georgehifi Posted December 14, 2024 Posted December 14, 2024 (edited) After all these years they've given R2R a look in, it's their first effort which would blow away their first effort of their Delta Sigma based dacs. Who knows after a few models upgrades what they will be able to achieve??? https://tinyurl.com/238jae9d Many Delta Sigma lovers post (4 pages in a few hours!!!) are scoffing at the idea it "could" sound good without listening to it??? Cheers George Edited December 14, 2024 by georgehifi 2
frankn Posted December 17, 2024 Posted December 17, 2024 No different to many comments on SNA from people who have never heard a unit but know everything about it from a photo or two. 1 1 2
Cacofonix Posted December 28, 2024 Posted December 28, 2024 From the Headfonia review- "The Topping part of the Centaurus uses an SMPS which generates a working voltage which is then converted via switching converters to other voltages as needed."
Cacofonix Posted February 17 Posted February 17 Well, this thread hasn't exactly blossomed. Anyone out there laid ears or hands on a Centaurus R2R yet?
McCvinyl Posted March 5 Posted March 5 Seen a few reviews on it now and from what i have seen it could be up my alley. ASR crew seem to focus on different values but each to their own I guess. Keen to get my ears on it.
Cacofonix Posted March 5 Posted March 5 I recently whet my appetite for the breed with a FiiO K11 R2R. Recently saw some independent measurements for it on HeadFi.org and those were unsurprisingly not great but it was still very engaging and easy to listen to for long periods. My sole system is a headphone setup using Grados. Current DAC is the SMSL VMV D1SE 2. No problems with the SMSL in my setup, bought blind but I have thoroughly enjoyed it. However I can't help but keep an eye on what's happening in the R2R segment. Aaron@The Audiophile Shop is good to talk to about R2R DAC'S as he has the Centaurus and also stocks Musician, Ladder, SMSL and Gustard R2R DAC's.
georgehifi Posted March 5 Author Posted March 5 (edited) 3 hours ago, McCvinyl said: ASR crew seem to focus on different values but each to their own I guess. Yes they are totally measurement orientated, but comparing R2R to Delta Sigma is like comparing vinyl to CD. To me it depended on what your music source is. Vinyl (even though it's channel separation suffers) is a copy of the analog master tape, where CD is a "facsimile" to the analog master but the channel separations is as good as the analog master, I'd rather listen to the vinyl or master tape, even though they don't measure as well as the CD They say R2R is "bit perfect" conversion for 16/44 or 24/96 PCM studio recordings, where delta sigma conversion is a "facsimile" of it. Yet delta sigma is what's needed to convert DSD/SACD the best. It all depends on what you stream/library/music files are to what you need to convert it. With me it's over 1000 CD's and direct streamed lossless flac or wav, so R2R is the proven way for me to hear it. Cheers George Edited March 5 by georgehifi 1
McCvinyl Posted March 5 Posted March 5 Nice explanation George. My main and preferred source is vinyl but I am getting lazier these days and even after going to several hifi shows and experiencing some fantastic systems, any of the digital setups have never really drawn me in on an emotional level even though I can appreciate their "correctness" on a technical level. My digital source at the moment is a Bluesound node 2i and both my family and I love its convenience and ease of use. I have upgraded the power supply which was a good improvement but it still missing the magic. Spoilt for choice at the moment with dacs as there seems to be something bigger ( or smaller) and better being released every couple of weeks and has me running in circles. @Cacofonix has mentioned Addicted to audio which seem to have a good selection of R2R dacs. I think my best bet is to go and listen and narrow it down.
georgehifi Posted March 5 Author Posted March 5 (edited) 4 hours ago, McCvinyl said: My digital source at the moment is a Bluesound node 2i and both my family and I love its convenience and ease of use. I have upgraded the power supply which was a good improvement but it still missing the magic. Spoilt for choice at the moment with dacs Do what I do get a good R2R dac and "live stream" lossless flac or wav music, don't use apple to play it as it does down convert it aac. If this link plays "as soon as you click on it" you have "direct lossless flac" to send via the digital output of your source/streamer to your R2R dac. If it doesn't play as soon as you click on the link or asks to download it, it probably won't get replayed as lossless flac 16bit 44.1 https://stream-eu.radioparadise.com/flac or this one which is 24bit 192 lossless flac http://server9.streamserver24.com:18910/motherearth.klassik Cheers George Edited March 6 by georgehifi 1
Cacofonix Posted March 6 Posted March 6 7 hours ago, McCvinyl said: @Cacofonix has mentioned Addicted to audio which seem to have a good selection of R2R dacs. I actually mentioned The Audiophile Shop in Melbourne but no matter. A2A in Perth aren't stocking the Centaurus for demos unfortunately, but you might get lucky with your Adelaide store. ASR are pretty tight with Topping so after hammering R2R DAC's for so long Amirm walked the tightrope as best he could. The Ladder Schumann wasn't recommended on ASR either but was given a 'if you want this type of dac then this is one of the better ones.' 1
georgehifi Posted March 6 Author Posted March 6 (edited) 3 hours ago, Cacofonix said: A2A in Perth aren't stocking the Centaurus for demos unfortunately Just called the A2A Newtown Sydney store, they have it on demo and like it. Also to ask if the PEQ 10 band parametric equalizer if/when used in it, if it's done in the digital or analog domain? they said they didn't know, and are going to find out from Topping for me. Cheers George Edited March 6 by georgehifi 1
Addicted to music Posted March 16 Posted March 16 On 6/3/2025 at 4:57 PM, georgehifi said: Just called the A2A Newtown Sydney store, they have it on demo and like it. Also to ask if the PEQ 10 band parametric equalizer if/when used in it, if it's done in the digital or analog domain? they said they didn't know, and are going to find out from Topping for me. Cheers George If there was a picture of the guts of the pcb it will indicate whether passive components are used but in this case it saids “ Software” pretty much indicates digital domain! https://www.toppingaudio.com/product-item/centaurus 1
Cacofonix Posted March 19 Posted March 19 (edited) Worth a look- https://youtu.be/myeVh77xedk?si=JzjjlWjYCjHKsDXX A2A has Centaurus and D90III Discrete discounted from $1699 to $1478 at the moment. Edited March 19 by Cacofonix 1 1
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