SPL Phonitor X(E) is a very good choice for that. For a neutral signature with a lot of detail, good dynamics, no upper range harshness, and a very black background, Soekris dac1541>Phonitor XE did great work (dac1541 has been superseded by the even better reviewed dac2541). I’ve moved on from this (dac1541 sold, Phonitor XE soon for sale) because I landed onto ecp DSHA-3F for solid state and Eddie Current Aficionado for tubes, with a couple of pricier DACs, all R2R and mainly NOS, for slightly less neutral but even more engaging (for me) renderings.
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How would you compare the presentation of R2R NOS, R2R OS, FPGA, and delta sigma when paired with the Aficianado - if it’s possible to draw general characteristics?
I have been waiting for the Composer for several weeks to complete the combo. Now I realized I also need an XLR cable to connect both. Should be here next week. Then I can finally test the Soloist /Composer combo.
Until now I did a lot of listening with Conductor 3XR. For the Playmate I was waiting to get an adapter to plug my 2. 5mm balanced IEMs into.
Such a 2.5mm to 6.3mm adapter is practically nonexistent. I am getting one made though. And now that I have the Focal Clear, I can test with that.
Burson Service is indeed wonderful and supportive. I asked about what is the best and they told me Soloist /Composer should have a slight edge over Conductor 3XR.
Right now, they have a promotion where you pay pretty much the same price, so no hurt done in taking 2 devices over one.
I will keep you updated as soon as I can test further
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I like the breakdowns of sound sig you did. That helps a bunch. I’ve seen the sw51+ recommended so much, I’ve sent an email to try an order one. Hope to hear something soon on that. If not that, I found the MZ2 interesting sitting around half price of the pendant. Options options options.
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Good to hear. The phonitor x currently is my top end choice for what it offers. Will be interesting to see the new price of the 3F. Read nothing but good things about it. It’s is another SS amp I’m entertaining later on.
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I agree, when I was shopping for a high end SS amp late last year, the Phonitor was also top of my list based on all the rave reviews. The day I was going to hit “buy”, I re-read all the relevant posts on this forum and noticed that quite a few people complained about the lettering peeling off (very common) and VU meters failing (not so common) after a while, and I decided to buy something else.
Cosmetic issues won’t change the SQ of what everyone describes as a wonderful sounding amp, but I expect more at that price. On the flip side, you do have to factor in that people are more likely to post about cosmetic or QC issues than to say it’s working as expected, so the problem may not be widespread at all, but I didn’t want to roll that particular dice.
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I have seen those as issues. Definitely a mistake on SPL’s design part by not engraving the front face to solve lettering issue. At that price, it is hard to buy in on those flaws but it checks the boxes I’m loooking IO and SQ wise. The burson amps or maybe 3F might be more appealing though. I’ll probably wait on SS upgrade until after I get a tube amp and dac. Putting in an order for the SW51+ estimated ship date is April/May so little bit of wait but no sweat.
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First, I’d want to thank all of you for providing excellent info/opinions on a DAC and AMP combo for my ZMFs. I’ve spent more time on this than nearly any other decision in my life, including buying my latest (grail) car.
I picked the RME ADI-2 DAC FS. Tough choice in a very crowded pool. I looked at DAC amp combos but since I’m going TOTL (at least for me) I’ll separate the two. Also, I’m a recovering tube rolling junkie but I did learn tons. I swore off of tubes, then decided discovered ZMF. Enter the Liquid Platinum. I “need” tubes with ZMFs, right??? (Please copy my wife on that (positive) ZMF reinforcement. )
I have a Verite coming which will add to my Auteur and a modded Fostex, (Blackwood I think). Oh, and my dear-to-the-heart Grado GH-2s…
Again, thanks! Now the wait.
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Congrats, the RME DAC has lots of fans on this forum.
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I’ve used the following DACs with Af: Yggdrasil A2 (multibit chip-based), Soekris dac1541 (discrete sign-magnitude R2R, OS), Sonnet Morpheus (discrete R2R NOS), Holo Spring 2 KTE (discrete R2R NOS). These are not A/B comparisons, but rather separate experiences with two different Af units, with some changes in tubes and different ZMF headphones (Verité O silkwood, Verité C monkeypod, Verité C stabilized maple burl). Af affinity: dac1541 < Morpheus < Yggdrasil < Spring 2. dac1541 is very clean and smooth, but staging and instrument separation with the Af are not as good as with the others. Morpheus gives a dense but well-spaced presentation, but it’s a bit slow for the Af. Yggdrasil goes up in speed and dynamics, separation, drops a bit in tonal density relative to Morpheus. Spring 2 is the best in all dimensions for higher sample rate material, it does a fantastic job in bringing out the materiality of instruments and their subtler sounds (like double bass strings hitting the wood), but I feel it loses a bit of the Yggdrasil’s grit on higher notes on 44.1/16 material. Overall, Yggdrasil wins as Redbook DAC on many situations — that’s what it was designed for with its proprietary upsampling filters — but Spring 2 NOS takes the front on anything else, and is still very enjoyable on Redbook.
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This is music to my ears since I have a Spring 2 KTE arriving tomorrow, to pair with my Studio Jr 
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You are in for a treat! I was a bit surprised that unlike the original Spring lvl 3 KTE, the Spring 2 KTE did not need days from switch-on to sound its best. It’s possible that the new compensation circuit in Spring 2 does a much better job of compensating temperature dependencies in the resistor array. This is a really special DAC.
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Thanks for the detailed impressions and comparison. This will be a helpful reference for not just me. Based on your impressions, the Spring 2 and Yggy sound appealing.
Personally, I’m trying to extrapolate your impressions to determine optimal pairing with a Mogwai SE or DNA amp. I understand that the Af is less warm and wet compared to those amps.
I can’t speak to Mogwai SE or any of the DNA amps (I’m keeping my eyes open for any Stellaris that shows FS, though…) Af with the tubes I use is just a hair warm compared with a reference solid state amp like the Phonitor XE.
Experimenting with upsampling 44.1k and 48k sampling rate material 2x in Roon for NOS Spring 2, the effect is subtle but it seems to tighten & flesh out the higher notes. More testing needed, though.
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I see, interesting and helpful. Are you able to speak to the difference in sonics between the Spring L1, L2, and KTE? I have a Chord Qutest and trying to assess what I’d hear/gain when using the various Spring editions.
Let me clarify. Holo Spring 1, the original, came in several versions – L1, L2, L3 KTE. I owned the L3 KTE version, which I sold a while ago. Holo Spring 2 is quite different in several ways, including power supply, resistor array arrangement, and probably more. It also comes in several versions – L1, L2, KTE – I got the top KTE version. Holo Spring 2 KTE shares Spring 1 L3 KTE’s tonal density, but it is more refined, more precise, and provides a more realistic staging. It’s the best DAC I’ve heard on headphones for hi-res content (88.2 or above). It falls a bit short of Yggdrasil A2 on 44.1 or 48 content, but today’s partial experiments with 2x upsampling for that material suggest that the right 2x upsampling setting will make it the dominant DAC for my sources, amps, and headphones. Of course there are some other DACs that are more expensive that might demote the Spring 2 KTE (such as Rockna Wavedream), but I’m so happy with the Spring 2 that the sheer logistics of trying those DACs makes this a very pleasant optimum. And, no, I won’t play with Chord DACs. I own a Hugo 2 that is highly competent in its own way but exhausting after a few hours, so I’m unwilling to spend the time (and possibly $$$) in trying a DAVE. For whatever reason, R2R and especially NOS dominate my headphone preferences. For speakers, I’m a Linn Exact/Katalyst fiend, which I know is as far from NOS DACs as possible in theory, but surprisingly aurally compatible in practice. I think the reason (totally making stuff up here) is that both Linn’s designs and good NOS DACs have superior time domain performance.
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I had been thinking we were referring to the Spring 2.
I’ve compared the Bifrost 2 single ended to the Qutest and I prefer the latter. I’ve listened to both of them alongside my turntable setup with speakers; the Qutest sounds more similar to the turntable setup especially with respect to the time domain and live performance realism. I’ve been exposed to a greater frequency of people that have heard/owned Holo, but presently own Chord, compared to vice versa.
Chord and Holo are both considered to be adept at time domain performance, which seems to be a significant characteristic when identifying the optimal DAC.
I’m interested in understanding more how the Hugo 2 falls short and is exhausting. Does the needle move sonically using a different filter or a lower output voltage?
Query, how much of this is equipment matching and each thriving in certain systems for certain ears.
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I can say through the VC that the spring is very detailed but not bright or fatigueing. The detail is very natural. I can’t compare the Qutest as I only used that on my 2 channel a while back. I remember when I switched from it to my lampizator that there was more of a natural organic warmth to the lampi and the Qutest was brighter and more sterile but I don’t call it a sterile Dac itself just farther in that direction from the Lampizator.
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Good input. Whereas I find the BF2 to be a bit warm with the Mogwai SE (which is supposed to lean warm) and VC with Be2 pads, the Qutest set at 2V output voltage and green filter (Incisive with HF roll-off) with the Mogwai SE sounds correct to my ear. Perhaps the Mogwai SE is warm enough such that the Qutest’s brightness/neutrality/sterility is countered/complemented/balanced.
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It’s just a practical, maybe unfair, impression: ZMF Verité C monkeypod directly from Hugo 2 headphone jack always sounded very detailed and incisive, but ultimately tiring compared with the same headphones with a variety of amps (Phonitor XE, ecp DSHA-3F, EC Af) and DACs (Soekris dac1541, Yggdrasil A2, Sonnet Morpheus, Holo Spring 2). Maybe the problem is with the Hugo 2’s internal amp. I don’t want to be unfair to Chord DACs, but it would take me too much work to try to isolate whether the DAC is to my liking on its own. I own more than enough very satisfying DACs and amps as it is, and side-by-side comparisons quickly reach diminishing returns. Subjectively, it feels as if with the Holo 2 I am in a good seat a reasonable distance from the stage, while with the Hugo 2 I am in the middle of the players, which is very interesting at first but eventually disorienting and tiring. Over the last pre-covid decade, I was going to 20-30 live jazz and classical performances each year at a variety of small and large venues. From experience, the closest seats are not necessarily the best for maintaining an integrated perception of the music during the whole show. The Hugo 2 feels too close.
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