Would love to see a streamer/transport comparison. Having a separate DAC means a separate streamer, and yet so many include a DAC. Great comparison of the DAC's as all your reviews/comparisons. TY
I bought a Cambridge DAC Magic 200M before I saw your review. At $499, it is probably not in the league of the DACs you reviewed. However, the VA Medical Center says I can't hear much over 13000 Khz anyway. I am 65 years old. Not sure these high end DACs would make any difference to my listening enjoyment. I connect the DAC to my MacMini M1, using USB B. The MacMini runs Roon Core. The Mac handles the streaming of Tidal. From the DAC, unbalanced output to my old NAD 765 home theatre. NAD has its own DSP modes, but my take is that I should leave the NAD 765 in analogue bypass mode to actually hear what the DAC is sending. Am I right in this assumption?
I did the same journey… listened and tested DAC’s from $50 to $20K. Two best regardless of price: German built RME ADI-2 $1,200, Best Nuprime DAC9/10 $999-1,600, Runner up Both are found at many recording studios. Both have superb DAC architecture, quality volume controls, and output analog stages (basically they can be pre-amps directly outputting to a power amp).
@@AlexanderTG3 Blow it out of the water? That’s some serious hyperbole. The only thing that will blow these things out of the water is actual real live music.
Unfortunately the Weiss 501's volume control isn't lossless. I know a mkii version is out but I can't find anything whether this has been corrected or not.
Thanks for the review, I had a $10k budget for a Dac, after intensive research I decided on the Musetec 005 @ $3.3k delivered, I’ve had it 14 months now, I believe it can compete with those top level Dacs, really worth a try
Enjoyed your impressions of the dacs you've tried. If you are looking for other ones in this range some that come to mind are Schiit Yggdrasil OG and Bricasti M1. The Weiss is really cool, that form factor is a bonus too
I have the Holo Audio Spring 3 KTE and it is just sublime… everything you described for the Weiss can describe the Spring 3 DAC IMO…. I think you should review it someday.
I really enjoy your videos reviews. I am wondering if you have considered reviewing the Playback Designs MPD-8? Would like to hear your thoughts on this one.
I generally believe that DACs, beyond a certain level, are just acting as tone/distortion controls. I look forward to future products that allow us to fine tune that for ourselves. Allo actually has a DAC that gives you some distortion control IIRC.
Currently using a Rupert Neve headphone amp with a Cayin RU6 and Focal Elegia headphones. My summit Head-Fi system will be the Weiss 501 with Focal Utopia 2022 headphones.
Try some mid level Lampi, i heard thier Horizon and it was amazing at Florida Audio Show but at hefty....50Kusd They have a Baltic model for around 6000usd that maybe significant upgrade over your Lampi.
Great JOB comparing DACs at all sorts of price points ! So many options out there that it is frankly, dizzying. I wonder if you have attempted do blind listening to eliminate any biases ! That would be super interesting....
I had the WeissDAC501 in my system for about a month. It is a very satisfying unit..with Roon endpoint built in…and many DSP features and headphone output. I liked it a lot. I would be happy settling on it. Exchanged a few emails with the designer Daniel Weiss as well. There is a ESS9038Pro based version coming soon. However, when the dealer asked me if I wanted to trade in my TT2/MScaler for the DAC501…I chose to keep my Chord stack. The TT2/MScaler is in a higher SQ league compared to the DAC501…in my system. Tbh…quite surprised the best DAC you’ve heard is the Weiss DAC501…especially after trying the DAVE and dCS Bartok. I’m hoping to one day hear Weiss’ flagship Medus. Interesting hobby this is.
Trying out different dacs is like trying 30 different flavors of cola, they all taste like cola yet are subtly different. (But will cost you thousands of dollars to try them all to find your favorite.)
Never quite sure how far away from the original recordings all these different sounding DACs really are. Which one is the most accurate?…… impossible to know
Would it be even fair to compare the Qutest to the Weiss DAC? I ask because I recently acquired a Qutest for my headphone setup and was wondering how much better the experience could get with a dac501 for future upgrade.
Sibilants can sometimes come when the recording is inverted absolute phase. When this is corrected, then you can often hear the fricatives (P, T, D, etc) of a vocalist better. I see the Weiss has a polarity toggle, so trying this is easy.
Have you listened to the higher up Lampizator dacs in line with your Weiss like theGolden gate etc. I have found that tubes are always needed in a system to bring the analogue Realism afrer all our ears Are analogue
I wonder if you had a chance to listen to PS Audio top DAC - DirectStream? It costs around 5K and is FPGA-based. BTW, I deal with audiophile music recording using top ribbon mics and silver microphone cables. Utmost attention to reduction of structure-born vibrations is paid as well as to the most beneficial mics’ placement. Result are native DSD128 recordings that are very special. Are you interested in checking the quality of the recordings? I can send you a link to a Dropbox samples’ folder if you are.
It's often hard to know 'where to go' from where you are.. I have a 2012 'giant killer' Metrum octave . At that time at $900 ,6 moons said it competed at the 5000 pound($7,000) price point.. Will a $500 DAC today beat a $7000 DAC of 2012??..I am completely unsure of my upgrade point. Is the $799 DAC here an upgrade on my analogue sounding NOS Metrum?
Would love to hear impressions of m2tech since they don't seem to get much coverage in the US, as well as the mola mola (though that has a lot of press already). Studio pieces like the benchmark, cranesong solaris, burl, dangerous convert-2, and spl mercury might be interesting to check out as well!
You’re right I have been using the Young III with the Van Der Graaf MkII, IT IS FABULOUS! We tested it in a big rig versus the Playback, Weiss and Denafrips Terminator and it sounds different, but many thought it was more musical and organic. The marketing is not there in the US unfortunately
I own the MSB Discrete Dac with the renderer. I went from the dCS Bartok to MSB. They are on the same level but I am liking the MSB more right now. A big plus is the upgrade path.
This guy is making a review in a room with a huuuuge reverb! And his systems sems to be in the same room. That makes a big question- is he the one to listen to?
Really surprised to not see the MOLA MOLA TAMBAQUI DAC in this list. As far as I can tell, any list that is getting near to $10k, and more importantly ABOVE $10k demands this DAC be included, or its just lost all merit....Sorry.
Where does the pontus ii land in this lineup? Surprised you didn't mention it after liking it so much a month or two ago :)
Glad to hear about Weiss, not many reviews out there. Thanks!
Would love to see a streamer/transport comparison. Having a separate DAC means a separate streamer, and yet so many include a DAC. Great comparison of the DAC's as all your reviews/comparisons. TY
Heck add a CD transport in there as well
Wow a man who tells it as he hears it. No waffle just concise and to the point cheers brow.
A friend in printing was given the nugget; 'quality = comparison' - so thank you for comparing this little lot!
I bought a Cambridge DAC Magic 200M before I saw your review. At $499, it is probably not in the league of the DACs you reviewed. However, the VA Medical Center says I can't hear much over 13000 Khz anyway. I am 65 years old. Not sure these high end DACs would make any difference to my listening enjoyment. I connect the DAC to my MacMini M1, using USB B. The MacMini runs Roon Core. The Mac handles the streaming of Tidal. From the DAC, unbalanced output to my old NAD 765 home theatre. NAD has its own DSP modes, but my take is that I should leave the NAD 765 in analogue bypass mode to actually hear what the DAC is sending. Am I right in this assumption?
I did the same journey… listened and tested DAC’s from $50 to $20K. Two best regardless of price:
German built RME ADI-2 $1,200, Best
Nuprime DAC9/10 $999-1,600, Runner up
Both are found at many recording studios. Both have superb DAC architecture, quality volume controls, and output analog stages (basically they can be pre-amps directly outputting to a power amp).
If it’s regardless of price I highly doubt the RME would outperform a $5-6k DAC let not even talking about a $10+ DAC it will blow it out of the water
@@AlexanderTG3 Blow it out of the water? That’s some serious hyperbole. The only thing that will blow these things out of the water is actual real live music.
@@toucheslapper whatever gets your feet a tapping. purely subjective. i have a 8 year old NAD D1050 that sound incredible to me.
Nice to have one reviewer who can compare so many different DACS.
Unfortunately the Weiss 501's volume control isn't lossless. I know a mkii version is out but I can't find anything whether this has been corrected or not.
Thanks for the review, I had a $10k budget for a Dac, after intensive research I decided on the Musetec 005 @ $3.3k delivered, I’ve had it 14 months now, I believe it can compete with those top level Dacs, really worth a try
that's my budget for my used Civic.
Enjoyed your impressions of the dacs you've tried. If you are looking for other ones in this range some that come to mind are Schiit Yggdrasil OG and Bricasti M1. The Weiss is really cool, that form factor is a bonus too
I have the Holo Audio Spring 3 KTE and it is just sublime… everything you described for the Weiss can describe the Spring 3 DAC IMO….
I think you should review it someday.
i own one too,its an incredibil dac
I agree I am running the Holo May KTE with HQPlayer, this combo is stunning and HQPlayer lets you tweak the sound if you want
I really enjoy your videos reviews. I am wondering if you have considered reviewing the Playback Designs MPD-8? Would like to hear your thoughts on this one.
Have seen, read & heard a lot about de Mola Mola. Very curious how they compare to your top picks.
I generally believe that DACs, beyond a certain level, are just acting as tone/distortion controls. I look forward to future products that allow us to fine tune that for ourselves. Allo actually has a DAC that gives you some distortion control IIRC.
So beyond a certain point, amps, preamps, speakers, cables, turntables, cartridges, phono stages act as tone/distortion controls?
Currently using a Rupert Neve headphone amp with a Cayin RU6 and Focal Elegia headphones. My summit Head-Fi system will be the Weiss 501 with Focal Utopia 2022 headphones.
Great review! Question, are you planning on reviewing the Benchmark Audio Dacs?
Try some mid level Lampi, i heard thier Horizon and it was amazing at Florida Audio Show but at hefty....50Kusd
They have a Baltic model for around 6000usd that maybe significant upgrade over your Lampi.
Great JOB comparing DACs at all sorts of price points ! So many options out there that it is frankly, dizzying. I wonder if you have attempted do blind listening to eliminate any biases ! That would be super interesting....
Thanks great comparison. But I heard Esoteric makes some ‘noise’ ?!
Yes, but you'll need a 100thou (or +) usd system to be able to appreciate the qualities of a 10thou/15thou dac, am I right?
I have a Rogue Coronus Mark 2 and Magnepan lrs I need a dac which Denafrips dac do you recommend?
I had the WeissDAC501 in my system for about a month. It is a very satisfying unit..with Roon endpoint built in…and many DSP features and headphone output. I liked it a lot. I would be happy settling on it. Exchanged a few emails with the designer Daniel Weiss as well. There is a ESS9038Pro based version coming soon. However, when the dealer asked me if I wanted to trade in my TT2/MScaler for the DAC501…I chose to keep my Chord stack. The TT2/MScaler is in a higher SQ league compared to the DAC501…in my system. Tbh…quite surprised the best DAC you’ve heard is the Weiss DAC501…especially after trying the DAVE and dCS Bartok. I’m hoping to one day hear Weiss’ flagship Medus. Interesting hobby this is.
I’m not surprised with the MScaler in the mix. I think this is the missing piece of the puzzle in this review.
What happened to the review for the Esoteric DAC? 🙃
Holo Audio May KTE! Have you heard it?
I have it and also compared it to the Dave and PS Audio dac.
Prefer the May
Would love to hear the Weiss
I really want to hear the Weiss DAC501, looks a very interesting piece (am sure it’s pronounced Vice though??)
how about hifi rose rs -150 streamer dac at about 6 k ?i heard it at a friends hi end system and its the most analog sounding dac i ever heard ....
Trying out different dacs is like trying 30 different flavors of cola, they all taste like cola yet are subtly different. (But will cost you thousands of dollars to try them all to find your favorite.)
Playback designs mpd-8 and audio music DAC/1 would be interesting to compare here.
Never quite sure how far away from the original recordings all these different sounding DACs really are. Which one is the most accurate?…… impossible to know
Would it be even fair to compare the Qutest to the Weiss DAC? I ask because I recently acquired a Qutest for my headphone setup and was wondering how much better the experience could get with a dac501 for future upgrade.
Wondering what you thought of the 150 B by high-fi Rose in comparison
Do you think stax x9000 would work wirh thw weiss dac ?
Sibilants can sometimes come when the recording is inverted absolute phase. When this is corrected, then you can often hear the fricatives (P, T, D, etc) of a vocalist better. I see the Weiss has a polarity toggle, so trying this is easy.
Have you listened to the higher up Lampizator dacs in line with your Weiss like theGolden gate etc. I have found that tubes are always needed in a system to bring the analogue Realism afrer all our ears Are analogue
i just heard the new Mytek Liberty 2 DAC, you may want to add it to your list. and it's only $1295
Wished you could go up the chain on the Lampizator dacs
Audio Music DAC/1 should be on the list.
And that’s how I feel about my ARC Ref CD9 SE the DAC inside has revolutionized my digital streaming as well as knocks CD’s out of the park.
Schiit Yggdrasil: Less Is More. It just sounds so "correct" to my ears. I've no desire for now.
I hope some day you review the gryphon class A amps
I’ve heard them. Great stuff. At that level, hard to find anything bad. Just different signatures. Gryphon is top tier stuff!
your cables aren't big enough . lol love your vids
I wonder if you had a chance to listen to PS Audio top DAC - DirectStream? It costs around 5K and is FPGA-based.
BTW, I deal with audiophile music recording using top ribbon mics and silver microphone cables. Utmost attention to reduction of structure-born vibrations is paid as well as to the most beneficial mics’ placement. Result are native DSD128 recordings that are very special. Are you interested in checking the quality of the recordings? I can send you a link to a Dropbox samples’ folder if you are.
I'm now confident my ex wife was an Audiophile,because she couldn't stop trying all the neighbors dac's.
Have you had a chance to try them out yourself?😂
try the Italian made Aqua Formula ...best I've ever heard
Have you listened to the Dave + M-Scaler?
I bought a dac for 29€ in China and it sounds amazing.
Topping or SMSL?
It's often hard to know 'where to go' from where you are.. I have a 2012 'giant killer' Metrum octave . At that time at $900 ,6 moons said it competed at the 5000 pound($7,000) price point.. Will a $500 DAC today beat a $7000 DAC of 2012??..I am completely unsure of my upgrade point.
Is the $799 DAC here an upgrade on my analogue sounding NOS Metrum?
Not necessarily.
Better in what way(s)? In the upper echelon, it's more about taste rather than "better."
@@asplmn I guess you're right..you probably need to A/B things in your room which these days is difficult...
Please review the top notch dac Mola Mola DAC
You should hear the Holo Spring Kitsune that sounds and measures better than a Nagra, Lampizator, Denafrips, and more.
Or better yet the May Kitsune version.
I didn’t keep the Amber finding it too forward and not complex .
Bad with stock valves. I bought 15 or so until I was happy.
Pontus II? Pontus? Anyone? Interesting…
Best DAC? I vote for the one in my circa 1992 Sony PCM-7010F DAT Recorder.
Would love to hear impressions of m2tech since they don't seem to get much coverage in the US, as well as the mola mola (though that has a lot of press already). Studio pieces like the benchmark, cranesong solaris, burl, dangerous convert-2, and spl mercury might be interesting to check out as well!
You’re right I have been using the Young III with the Van Der Graaf MkII, IT IS FABULOUS! We tested it in a big rig versus the Playback, Weiss and Denafrips Terminator and it sounds different, but many thought it was more musical and organic. The marketing is not there in the US unfortunately
Jays audio DAC should be considered at around £3k
LOL. All great gear no doubt...and priced accordingly. It's as if the Denafrips Pontus II never graced your listening room...not even a mention.
no Pontus ii? come on? i bought it because of your review
I would spend $10k on a dac - if it also did my dishes. Just waiting for that feature and I'm in.
can't believe you mention iFi Neo iDSD, the cheapest in the list.
RME ADI2 and be done with it. German build. Completely transparent. No “character” etc. I don’t need that from my DAC.
Have you heard the MSB Discrete?
I own the MSB Discrete Dac with the renderer. I went from the dCS Bartok to MSB. They are on the same level but I am liking the MSB more right now. A big plus is the upgrade path.
This guy is making a review in a room with a huuuuge reverb! And his systems sems to be in the same room. That makes a big question- is he the one to listen to?
Do DACS?
Well done!
Cayin I-dac mk2
Excellent!👌
most DACs sounds sounds equal.
Listen to the $135,000 MSB DAC.
So now you need to try TotalDAC and MSB…
Next up, streamers $100-$15000 reviews coming up :D
molamola?
Mola Mola Tambaqui...
A DAC a Day keeps the Audiophile...Unhappy
Really surprised to not see the MOLA MOLA TAMBAQUI DAC in this list. As far as I can tell, any list that is getting near to $10k, and more importantly ABOVE $10k demands this DAC be included, or its just lost all merit....Sorry.
🤣🤣🤣🤣 DACs are twelve to fifteen bucks in Amazon, put one in an aluminum box with a few leds and connectors and... voila! $3,000...$5,000!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣
i think Z will disagree with you all the way.... he truly believes all dac sound the same lol
Lmao