My SIX favourite DACs

BS You do a super job help us all . Jerks are always with us

Thank you for the video. Is the a way to connect a portable DAC: IPhone - DAC - Fiio Mont Blanc? Thank you and keep up the good work, we appreciate you.

Have you heard the Holo May DAC

Hello, Darko!

Please advise me of good bookshelf acoustics to listen to in the evening at a low amplifier volume. jazz, vocals, classical. Budget from 1000 to 2000$

Theres lots of other factors that will effect how you perceive sound when you hear it. Your mood, temperature, time of day, fatigue and what you have listened to before.
Your own hearing can affect your opinion on sound quality.
We have to remember John will A,B switch between gear over and over to pick out tiny nuances in sound quality.
Its more so a gear hobby rather than a sound quality hobby.

Id say pick something in your price range and something you like the look of and enjoy your music. Get into the music again rather than the gear but there is nothing wrong with loving gear and hobbyism too.
I do like the honesty in johns videos as he will say when things are not night and day different or sometimes not even needed.

John! you should really try S.M.S.L D 300 DAC. The ROHM chip inside it is something special. It sounds a bit analogue. You might like it.

recently i did some ''experiment'' , grabbed some dac from the list of expensive ones , in the range of 5k-6k , found out what kind of chip is inside and i run it on ebay , what i got was plethora of circuit boards from china with those chips built-in for like 200-300 bux

Weirdly (or not) the only twondacs I've been directky comparing has been the dragonfly audio and a Sennheiser ur22c on PC. And for headphones (audio technica 7Oox) the ur22c is my preferred. Warming more presence and open staging. That's all I got cause my Bluesound node is plugged in somewhere else.

Did you say a $100 💩?

Great presentation! I’m not as hung up on ‘the best’ as I used to be, and I totally get that it’s your personal list. In other words, it’s your report of what you’ve kept from what you’ve tried. I find it very valuable, personally; as I evaluate gear as much for features as for performance. I’m trying to build my system, with my gear, to suit my needs and desires. Starting to work on my room, then I’ll probably go back through my gear again.

DAC purpose is all the same no matter if its Low to High end. this is also goes for Audiophile Headphones, they are meant to make your Music sound more Clear, bigger soundstages, less Audio Interferences(is the Static sound you hear when no Audio is Playing), etc. ofc there can be big differences between $100 to $2000 DAC or Headphones. the differences usually is like DAC schiit Magni+ has Less Grainy noise or like provide clear sound of certain instrument(Guitar or Piano). Other DAC is more Clear on Vocal and Bass , this is a Hobby and Enthusiast type of things. you need to test the DAC yourself to find which one you like.

I really love the sound of my xDuoo TA-22 DAC.
I added Shuguang Black Treasure 12au7 tubes.

I don’t know what to compare it to but, I just finished burning my new pure silver power cables.

As of October 2023 in the UK:

Schitt MM2: £295 + PP (UK store)
J2S AKM 4499 Top Spec: £592 + PP + tax
Denafrips Ares II (direct): £812 (incl VAT) + PP
Chord Mojo 2: £395 total (just bought mine brand new for £375)

It's a no brainer in the UK.

I wonder if the Denon X4000 with the audyssey software doesn't already make a great dac. Just not as portable as a Schiit or Topping.

I hate to generalize also, but you’re probably right about the Mojo 2 up to about a grand or so.

John: Have you installed the June 2023 firmware update for the Ares II? It takes the sound quality up a level: clearer, but still warm like an incandescent bulb (great analogy!).

I agree, to date anyway, with your assessment of differences in dacs. I don’t know how much I’d have to spend to make a big difference in digital playback using my Bluesound Vault 2 without an external dac, but I had a friend who brought a $10K dac to my place and we compared the Bluesound with and without his Uber $$$$ dac and the difference was minimal. Almost imperceptible. It’s the reason I continue to run the Vault 2 “as is.” No extras.

Used as USB Spidif converter, does the D10S have a bearing on sound?

As an Ares 2 owner I would love to see your comparison between Mola Mola and Terminator, I agree with almost everything you said nice analysis .....

Having listened to a few at my local dealer I ordered the Heed Abacus S, it suits my cd player which is 20 years old and my sim audio 340