaldac Core
- Rockna Wavelight
- Luxman DA-07X
I'm guessing Abbas and Totaldac are very unlikely to get your hands on but i figured i'd throw it anyway in case someone else might want to check them out.
Thank you. It is the £3k+ category where I am struggling to find examples that seem good value for money 😊
Thanks for the review. AudioGd makes R2R dacs that may be worth the while to review.
@@evgenyevichamadou9559 thx 😊
Great review. Like you I prefer R2R, and have a T Plus, but was tempted recently by the new Hifi Rose RD160, mainly because of potential synergy with my RS130 streamer. The fact it is a Delta Sigma machine put me off, but I would love to hear your take. It has lots of interesting tech including optical ethernet and optical USB. I believe it uses the new AKM flagship two chip module, the AK4499EX / AK4191 velvetsound. That itself is genuinely different.
Not cheap at £4699
The Gustard X30 DAC is an outstanding piece of kit. I bought one of these a couple of months ago and I was flabbergasted at the level of detail, high quality sound and neutral tonality this quality DAC provides. Your bang on the button with this review as well Taurun and I agree with your appraisal. 👍👍
A dac above 3000? That is not that difficult. But the question is how much above.😮 Brands which come to mind are ; dCS, Grimm, and mola mola. Take your pick. For all brands, I am curious about your opinion.
Thank you, for your nice review.
Hello. I am glad that you paid attention to this DAC and made a quality review of it. I was one of the first to recommend you to listen to it. And I completely agree with your conclusions. Gustard X30 is worthy of attention of die-hard music lovers - skeptics and proves that ESS in the right configuration can sound better than R2R. It is definitely worth the money. The only important thing you missed is the high sensitivity of this DAC to a quality fuse. Replacing the standard fuse with a more expensive SR moves the tonality to the analog side, makes the high frequencies even more controlled and full-bodied. In this case, it would not yield to Venus 2
Great review honest as usual 😊
Thank you. Much appreciated 😊👍
Tarun, agree with many here posting on the consistent excellence of your reviews. This one in particular is among the best. A couple of points were raised by other R26 owners here: I optimized it via an external OXCO and using a DDC to feed it via I2S, and it was the performance then that allowed me to sell on my Terminator II. I am about to try a Gustard fuse upgrade, too, will come back here to report. FYI the LAN input if optimized is second only to its I2S. As for recommendations for other DACs above $3K, I would submit my tube DAC the Lampizator Baltic V4 at $7K as a worthy contender for timbral excellence under $10K. But, I've heard it's hard to get a Lampi to review as the proprietor and NA distributor are already busy enough fulfilling orders - and thus maybe too a bit review shy as the risk of a poor review isn't worth it.
Excellent review as always, thank you! I'd be curious about a review of the Lab12 Dac 1 reference, which is about 3000 E and certainly has a quite special architecture. Cheers!
Great review, Tarun. 👍
Greetings Tarun from NZ. Thanks for your as ever thoughtful, balanced review. Gustard seem to be on a roll don’t they. I’m an R26 owner who over the last few years went to a bit of trouble - and expenditure - on a number external and internal tweaks to eke out a bit more of its potential eg. a better external clock and mu-metal encapsulation of its transformers satisfyingly improved its soundstage breadth and depth and bass definition and impact, whilst lessening the level of grain and glare it can have in my revealing system on some material. So I already had an appreciation of what their DACs could scale to with a little more resources applied to certain areas. Appreciate such tweaking isn’t most folks’ cup of tea, so to hear Gustard have delivered a one box upgrade model at such a standard is very cool. There’s a rumoured R30 early next year, a strong candidate for your new year’s review list methinks.
@@Wharariki thank you. I would like to see an R30 come out. Great to learn about your experiences 😊
The Dragon has awaken and he is showing its power to the world.
The X30 is £2,399.00 from UK Amazon and thus cheaper than buying direct from Shinzen (once you add VAT etc) as well as being a safer bet if anything goes wrong. I have the R26 which I got used (with a guarantee) for about £1000 less than the X30 from a dealer on on Ebay and have upgraded with a c. £80 external OCXO 10MHZ clock, feeding it I2S from a Singxer SU-2 DDC. Maybe the bare X30 is better, but until and unless I hear it I don't know. However, I've just been listening to Keb' Mo' and he's holographically in the room -- IMHO all the instruments as well as his voice have beautiful tonality. Besides, I have a self-imposed limit on what I'm prepared to spend on any one item, and the X30 is beyond that.
Bearing that in mind, I'm loath to suggest DACs for evaluation at the £3K+ price point as it would only torture me with the next greatest thing! 🙂
That said, I'd be very interested to hear your take on less expensive DACs like the Holoaudio Cyan 2.
Thank you John. Shenzhen Audio has it listed at £2,300. The price includes shipping but not taxes 😊
Wow...wow....wow... Great review indeed. This is the first time I’ve heard a reviewer say a delta sigma Dac chip can compete and even surpass (in some areas) a high quality R2R dac at around the same price (and in some cases even more). Oh and lets not forget, assuming a delta sigma DAC like the ES9039PRO can compete with a good R2R then it must surpass the AKM 4499 as I’ve never seen any popular youtube reviewer with any credible trustability & sincerity say they prefer the ESS over the AKM.
I’ve always known that when designed properly Delta Sigam DAC’s can compete with similarly priced R2R, and the ESS vs AKM argument is total HiFi snobbery and is best ignored or are passed-off as ignorant.
The chip is but a tiny cog in dac wheel. It’s how it’s implemented.
Thank you very much Tarun for another excellent review.
I would like to see a review of the Magna Mano Ultra MK3.5 streamer with Gentoo Player software.
Some say that this combination of streamer and software is very close to the level of your Auralic Aries G1, so it would be very interesting to have Tarun's opinion.
It is also a streamer that can have an I2S output, which is not very common, unfortunately.
Excellent review. I recently watched a Pearl Acoustic video comparison of the new Pontus 15th vs a Topping D90III, an SMSL AKM chip DAC and the NOS Sugden DAC-4. I preferred the DAC-4 Sugden with older tech far more than the Pontus 15. Even the AKM 4499ex chip SMSL sounded better than the Pontus 15 in terms of bass and lively,realistic presentation.
Bass (speed and control) performance seems the achilles heel of most r2r dacs 🤔
I downloaded the samples that were available from Pearl and came to conclusion that the Denafrips was muddy and bloated in the bass compared to the others. I liked the Sugden and the D90 III.
Thank you for sharing 😊
Hi Tarun, great and enjoyabel review. The X30 was also on my list but I fokus now on two other DACs which amy also good for a review: ANK DAC 5.1 Signature and T+A MP 2000 R. The latter one is a multisource player incluing DAC. Very interesting device.
Thank you Frank 😊
Well done Tarun !
Eversolo A10 is coming next week, should be around $3000. I like the new look of it. I would love a review. Hoping it is dual mono DAC as well.
Thx Pete 😊
I own both Holo Audio May and this Gustatd X30. Amazingly this X30 wins in terms of superb bass control. bigger sound stage and separations of instruments. DSD input with I2S and external clocks input had better performance 😊
Good 👍 review! I wish to know how this DAC compares to the much cheaper Holo May Cyan 2. Perhaps you can get your hands on one.
Thx. The Cyan 2 is due to come in 😊
Hmm, the Ferrum Wandla is close to that price point. You should check it out, I love mine. And it has HDMI. There is also the GoldenSound version which has some really interesting tweaks.
Thx 😊
You know what I can't stop asking for: Linn Selekt with Organik DAC
Thank you. They seem pricey but I know some people who are very happy with them 😊
@@abritishaudiophile7314 yes I know they seem expensive, but nowhere near as pricey as the likes of Msb, Ideon, Apl, Nadac or Abbas DAC.
Denafrips 15th and Venus 15th, Holo audio Cyan 2 are a must listen DACs on your channel. Thank you Tarun for another excellent review👌🏻
Thank you kindly 😊👍
Yes with your extensive experience with Denafrips models it would be interesting to know what improvements the 15th models have managed with minimal price increases.
Thank you for the review, Tarun. It is super useful to know how the market offering of DACs is improving. My suggestion would be a top DAC from Holo Audio - May DAC Kitsune Edition. It would be great to hear how it compares to Spring 3 and the other lineup you have.
@@adotoshny thank you. I would like to review a May KTE but will probably have to wait for a new version before they will send it to me 😊
It would be amazing to see a review of higher end Audio Note DAC like 2.1 signature.
Watch this space 😉
loved the vid sir, have a good weekend m.
Thank you Tarun. I would love to hear your opinion on some good tube output stage dacs. There are a few out there in the 5k+ range for sure!
Thank you. I have been thinking along the some lines. There are a couple of tube based DACs that are on my shortlist 😊
Thank you for your precious and fine detailed review, I really enjoy your way to show us The strenghts of thoee dacs.
I would like to ear from you a review of The new Norma Revo Dac-2, which was awarded at The last Munich High End.
Thanks again
LTA Aero doesn’t seem a waste of time 🙏🏼.
Thx. That is on my radar 😊
Love to hear this.
Thx 😊
The Musician Taurus is around that price range. Seems like great value for what it offers. Holo Audio also has a lot of great ones. Weiss, Lampizator Amber 3 - a tube dac. Still, and at a more reasonable price, i'd like you to give us your opinion on the discrete version of the Topping D90 iii as well as their DX9 dac/amp combo.
Thank you. The Lampizator Atlantic TRP should be coming in at some point 😊
Good looking DAC.
Gaia-->VenusII listener here with the latest 2023 firmware update.
Some months ago I switched from OS(slow) mode on the VenusII to NOS mode. With recent changes in amp and speakers, I much prefer NOS mode now over OS mode -- NOS is tighter, better PRaT ... worth a look in any case.
Interesting stuff. Thank you 😊
Great review as always! I came so close to purchasing the X30 yesterday and was happy to hear your thoughts. For other DACs to review I’d recommend the Wyred4Sound Anniversary. It easily bettered my Denafrips Pontus II which I highly regarded. If you go for a demo, grab the companion ISO Recovery unit. For the $ this DAC is hard to beat.
Hi Tarun ! I think the Atoll ST300 Signature would be a great review. The inner architecture is qualitative. And the sound is precise and natural.
Another great review Tarun. I always look forward to your take on new products. For something above the 3 pound and up price range to review, how about the Chord Hugo TT 2. In the cheaper category would love to see you review the Holo Audio Cyan 2. Cheers!
Thank you 👍
Appreciate your reviews Tarun. Hope you get to review the IOTAVX SA/PA 40 soon.
I can give you a little review, I've owned it for a couple of months now. It smokes my previous amps, the Audiolab 6000a and the Rotel A11 Tribute while being in roughly the same price range. 1st thing I noticed was an enhanced sense of presence/spaciousness in the upper mids. 2nd thing is it delivers a lot of bass. Very surprising how much more it delivers. So it sounds big, expanded and spacious. Holographic if you will. It is also to live with in a practical sense and I love the balanced inputs (a little extra clarity in upper frequencies).
Downside is and there is only one, it doesn't have the most natural tonality. It's very exciting for music but when just watching regular YT videos sometimes the upper bass region (male vocals) sound muffled. Kind of murmur-y. Turning the bass down with the tone controls helps. It's not every video but when you hear it, it's really noticeable. Speech clarity and naturalness was much better on the other two amps mentioned. There is also a bit extra in the upper mids. It makes music sound cool but you can detect a smidge extra sharpness on S's than should be there. Not enough to really bother me but it's there.
All in all i highly recommend it for anyone looking for the feature set, power and musical excitement. If you want the most refined and natural sound I'd consider other units. But besting it overall would likely take double or triple the price. Enjoy!
I'd also love to see Tarun review it too and see what he makes of it. His ear is for more educated than mine!
A recommendation for a DAC above 3,000? Well, I am not sure what you meant by the internal architecture that does not match the price. I am no expert on that so maybe a shoot in the dark, but I would look into the Merason Reuss and or Sonnet Morpheus or Pasithea.
Edit: I forgot to add the reason why. I own the Sonnet Morpheus and I think it to be exceptional. And Merason for almost the same reason. I considered initially the Frerot step down, because of good reviews, but decided to go higher and at that time Merason did not have Reuss. And I heard good thing about Reuss too. I was in the market for a DAC that does not weight "100lbs" as Denafrips does (yes, that was also a factor for me) and these DACs are small and light comparing to the other ladder DACs.
I appreciate the suggestions 😊
Hello Tarun. Can I suggest APL HI-FI DAC's for review. Even the cheapest one in the range is above 3k. At least one criteria is met.😊You might be pleasantly surprised about the sound. They are FPGA based DACS with proprietary hardware and software. If I could afford they would be my first choice.
@@selo8050 thank you 😊
Hi Tarun. All things considered, only leaving price aside. Would you pick X30 over the Holo Audio Cyan 2 or viceversa ? Would the holo Audio cyan 2 hold it's ground against the X30?
I hope to find out 😊
Would appreciate a review of Musetec MH-DA006
Thank you 😊
Merason Reuss seems to be worth to test!
Best regards
@@enduro500sp thx 😊
You can check the Fezz Equinox Prestige Balanced DAC by Lampizator, this is an audio Hi-Fi manufacturer from Poland, the dac was made in collaboration with Lampizator but its much cheaper than Lampizator dacs. Also you may check the Fezz Titania (KT88) or Fezz Silver Luna Prestige (el34) tube amplifiers.
@@adriancatanailie thanks for the heads up. I will check it out 😊
Top review,
@@hirdeshirde thank you 😊
Hi Tarun, I think it would be great if you could review the Chord TT2 and see how it fairs against the dacs you currently have. Maybe with the M-Scaler too?
@@KXP70 it would like to do that. I will have to wait for a new version before they are likely to send me one though 😊
@@abritishaudiophile7314 I fear we are quite some years away from that. Maybe we can find someone super generous to loan you one 😄
How about reviewing the Denafrips Terminator-15, and New Pontus -15 dac !
Thanks for the review. You might want to check out Ayon; their Kronos Dac or other offerings. I use a ten year-old Ayon CD player and have tried to better it several times in the last few years with gear from Chord, Gustard and SMSL yet none of them got near the tonal mass, richness, sweetness or delicacy. I brought the Ayon based on a review that it 'doesn't sound like digital' and that has been my experience. They do use tubes extensively throughout their digital range and you may find it interesting to use companies like Ayon , Border Patrol or Musical Paradise to make a segment examining the pros and cons of using tubes in digital output stages or in choke power rectification.
Hi Tarun, I commented once before on the mola mola tambaqui dac. Expensive for sure but your thoughts would be interesting. I’ve not seen a bad review but they are a while ago and so modern dacs like this Gustard and Denafrips have not been considered competitively. What do you think?
Whenever I hear 'hold on to your hats' my immediate thought is 'pull up your pant legs, it's too late to save your shoes". Obviously not the case here. This must indeed be a special product to get such praise from you.
It strikes me that once again, specific circuit design is secondary to excellent implementation. Case in point, the excellent SOUNDING Delta-Sigma DAC here.
Great to see this reviewed here Tarun. What would be the best trnasport on a budget for this, node 2i, entry level innuos streamer, or the internal streamer using Upnp?
@@rog86 I would start with the internal streamer 😊
Nice review. How does the X30 compare to the LAiV Harmony?
Obvious question.
@@richardsaila8073 absolutely, as I'm a Harmony owner. 😀
Two very different sonic signatures but the X30 is significantly more resolving 👍
@@abritishaudiophile7314 thank you Tarun.
Thank You Tarun. Good review. What I'd like is someone to explain the articture of Denafrips upgrades to date. It's a bit confusing and not likely to get better. I could use a benchmark.
Thanks Jim. I need to work out what has changed in the Venus 15th version myself. The 12th has a couple of minor component changes and the transformers increasing to 80VA each as opposed to 60VA. Not significant enough to warrant a standalone review over my Venus II IMO 😊
Agree about the need for Denafrips to do a better job on defining precisely changes from one generation to the next. With Vinshine gone the website and support has gone to shit IMHO.
Hi Tarun, I wondered what you thought of the internal streamer? Does it need a separate box to give of its best? If so what sort of level would it need to be? Thanks for your excellent reviews, I watch them all!
@@kentonR thank you. I didn’t have much interest in the streaming module as it is reliant on airplay or UPNP streaming software, I use neither. It is reported to work well as a streamer for people looking for a basic streamer 😊
Hi Taurun
Have a look to Atoll dac 300, very well made ...
Hope you can review the PS Audio StellarGold. Similar prices and also a ESS9038Pro DAC. The Gustard seems to have better spec though.
A review on the Holo May would be great.
I would appreciate a review of the Simaudio Moon 280D streaming DAC. Its been available for a few years and certainly looks the part. I have heard a demonstration and found it an interesting piece of kit. What do you think?
@@hargres the 280D is based on an old ESS9018K2M DAC and has a modest power supply. I can’t see what it has that justifies the price over sub £1,000 DACs from Topping or SMSL. Of course, the proof is always in the listening 🤔
Hello Tarun, I think you should review the Chord Hugo TT2 because it’s like you a British product from an English company made in Britain 😊
I would like a comparison with the Holo Cyan 2, Spring 3 for example or the May. I’d like to know where the TT2 placed itself in a hierarchy.
Thanks
Here in Canada we have access to PS audio products. If you have a chance, a good candidate for a Dac review would be their Stellar Gold Dac which sells for $4000.00 US dollars.
What about the Metronone DSC Mini DAC? Or something quite different: the Lindemann Musicbook Source 2 streaming DAC. Nice review again by the way!
Great review as always. Can you review sonnet morpheus dac .
Thank you 😊
Merason, Tambaqui, Wandla, and Mojo are all reviews I would love to see your thoughts on.
Thank you 😊
Great review once again, many thanks. I suggest taking a look at the Merason Reuss and/or Hifi Rose Rd 160. Both come in around 5000 Euro and get very good reviews
Hi Tarun - love Yours reviews. you should review the mola mola tambaqui dac. Regard bent
@@benthaavaas4230 thank you 😊
Wow. It's 2024 and people are just starting to learn what we all knew in the 60s. Yes paralleling dac chips generally improves SNR. You know what will improve SNR further? Increase the output voltage of the dac. This is why balanced out has a better SNR. The signal is usually 4vrms while the noise remains largely the same, so the RATIO improves.
Weird you would know about DAC chips in the 60's when they weren't invented until the 80's
@@Pete.across.the.street It's because there is a full stop after the statement that Tristan is most likely referring to amplifiers (or other) running in parallel reduces SNR. I'm sorry, but this is a UA-cam channel, its motive is to report differences.
Let's not get all nostalgic. Sound quality of all components is vastly better today than back in the 1960's. I think some receivers and amps were pretty good from earlier eras but my goodness the speakers were pretty bad.
You're just trying to give yourself a pat on the back for being old. And maybe you need it at that age. Glad you've enjoyed the hobby all these years though.
@@tristanjones7735 increasing output voltage on a dac can increase distortion as well
As others mentioned, LTA is probably the most interesting DAC of the moment. If you want to try a more exotic boutique DAC, Lampizator from Poland. And of course any DAC from Esoteric Japan and Playback Design, US - all very different philosophies in design and sound. You’d think as you go up in price DACs would converge sonically (after all there is only one digital data stream) and it’s actually the opposite that happens. Also forgot, the Mola Mola DAC - bloody expensive but quite special, and PS audio new Stellar line also novel and far more fairly priced. That should keep you busy 😊
I love my Denafrips Venus 12th anniversary….I have compared it to a lot of dacs, the Venus has a permanent place in my system….the only thing I miss is Alvin….
Thx Charles 😊
@@abritishaudiophile7314 customer service from Alvin was the best in this world …and a really decent human being…
You could review one of the Bricasti Designs DACs. The M1SE is a highly regarded design and the base model M3 is particularly good at the point. The M21 has a selectable DAC architecture; delta sigma and R2-R ladder for PCM conversion and for DSD playback, true direct DSD.
i have to admit that before this video i would've never considered Gustard in the first place. but if Gustard showed inside their chassis like you did my opinion would've been higher. as a long time McIntosh stan anyone who takes the trouble to pot their own transformers is o.k. by me.
Thx for sharing 😊
Thank you for this, it is much appreciated. By the way, Elise Audio sell it for £2399 (less than what you mentioned). It would be great to get your thoughts on the LTA Aero DAC.
Thank you 😊
Anybody want to buy an arm or maybe a leg…go on, you never know when a spare arm might come in handy…no?
Very nice bit of kit, thanks for the peek Tarun. Still enjoying my budget Fiio K11 R2R and SR11 streamer, less expensive than 6 months of the platform it was designed for, Roon.
@@Panslapper thx for sharing 😊
I would be very interested to hear your take on any McIntosh equipment - but regarding high end DACs there is the MDA200 - US$4,000. Are you just paying for the name and the green illumination?
Other interesting US-made DACs:
Bricasti M3 US$6,000 - does the Lexicon connection translate into something special?
PS Audio Stellar Gold US$4,000
Benchmark DAC3 B US$1,899 - their incredibly well measuring power amps have lots of fans (love to see your take on them too) - does that approach translate to DACs where there still seems to be a bit of voodoo, I mean qualitative factors at play.
@@batterytestchannel-v4v thx for sharing 😊
I think the Weiss 204 DAC is worth consideration, it's about 3500 in the states.
I have it and for $2750 - amazing for that price.
@@michaelmityok1001 I'm tempted to buy the ModWright Linear Power Supply for mine.
Hey Tarun …..I often wonder how a Dac that everyone seemed to love fairs after a few years against newer releases. The Holo Audio Kitsune May Dac comes to mind. Would love to hear your take on that venerable Dac.
That's a great question. I believe that DAC has a softer sound than this X30 based off reviews. But yeah, your broader question of how old favs compare is very relevant.
Thank you Tarun for another good review sharing lots of insights. Would a modern take on CD playback such as the Shanling ET3 with up sampling and I2S be a good match? Just a thought.
Dear Tarun, here are some DACs exceeding 3,000 you could take into consideration for a closer look and review...at least in my view:
1. LTA AERO
2. HiFi Rose RD160
3. Rockna Wavelight or even Wavedream
4. T+A DAC200
5. Audial S5b (but slightly below 3,000)
🔥🐹🔥
@@ramlord6669 thank you for the suggestion. Some of those are on my shortlist 😊
I would really love to see yourself review the T+A DAC 200, yes it is costly however it includes some useful features including HDMI ARC. The DAC 200 is essentially two DACs in one box, for DSD it uses a true 1-bit design, while with PCM signals use a quadruple Burr Brown converter. Would be Interesting to see Burr Brown go up against the ESS Sabre chips. I believe the value for money is there if one is also in the market for a preamp of matching quality.
Please review the teac UD-701N. Hanz reviewed it and opened it up. Seeing at the inside got me curious. Would like your opinion on it