riswadi Posted January 17 Author Posted January 17 12 hours ago, frankn said: If you are in Jakarta or can go there to audition the Ferrum Audio Wandla and Wandla GSE might be worth a look. SNA did a review : SNA Wandla Thanks frankn will check with on this Wandla brand. I also have listened to Rockna Wavedream or something the second from the top n Audionote 4.1 but not to my liking.
frankn Posted January 17 Posted January 17 25 minutes ago, riswadi said: Hi frankn, So Directstream convert all the signals to become DSD as final format? Will they sound softer after those conversions? The DS converts internally to DSD_DOP for upsampling etc. It then converts back to whatever the input format was for final analogue output. Lots of DAC’s do internal formatting before respampling to very high rates so the filters they employ don’t impact the final analogue output.
frankn Posted January 17 Posted January 17 41 minutes ago, riswadi said: I'm in Jakarta and have demoed those brand mentioned also looking forward to demo some Jadis, CH, Cen Grand, Holo. For Cen Grand n Holo I need to pay in full price to borrow the DAC but too bad no Lampi dealer here For Lampi, you can order direct from their website - they do have a return & refund policy. Have a read PS Audio have a similar return/refund policy too. Check with the dealer. Yes, with all these buy & try you have to fully purchase 1st, and possibly pay a small fee if the unit is returned. The price you/we have to pay for access to more in this time of internet shopping.
frankn Posted January 17 Posted January 17 2 hours ago, riswadi said: Hi frankn, Thanks for the suggestion! One of my reason to add a DAC so I can input game consoles etc. What other DACs have you heard, I'm planning to listen to some more Ideon this weekend, the 2nd and 3rd pricewise and do some more comparisons with those Ideon I have demoed. I’m not experienced in the use of games consoles/ tv’s through DACs but I understand that there can be latency issues between audio & video if using different boxes to handle each. You could also check out Gryphon Audio DAC’s , Grimm Audio are excellent too but I don’t think they are available in Indonesia (Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand yes). I still own a DirectStream mk1 and another Australian made PCM DAC but I’ve listened to Gryphon Kalliope , Holo May KTE and a few others. I hope you have Good listening for your new DAC.
David A Posted January 18 Posted January 18 (edited) 7 hours ago, riswadi said: Hi David, That Ithaka DAC is €86K at least that's what the dealer told me. Currently I'm still haggling for the Kassandra €26K, since the Ithaka one is way over my budget But I couldn't hear neither, no stock, first I need to put some DP So now I'm still searching for as many DACs that I get my hands on. Do you think Ithaca sounds wayyy better than your Vitus CDP? Or just slightly? I think my Vitus is using similar DAC chip, the difference is my SCD-010 can't decode DSD. I haven't a-b compared the Ithaca dac to my Vitus SCD-025Mk2, so I couldn't say how they compare as dacs. It sounds like ultimately you're probably going to end up buying a dac sans an audition due to limited Distributorship in your country. And APL Hifi are no different. However Audio Exotics who are the Distributor for APL in Singapore would likely be able to drop ship a dac to you. So given their known synergy with Vitus, the APL dacs should be on your short list. Edited January 18 by David A
riswadi Posted January 18 Author Posted January 18 9 hours ago, frankn said: For Lampi, you can order direct from their website - they do have a return & refund policy. Have a read PS Audio have a similar return/refund policy too. Check with the dealer. Yes, with all these buy & try you have to fully purchase 1st, and possibly pay a small fee if the unit is returned. The price you/we have to pay for access to more in this time of internet shopping. Hi again frankn, Thank you I will call the dealer here for PSA let's see if I can borrow Directstream mk2. In your opinion of all the DACs you have heard, or the one you own, which is the best? Is it PSA Directstream? Coz it's within my budget. For Lampi, I think it's better I fly to SG and have a listen, having them send here will be cost and logistics nightmare.
riswadi Posted January 18 Author Posted January 18 7 hours ago, frankn said: I’m not experienced in the use of games consoles/ tv’s through DACs but I understand that there can be latency issues between audio & video if using different boxes to handle each. You could also check out Gryphon Audio DAC’s , Grimm Audio are excellent too but I don’t think they are available in Indonesia (Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand yes). I still own a DirectStream mk1 and another Australian made PCM DAC but I’ve listened to Gryphon Kalliope , Holo May KTE and a few others. I hope you have Good listening for your new DAC. Thanks for the suggestion frankn, I happened to know the gryphon importer. In your opinion Gryphon Kalliope VS PSA Directstream VS Holo which is the best? Actually I'm really eyeing PSA one.
riswadi Posted January 18 Author Posted January 18 (edited) 4 hours ago, David A said: I haven't a-b compared the Ithaca dac to my Vitus SCD-025Mk2, so I couldn't say how they compare as dacs. It sounds like ultimately you're probably going to end up buying a dac sans an audition due to limited Distributorship in your country. And APL Hifi are no different. However Audio Exotics who are the Distributor for APL in Singapore would likely be able to drop ship a dac to you. So given their known synergy with Vitus, the APL dacs should be on your short list. Hi again David A, I never heard of APL before, nice to know Probably I need to make a list of DACs I want to listen then make a short trip to SG to listen to the all. Customs is hell here and I don't think I can get those demo unit easily, and will ended up buying them because I got no choice not to Btw what's DAC so far that you think can beat your Vitus CDP? Edited January 18 by riswadi
David A Posted January 18 Posted January 18 (edited) 32 minutes ago, riswadi said: Hi again David A, I never heard of APL before, nice to know Probably I need to make a list of DACs I want to listen then make a short trip to SG to listen to the all. Custom is hell here and I don't think I can get those demo unit easily, and will ended up buying them because I got no choice not to Btw what's DAC so far that you think can beat your Vitus CDP? Yes there is no substitute for an audition. The dac in the SCD-025Mk2 is very good, and sounds quite analogue-like. And as mentioned it can accept 2 x DSD files via USB. In terms of what dacs I think can beat my Vitus? There's probably quite a few, though I can't say i've heard them all. All I can say is that I plan to replace my player with the APL Hifi DTR-MR SE sacd transport and DSD-MR SE dac. The DSD-MR SE has a tube output stage, and gets close to the performance of the flagship DSD-GR dac. I've heard the earlier DSD-MR Mk1 which is the most natural sounding dac i've ever heard. And by all reports the Special Edition is a lot better again. Edited January 18 by David A
frankn Posted January 18 Posted January 18 4 hours ago, riswadi said: Thanks for the suggestion frankn, I happened to know the gryphon importer. In your opinion Gryphon Kalliope VS PSA Directstream VS Holo which is the best? Actually I'm really eyeing PSA one. The Gryphon is a step up from the others but it’s also a lot more expensive. Everything comes down to your ears and synergy with your system which is why it’s important to try to listen to them. If you want to play DSD files or SACDs you will need to find another source as your Vitus is only PCM.
Silver Audiophile Posted January 20 Posted January 20 On 18/01/2025 at 6:39 PM, riswadi said: Btw what's DAC so far that you think can beat your Vitus CDP? This is a very hard question to answer given we all have different listen rooms and more importantly different sonic preferences. Do you prefer a cleaner, neutral, detailed sound? Or do you prefer a warmer, fuller, analog vintage sound signature? What kind of music do you listen to? This is all important to point you in the general right direction. I've owned the PS Audio DSD DAC, AMR DAC, Aqua La Scala, Lampizator, Audio Note DAC, Abbas DAC plus many more...
obitankenobi Posted February 2 Posted February 2 On 17/1/2025 at 2:46 AM, riswadi said: To answer David A question, I don't have a plan, at least not yet , to upgrade my CDP since it's only for bedroom system. For my main system I have T+A PDT 3100HV transport and SD 3100HV streaming DAC. Btw Snoopy A thanks so much Sorry all, I couldn't reply earlier, life gets in the way So I'm wondering which DAC that could make my CDP and other home entertainment systems sound better within the budget of USD 10K or probably just a little bit more? Thanks guys @riswadi Your T+A setup is impressive. How do you find it? Did you manage to compare the T+A Dac200 with your existing setup? Just wondering if you might consider the Dac200 for your bedroom setup (+HDMI for games?)
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