DAC'S

[misterzero]

Iam thinking of getting a dac for my audiolab 6000 CDT and are thinking of one of the following :
Topping E50
Loxjie d30
Schitt modius (if I can find one)

Has anyone used these and if so what is their opinion on them, bit bored of my system and fancied a small affordable upgrade

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[earlofsodbury]

Things is, you've got an excellent CDP with an ultra-low distortion modern DAC onboard - so strapping another offboard DAC of roughly similar quality, and not wildly different performance to it, is likely to yield little or no change in sound.

Discrete-resistor "ladder" DACs are all the rage right now, and if you spend enough on one, it may well provide the sort of upgrade you're hoping for, but that would likely be a significant order of magnitude more expensive.

Were it me (and I'm practising what I'm preaching as I listen to Radio 3 via it), I'd keep my beady eye on ebay and elsewhere for a secondhand Audio Note UK valve DAC that falls within budget - setting aside the fact they are the work of an insane criminal mastermind controlling a team robotic badgers stuffing ancient 18 and 20 bit NOS DAC chips into shoddy biscuit-tins, and the deeply user-unfriendly interfaces (sensu lato) they 'enjoy' - the sound is not only truly excellent, but quite unlike any modern DAC, in a very pleasing, euphonic, and this-is-more-like-good-vinyl way.

Of course, if none of that is what you want, I have just wasted both our time, for which I am truly ambivalent.

[pete-r]

I’ve never bought a piece of hifi equipment without trialling it first. Try to find a dealer near you who can loan you one.

[adrianw]

Have a look at DCS but very expensive

[Tokyo Tokei]

Unless incompetently designed they are going to sound the same, so buy anything that satisfies the urge and meets your budget / aesthetic / excitement requirements and then use my Handy Hifi Helper™ to describe the upgrade in appropriately audiophile terms.

Instructions: Take any word from the first column and combine with any word from the second column with "yet never".

Accurate		Veiled
Airy			Recessed
Analytical		Veiled
Transparent		Muddy
Tight			Bloated
Firm			Boomy
Natural			Boxy
Coherent		Ragged
Articulate		Congested
Crisp			Dark
Delicate		Uncouth
Detailed		Harsh
Dry			Thin
Smooth			Edgy
Fast			Smeared
Focussed		Fatiguing
Liquid			Grainy
Lush			Cool
Musical			Nasal
Foot-tapping		Peaky
Neutral			Recessed

E.g., "Firm yet never boomy".

Advanced practitioners may take more words from the first column, e.g., "Musical and fast, yet never fatiguing"

[Rod]

Have a look at DCS but very expensive

DCS are involved with Arcam DAC design. You can pick up an Arcam from eBay for around £200.
I've always found them to be excellent. Musical Fidelity are good too.

[misterzero]

Thanks for the excellent and witty replies much appreciated

Sent from my Pixel 6 using TZ-UK mobile app

[mondie]

Were it me (and I'm practising what I'm preaching as I listen to Radio 3 via it), I'd keep my beady eye on ebay and elsewhere for a secondhand Audio Note UK valve DAC that falls within budget - setting aside the fact they are the work of an insane criminal mastermind controlling a team robotic badgers stuffing ancient 18 and 20 bit NOS DAC chips into shoddy biscuit-tins, and the deeply user-unfriendly interfaces (sensu lato) they 'enjoy' - the sound is not only truly excellent, but quite unlike any modern DAC, in a very pleasing, euphonic, and this-is-more-like-good-vinyl way.

Superb post, Earl, your comments on PQ made me laugh as they are so accurate. I owned a heavily modified Dac 3 for many years that was indeed lovely.

[crazyp]

I have a luxury and precision P6pro dap - if you haven't tried an R2R, it certainly is worth doing so. DCS are good too, but i like Rod's suggestion of finding an Arcam.

[adrianw]

DCS are involved with Arcam DAC design. You can pick up an Arcam from eBay for around £200.
I've always found them to be excellent. Musical Fidelity are good too.

Can’t say why on here but DCS have nothing to do with Arcam or Harmon, funnily enough I have a lexicon AV processor and that uses the Arcam DAC

[pugster]

ive been using an arcam irDAC for years, sounds great and never had any problems with it (connected to a naim amp and a netbook that holds all my music in .flac format)