[Grasshopper]

AA Friends - last night we had a fun gathering at my place and we did a little informal DAC shootout. I will try and post some pictures later, but wanted to get a quick write-up to share.



The contenders were:

PS Audio Directstream DAC (with Bridge II Card) (MSRP $6900 / $3500 "street price" used)

Mcintosh MDA-1000 (MSRP $8000)

dCS Debussy ($11,000 MSRP / $4500 "Street Price" used)

Schiit Yggy Less Is More ($2,200 MSRP / $2000 "Street Price" used

Lumin T2 ($4,500 MSRP)



(I had an AMR DP-777SE that was delivered today, so it didn't "make it" and I just ordered a Lampizator Baltic-3 DAC, which should be here tomorrow. I'll compare these to the "winner(s)" later this week or so)



The audience was a handful of like minded audiophiles, which is always a good time. We all had different tastes, so it was cool to see all of the reactions.



One attendee entered the shootout skeptical that there would be much in the way of differences between DACs. My system is pretty revealing, so that myth was dispelled pretty quickly.



Every single DAC was a completely different presentation.



Our music was streamed through Qobuz.



Playlist was sampled from the following tracks:



Day One - Carly Pearce (female vocal that needs to be "just right")

O Heart Bereaved and Lonely - Leigh Nash (awesome bass on this song)

Move on Up (2019 Remaster) - Curtis Mayfield (This track can easily come off bright, so a good comparison)

The Way You Look Tonight - Frank Sinatra

Love - Michael Buble'

Better Together - Jack Johnson

Poker Face - Lady Gaga

Fur Elise - Cyrus Chestnut / A Charlie Brown Christmas

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - Sara Bareilles (Live at the variety playhouse)

Sista - Rachelle Ferrell (not my jam, but awesome bass line)

Sexy Plexi - Jack Johnson

The Sound of Silence - Disturbed

Caterpillar - The Colorist & Emiliana Torrini (fantastic "noises")

Computer Love - Kraftwerk (3-D The Catalogue) this has a very 3-d panning sound, which is way cool

Death Row- Chris Stapleton

Love is a Verb - John Mayer

Musical Genocide - Gregory Porter

Beautiful Girl - Sara Bareilles (fantastic acoustic guitar and female vocal)

Hotel California - Eagles

Bubbles - Yosi Horikawa (fantastic imaging track)





With a diverse setlist, we went on to listening.