Looking for R/2R Ladder DAC with DSD?

[W9TR]

Originally Posted by PHC1

Looks like there is another player in the R/2R arena with DSD. Interesting comparison of Schiit Yggdrasil vs the Holo Audio Spring DAC.

http://www.basshead.club/holo-audio-...tuned-edition/

All these DAC’s process DSD using a separate decoding engine which is not an R-2R ladder network. You are essentially buying two DAC’s in a single box that share power supplies and analog stages.

Some of these DAC’s look really interesting. It’s great to see so much innovation happening in d/a conversion technology.

Tom

[robfine]

I bit on the HaloAudio Spring Kitsune-Tuned Level 3 DAC. I am very very happy with my decision.

[Formerly YB-2]

Everything I've read about the Spring Level 3 makes me want to give it a listen when the time comes for a stand-alone DAC. Same with the Yaggy. Of course, since that will be a few months away, the technology will be totally different by then.

[Jdsmoke]

Originally Posted by robfine

I bit on the HaloAudio Spring Kitsune-Tuned Level 3 DAC. I am very very happy with my decision.

Did you do any comparisons before your purchase? I’m looking to upgrade and was assessing this and the Schiit.

[robfine]

Actually, no. I was leaning toward the Yggy but I started seeing these small recording labels popping up (like Sound Liaison, Nordic Dynamic and some others), some of which are exclusively DSD so even though I really didn’t have any DSD recordings I didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity. I was thinking about upgrading from my Bryston BDA-2 to a BDA-3 when I started hearing about the Yggy. I liked what I was hearing about the Yggy but was concerned about no DSD. Then I saw a couple of reviews of the HaloAudio Spring that caught my attention starting with the May and July Stereophile and then I did other research. Then, I just went for it. Sometimes you have a feeling on something and it works out, sometimes it doesn’t. In this case, I think I hit a home run. Let me say this, if you want DSD then you need USB. If that is the case, just use USB out anyway, they recommend and I got the Singxer SU-1 Audio Bridge. It converts USB to i2s which I hadn’t even heard about before this. That gets the best sound. (BTW: My music comes out of a Bryston BDP-2 fed by Synology NAS and also a 2 TB USB external hard drive). A very close runner-up is AES-EBU. I have a WW Gold Eclipse AES-EBU which I used for the first couple of weeks. The sound is very close to using the Singxer but is limited to PCM. The only head to head comparison I did was with my BDA-2 which has always, and still sounds good. However, when I put in the Spring DAC, it was like I had a totally new, different and better system. My wife came home and heard music from a different room and was upset because she thought I bought new speakers. Really good, expensive speakers. That’s a pretty good compliment.

[Formerly YB-2]

With the Yggy, you get their 15-day return privilege, so the only cost (substantial at today's shipping rates) is the cost of shipping both directions. If you have a local HaloAudio dealer that has a Spring Level 3 on the floor you should be able to take the Yggy in to compare (after a few days of break-in). However, nothing will get you DSD with the Yggy. The most recent Stereophile compared them and the reviewer found them to be different, but very close. He stayed with the Yggy, which he all ready owned.

[audio bill]

Originally Posted by Formerly YB-2

With the Yggy, you get their 15-day return privilege, so the only cost (substantial at today's shipping rates) is the cost of shipping both directions. If you have a local HaloAudio dealer that has a Spring Level 3 on the floor you should be able to take the Yggy in to compare (after a few days of break-in). However, nothing will get you DSD with the Yggy. The most recent Stereophile compared them and the reviewer found them to be different, but very close. He stayed with the Yggy, which he all ready owned.

According to the Schiit website there is a 5% transaction fee for any returns within the 15 day window, which would come to ~$120 on the $2,399 Yggy.

[nc42acc]

Here is a good review of the Terminator and he compares it to the Yggdrasil. Hope this helps.
https://darko.audio/2018/09/a-short-...erminator-dac/