will
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I am not getting the notifications for this thread most of the time lately either....
I have been mulling this over and like others, what rises to the top consistently is: Wow... a 6K DAC! That's about what my MKIII, 944, Tranquility, cables, computer and all cost together! And it sounded real!
Interesting also, the other DACs, particularly with the prerequisite of being good at redbook. Chord, Vega, Benchmark 2, Macintosh...excited by the DAC conversations here, I have checked them all out in recent months. They all sound promising.
But then I listen to my NOS Tranquility DAC, and wonder why I look? Also cables, Mini and configuration, drive, USB power supply, software and so on, but this thing already sounds quite real...The sense of resolution is very, very good. It sounds like voices and instruments, and this amazing quality at a reasonable price was not happenstance.
Since the Tranquility folks are close to a new DAC optimized for Redbook and many levels of hi-res/DSD, this story might be useful.
There were no doubt other purists focused fully on seeing how good redbook could be (rather than working within the "limitations"..not a great ground for creativity), but DbAudioLabs was the first I heard of who really dug in in a fresh and creative way...seeking a truly "analog" sound from Redbook without excuses. Blind testing, they explored inside AND outside the box of popular technology. Also with very simple circuits, so I got interested.
With analog reference, multiple systems, and multiple serious listener/developers, to get the most for the least, they just couldn't use the typical tools....async, up-sampling, etc, at least not without sound degeneration, so they kept refining NOS 44/16, discovering loads of data once very carefully extracted.
The criteria of unobstructed micro information was strong. Once you get that musically, you hear everything better from skins, strings, wood...to reeds, air and complex ambient information. Then once the DAC can reveal those sweet detail refinements like real music in real rooms, subtle changes from the server show up...the computer, software, drives, memory, feet, cables...all making cumulative improvements once sorted.
It clearly is not all 1s and 0s, and in my experience, micro information seems the most fragile aspect of digital, as illustrated by how few designers can get it fully while remaining smooth and real. If a system/room does not reveal detail throughout the spectrum well, it will not reveal cables, feet, etc as well. Nor will it differentiate sound stage as well.
It sounds like the DS is pulling it off admirably, but at a steep entry fee.
It is not surprising that the DS can outdo the Oppo or Schitt, or many other DACs costing a small percentage of the DS, and it has very compelling technology. But then, the Tranquility in its current configuration, though not flawless, it easily carries me into the music making my super tweaked Oppo, Rega Apollo, ZDAC and DSPeaker 2.0 feel electronic by comparison.
The original Tranquility was more like real music to many than most DACs of the time within reach (a couple years ago), including Ayre, Wavelength, and the first Perfectwave, ..... I wasn't able to compare those, but it sounded like music to me and 1K for an open box unit, the Essential USB cable-200 (when sold with the DAC), and later, I think I paid 175 for an Aqvox USB power supply and isolator, not bad for this level of sound. And after an output upgrade...the way I have it fixed anyway, this thing is amazing!
This leads me to why I guess high res is just not for me at this point.... First because Redbook is so good in this system...but also, living in the sticks, downloading big files would fry my monthly bandwidth in no time; and Redbook has soooo much music, most of which I buy used, further differentiating the cost for hi-res files, not to mention the research and confusion in trying to get the good stuff.
But to the carrot dangling at the end of this story.
After "writing out loud", I feel happy with Redbook, but if I thought I needed to have Redbook and Hi-res/DSD, I would consider waiting a while for Eric Hider at DbAudioLabs to come out with their new DAC optimized for multiple file types. To me, he is devoted and effective like Steve is....creative with long experience, and a good mind and ears. They both find the extraordinary, musical representation that lets us feel the vast aggregation of subtleties that real music is. So I would be very surprised if the new DAC were not world class, and at a fraction the cost of the DS.
But for me, the Tranquility making Redbook amazing, it still has has many advantages. I have no doubt that if it can be this good with Redbook, it can be better with hi-res, but I guess I will avoid that a while longer...
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