World's Best DAC's

I'm listening to the Forssell MADA-2A as i write this.

I think it would be nice if you write about the DAC chip used and their resolution.

I know that implementation is the most important thing. But for the world's best, implementation should be "premium" and thus chip and its resolution can start to become a bottleneck. And I believe that resolution is critical, even tho the consequence is that it might be more "digital" sounding.
 
I think it would be nice if you write about the DAC chip used and their resolution.

I know that implementation is the most important thing. But for the world's best, implementation should be "premium" and thus chip and its resolution can start to become a bottleneck. And I believe that resolution is critical, even tho the consequence is that it might be more "digital" sounding.

i'll probably open them up (except the dCS) and take pictures.
 
But for what is worth, the most impressive so far (regardless of the price or Pro/Hifi) is the Forssell MADA 2a

which you can find the manufacturer's measurements here:

http://www.forsselltech.com/media/attachments/MADA-2_Manual_1.pdf

Those are spectacular performance metrics, as far as I am able to judge. Thanks for the link.

But funny thing, I now realize that what I'd really like to see is the parameters and scope traces for an inexpensive gizmo of the same functions. Would it look any worse or any worse enough that anybody could hear the difference?

Ben
 
That high-end Chinese DAC is very impressive for the price, i must say.

Certainly the best value i tested so far among the commercial DACs. Not perfect but the level of details/resolution + Dynamics is extremely surprising for the price range. You'll have to pay a lot more to get better (Pro DACs; Weiss DAC mk3 and Forssell)
 
Re vinyl vs digital, renowned DAC designer John Westlake freely admits that digital SQ is inferior to vinyl. Speaking of JW, within the next six to nine months he will be releasing his assault on the SOTA DAC (the FDAC). Given JW's level of knowledge and experience, it is going to be something very very special, especially once a series of subsequent firmware updates are implemented to shift much of the key processing to the FPGA. Unfortunately you can't buy one because the initial limited production run have all been pre-sold to the crowd who have funded it. I'm one of the lucky ones.
 
Great Tread

I wouldnt be surpriced if the Lampizator 7 beat them all ,especially considering its cost. Even level 5 should score high in your test, but still wondering how the new gustard X20 will score... if you had a chance testing Aune s16 could be nice experience as well.
 
Sorry, no blind test yet.
That is purely subjective...

But for what is worth, the most impressive so far (regardless of the price or Pro/Hifi) is the Forssell MADA 2a

which you can find the manufacturer's measurements here:

http://www.forsselltech.com/media/attachments/MADA-2_Manual_1.pdf

(they make also a DAC only version; 2ch, 4ch and even 8ch... which seems to be the numero uno solution in my case)

I think that is beat by an E-MU 1616m with some margin.