will
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SteveC
Thanks for your research and thoughts. I guess DACs are like amps, we have all heard it... they can use a lot of the same technology and sound quite different. I get interested in tech, then tired, finally coming back to the same place... the sound is not at all just the parts and technology, but the voicing of those things together. And this puts me back to getting stuff that is made by folks I believe in and who know sound the way I like it.
I guess I think the ear is probably the most important part in the final design process when all the parts matter...caps, resistors, wires, chips, input and output section parts and configurations, vibration control, solder, connectors ....then it is up to us with components, cables, feet, tubes...lots and lots of variations possible with the same stock DAC or amp.
I went through a lot of comments and tech talk when I decided to try my Tranquility DAC...a DAC not at all in the trend of high resolution and async popularity. And though I tend to mistrust some aspects of trends (especially with all the latest tech truths blaring on), I still find it seductive, but finally I decided to try the super simple, NOS, 44.1/16 Tranquility anyway. A lot of hard core listeners agreed that it sounded more like the music than a lot of other offerings.....for many, better than most popular DACs up to 3 times its price, no matter the Res, bit rate, async... like Ayre, Wired For Sound, PSAudio Perfect Wave, Wavelength and so on....
Me, in the gear sticks, I had no real way to try stuff. So I talked to the developer, and I liked what I heard...a smart guy, clearly on a creative quest. Reminded me of the first time I talked to Steve Deckert, you can tell when they are "on it" in a personal quest for great audio.
In hand, the Tranquility was much better than my pretty heavily modded Oppo 83, the Rega Apollo I had, and my ZDAC/Zstage combo. It had this great way of not being there and was particularly brilliant at the upper range of information, presenting subtle micro detail, ambience and shimmer in remarkably clear and musical ways. Then after getting the new output stage, the DAC outdid itself notably, and I have had no real desire to look further. REal feeling music in this room has remained my goal, and I have it.
My system clearly reveals traits of different ICs, different feet and foot placement, power cables, tubes, and the rest. I know I would not hear a lot of what I hear if my front end were not very, very resolving and musical. And actually, it is not just the Tranquility, but how it works with a tweaked Mac Mini, highly adjustable Pure Music player software, a great USB power interface, and cable and feet synergy.
So is 44.1 enough...Clearly all DACs are not created equal, no matter the tech, and it may still just depend.
The Tranquility team had very good ears and minds. They got where they were going with repeated blind testing in multiple systems, and comparisons to master tapes. They surprised themselves that they could not get more of what they liked with high res and async. And if you think about it, you would have to be a fool in this Hi-Res/async world to try to market a NOS DAC if you did not feel it was solidly better.
Anyway, I am content for now with this particular 44.1/16 DAC, and it likely would have made the Mystery amp and the MkIV sound different than the Teac. Who knows just how, but likely different, and probably very good if my system is an indicator.
I appreciate your input on those two amps by the way.
It will be really interesting to hear reports of how they work in different rooms, and with different components, feet, cables and so on as more Decware lovers get them. I did not like the Torii MkIII anywhere near as much at first as I do now that I have adjusted the amp itself, and the rest of the system/room with it as part of the whole. And my guess is that listening to it here, it would sound like family, but perhaps not necessarily like the same amp in comparison to a stock MkIII in Steve's system/room.
This is part of what I love about the Torii...it lets us adjust it to our own system/rooms and tastes, while stimulating creative refinement with all the other parts...working together to get that captivating players in the room feeling. That is an incredible thing!
I guess all this rambling has convinced me that I am probably very good with my MkIV order. It will be great fun to play with.
Thanks,
Will
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