DSD DAC options

[Ritmo]

Originally Posted by mbovaird

To be honest, it is. It is just in another league. The detail, the sound, the air around the instruments is simply incredible. It DOES require 200 hours to break in - but after that point - it's purely magical. Even right out of the box, it sounded better than anything I've ever had in my house.

Congrats Mike! Glad you are happy with the EMM. Joe has been really happy with his.

[joeinid]

Originally Posted by Ritmo

Congrats Mike! Glad you are happy with the EMM. Joe has been really happy with his.

[allen_bh]

dCS Scarlatti can also do DSD natively.
Also the Meitner ma-1.

[doggiehowser]

But not 5.1 as the OP asked tho.

[mbovaird]

Originally Posted by Ritmo

Congrats Mike! Glad you are happy with the EMM. Joe has been really happy with his.

Thanks Mike!

[doggiehowser]

Here's something I nicked off another forum for stereo DSD USB DACs (tho some of them spin discs too):

Do note that DSD bitstreaming is only possible with the DoP protocol in a MAC OSX environment because of the limitation of the CoreAudio System. However, TEAC is currently working on the first (that I know of) ASIO driver for the MAC OSX at the moment.

Sonore/exD DAC - USD 1,295
(DAC only | PCM: 24/192 | DSD: DSD64/DSD128 via DoP v1.1 only | 3ps Master Clock | Cirrus Logic CS4398 DAC)

http://www.sonore.us/index2.html


AURALiC VEGA - USD3,499
(DAC/PRE | PCM: 32/384 | DSD: DSD64/DSD128 via DoP v1.1 only | 0.082ps Femto Master Clock | AURALiC Proprietary DAC )

http://www.auralic.com/en/


exaSound e20 - USD2,499
(DAC/PRE/HPA | PCM: 32/384 | DSD: DSD64/DSD128 via DoP v1.1 & Windows ASIO | 0.13ps Femto Master Clock | ESS ES9018 DAC)

http://www.exasound.com/e20DAC/e20DACOverview.aspx


Chord MX Series QX DAC - £990 (approximate)
(DAC only | PCM: 32/384 | DSD: DSD64 via DoP v1.1 only | Chord Proprietary DAC)

http://www.chordelectronics.co.uk/pr...info.asp?id=85


Chord Chordette QuteHD (DSD) DAC - £990
(DAC only | PCM: 32/384 | DSD: DSD64 via DoP v1.1 only | Chord Proprietary DAC)

http://www.chordelectronics.co.uk/pr...info.asp?id=78


Chord QBD76 HDSD DAC - £3,600
(DAC only | PCM: 24/192 | DSD: DSD64 via DoP v1.1 only | Chord Proprietary DAC)

http://www.chordelectronics.co.uk/pr...info.asp?id=74


Korg DS-DAC-10 - ¥ 49,800
(DAC/HPA | PCM: 24/192 | DSD: DSD64/DSD128 via Windows ASIO only | Cirrus Logic CS4398 DAC)

http://translate.google.com/translat...-10%2F&act=url


TEAC UD-501 DAC - ¥ 110,000
(DAC/HPA | PCM: 32/384 | DSD: DSD64/DSD128 via DoP v1.1 & Windows ASIO | BurrBrown PCM1795 x 02 - Dual Mono DAC)

http://translate.google.com/translat...501%2F&act=url


TEAC PD-501HR CDP/DAC - ¥ 86,000
(CDP only | PCM: 24/192 via DVD-R/CD-R | DSD: DSD64/DSD128 via DVD-R/CD-R| Cirrus Logic CS4398 DAC)

http://translate.google.com/translat...1hr%2F&act=url


Fostex HP-A8 - ¥ 100,000 (Jaben Network - S$2,500 > Way Overpriced!)
(DAC/HPA/PRE | PCM: 24/192 | DSD: DSD64 via DoP v1.0 only | SDHC interface | Asahi Kasei AKM4399 DAC - hardware restriction to DSD64 only)

http://translate.google.com/translat...FHP-A8&act=url


Benchmark DAC2 HGC - USD1,995 (Horizon Acoustics/CD Acoustics - S$2,800)
(DAC/HPA | PCM: 24/192 | DSD: DSD64 via DoP v1.1 | ESS ES9018 DAC)
*please note that Benchmark DACs are not firmware upgradeable by the user so future DSD128 implementation may be an issue

http://www.benchmarkmedia.com/dac/dac2-hgc


Mytek 192-DSD DAC - USD1,595 (Art Audio - S$2,000)
(DAC/HPA/PRE | PCM: 24/192 | DSD: DSD64/DSD128 via DoP v1.1 & Windows ASIO | 10ps Master Clock | ESS ES9016 DAC)
* please note that DoP is currently limited to DSD64 at the moment before the next firmware update to support DSD128 officially

http://mytekdigital.com/hifi


Resonessence Labs Invicta DAC - CAD3,995
(DAC/HPA/PRE | PCM: 24/192 | DSD: DSD64/DSD128 | SDXC interface | Main: ESS ES9018 DAC , HPA: ESS ES9016 DAC - Dual DAC implementation)
* please note that DSD64/DSD128 capability will be enabled in the DEC 2012 firmware upgrade

http://resonessencelabs.com/invicta/


Besides the usual suspects from EMM Labs, Meitner Audio and Playback Designs, the list above should reflect the current crop of DSD DACs. There are a few more Japanese ones and network players that are scheduled for DSD decoding in the future as well.

[mbovaird]

Thanks for sharing. The http://www.auralic.com/en/ DAC really was interesting to me. I almost bought it. It was so new and no real reviews yet, so I went with the Emm labs instead. It came highly recommended from several folks - including Joe.

[LordoftheRingsEE]

-- Yeah, thanx doggiehowser for that post just above (#26).

[Kal Rubinson]

Originally Posted by doggiehowser

Here's something I nicked off another forum for stereo DSD USB DACs (tho some of them spin discs too):

Thanks. Any hope for a similar list for those that are MCH capable?

[mbovaird]

I'm personally not a fan of multichannel cd/SACD's. Back in the days of quadrophonic sound, it was really neat, and quite often, well done. I just find most of the multichannel mixes to be "bad" at best. It also puts too much emphasis on the rear speakers which are rarely up to snuff with the fronts. Just not a fan. Back in the day when I had a Pioneer Quad preamp, four Sony amps, four IMF speakers and an Akai R2R - it was a lot of fun!