Money no object digital front end

[lemnoc]

Has this one been covered yet ?

 

Trinity DAC from Germany. Saw it was reviewed in a local HiFi mag. Quad interleaved PCM1704's. Yours for $59,000 !!

 

http://www.trinity-ed.de/typo/index.php?id=12&L=1

 

 

TRINITY DAC represents the next quantum leap into a new era of music reproduction. It revolutionizes the world of audio systems by achieving absolutely pure sound. The patented LIANOTEC architecture is a global innovation and the heart of an ingenious new technology in the field of digitalto-analog converters. The result is a peerless premium product. Its benchmarks in all music reproduction parameters are so far unbeatable. TRINITY DAC is a new experience in music listening, so true to life that the home hi-fi room becomes a concert hall – pure listening pleasure while sitting in the best seats.

[analog brother]

yes, edgar has just reviewed this unit in the latest audio esoterica mag which is out now.

please chime in, edgar....

is this dac the current sota?

a lot of people seem to think so.

[kramered]

Yes, analog brother, I'd say it's at the SOTA level. I would love to compare it to other DACs at that level in my system. The dCS and Ypsilon systems come to mind as other examples at that level.

 

The Trinity pulls so much ambient information, is so detailed and so spacious (soundfield) that, to me, it was a revelation. To describe what it does in a post is impossible (and quite difficult even in a formal review, but of course I encourage you to get a copy of Audio Esoterica) but if you're one of the very fortunate who shops at that level then you'd be tasting the very best in music playback (forget media). 

 

Cheers,

EK

[analog brother]

alas, not so fortunate to own any trinity product.....

but the bathroom provides a serene environment to dream. my copy of the mag is perused daily and the trinity is main centre of attention. 

 

so overall, is the trinity a 'musical' dac?

or an 'analytical' dac?

which way does the balance tip?

Edited July 1, 2014 by analog brother

[kramered]

Put simply - it's both. All the detail and information in a musically homogeneous way. I know, a very difficult feat... but the Trinity pulls it off.

 

Another SOTA DAC system that comes to mind is the top-of-the-tree MSB -  I believe that has been mentioned in earlier posts.

 

Cheers,

EK 

[analog brother]

yes, have heard a middle of the range msb - was very nice, a good balance of both detail and musicality.

otoh, the vivaldi sounded too clinical for me. can't afford it, but definite deal-breaker for me.

[analog brother]

i think the gryphon kalliope must be up there too.

[kramered]

Yes, for sure. I'd like to get the Gryphon Kaliope in my system (may do so later this year...)

 

CH Precision and Soulution DACs would have to be in the list too.

[Willco]

Yes EK the DAC race to the top is getting might congested --I've heard all the Dacs  mentioned-except the Gryphon but I'm sure with the Pedigree it would fit in well with the group

 

Having owned a TLO/AN Dac5 Combo-- I always compare -with my own demo CD the Dacs in question and agree the Trinity is at the peak from the  current contenders

 

I did hear a new kid on the block--the Wadax out of Spain--interestingly has a"digital" Phono stage-- I didn't hear that --but the Dac was certainly up there also-- your reviewer skill may be warranted there.

 

Enjoy your writings

 

Willco

[kramered]

Thanks Willco. For sure, the Wadax is on the cards for an audition and perhaps a full review.

Cheers,

EK

[Nada]

Something smells:

 

TRINITY DAC represents the next quantum leap into a new era of music reproduction. It revolutionizes the world of audio systems by achieving absolutely pure sound. The patented LIANOTEC architecture is a global innovation and the heart of an ingenious new technology in the field of digitalto-analog converters....

2002:  "the Burr-Brown 1704K D/A chip's maximum speed is 768.0kHz, and Wadia can't change that. How they achieve the screamingly fast upsampling rate of 2.8224MHz from these B-B DACs is by sending separate "time-staggered" packets of 705.6Hz data to each of four converters per channel"

[wis97non]

Why?

 

Dietmar seems to be doing mechanical upsampling by stagging the output of the chips. Apparently he can do this by only ordering the best specced BB1704s and retesting thenm and then rejecting 90% of them as being outside his tight tolerance.

 

I have no idea if this works or not, but it is not intuitively fishy...

[wis97non]

Yes, for sure. I'd like to get the Gryphon Kaliope in my system (may do so later this year...)

 

CH Precision and Soulution DACs would have to be in the list too.

Heard this last week with the first production version of their M1 mono-bloc amps. 

[analog brother]

which one of the 3 brands listed?
please elaborate...  

[Krispy Audio]

I think CH Precision (as M1 is their mono blocks). I heard this combo at Munich with the new L1 line stage. Very nice combo. 

[analog brother]

thanks cam, yeah CH sounds about right.

[wis97non]

Yes, sorry it was CH. There are about 20m drive from where I work.

 

 

[alistairm]

Would love to hear the CH full lineup. I was fortunate to have the disc spinner in my system. As well as being a bit "low res" compared to the DCS (but tonally very nice), the user interface was very "gen 1" and rather clunky. For a young company they're putting out some intriguing gear though. 

[TP1]

Where did you end up with this Alistair? I am looking at a couple of options too at the moment.

[Steam]

To the point of the thread. If I were cashed up and looking for digital front end then I wouldd start with:

The DCS as mentioned. Sounded good in the demos I have heard it. Not amazing but the conditions were not great in any. So I give it a chance.

Accuphase. They just sound right to me. I have heard the 550 sound utterly amazing ( imaging especially) so would defiantly look up the accuphase range.

Audio Research. I like the house sound so I would make a point to hear their DAC's.

MBL: has the bling looks to go with a good sound.

Meridian 818 with an MD600 for storage. A very good DAC with the bonus of the sooloos server interface

The PSAudio perfect wave DAC also making a fuss. I don't really like the looks but worth checking out.

The MSB may be good but I can't take the looks. Same for soulution, constellation audio, and CH.

[wis97non]

Would love to hear the CH full lineup. I was fortunate to have the disc spinner in my system. As well as being a bit "low res" compared to the DCS (but tonally very nice), the user interface was very "gen 1" and rather clunky. For a young company they're putting out some intriguing gear though. 

They have an app being developed for iOS/Android that should be ready by now. it was quite advance in June when I saw it.

Edited September 8, 2014 by wis97non

[wis97non]

To the point of the thread. If I were cashed up and looking for digital front end then I wouldd start with:

The DCS as mentioned. Sounded good in the demos I have heard it. Not amazing but the conditions were not great in any. So I give it a chance.

image.jpg

Accuphase. They just sound right to me. I have heard the 550 sound utterly amazing ( imaging especially) so would defiantly look up the accuphase range.

image.jpg

Audio Research. I like the house sound so I would make a point to hear their DAC's.

image.jpg

MBL: has the bling looks to go with a good sound.

image.jpg

Meridian 818 with an MD600 for storage. A very good DAC with the bonus of the sooloos server interface

image.jpg

The PSAudio perfect wave DAC also making a fuss. I don't really like the looks but worth checking out.

image.jpg

The MSB may be good but I can't take the looks. Same for soulution, constellation audio, and CH.

I heard an upgraded MSB Plat stack directly against the DirectStream and these was no contest. Understandable given that its $35K vs $6K retail. The most surprising thing was how the MSB destroyed the DS in DSD!!!!! It was not pretty.

 

My friend owns 6 quality Dacs and we spent over 6 hours comparing 4 of them with 3 HP amps (2 Woo tube amps and a Sennheiser SS one) and 3 headphones. Senn HD800, HifiMan HE6 and some Stax electrostatics (cant recall the model number). All fed by a hot rodded CAPs server running Windows 2012 server R2, Audiophile Optimiser and JRiver player. Pictures here:

http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?33845-From-the-beginning/page3&highlight=alrainbow

 

It was easy to separate the Wheat from the Chaff with such a head to head setup with very revealing gear.

[Steam]

It was easy to separate the Wheat from the Chaff with such a head to head setup with very revealing gear.

So can you summarise your conclusions here?

[wis97non]

So can you summarise your conclusions here?

Very quickly, the DS was very very poor on DSD, as if stuffing cotton balls into the headphones. The PCM was pretty good, but still far below the MSB stack in terms of resolution and a sense of ease. Perhaps not as "PCM" like though in terms of the upper mid-range harness like the MSB (which was not unpleasant - mind you).  In this case, the price difference can easily be understood, even if not justified ($35K to $6K). They sinmply are not in the same class.

 

Of the 4 Dacs you see in the picture, the MSB and Lampi are a cut above, while the DS beat the Hugo on PCM and they both were very poor with DSD (and I am being kind here).

[zipstartcanoe]

Problem solved Al;

 

http://www.digitalaudioreview.net/2015/11/the-select-dac-ii-msb-technologys-90000-da-converter/