Quote from: DaveBSC on September 11, 2013, 07:05:12 PM

Quote from: RudeWolf on September 11, 2013, 06:34:37 PM

So you're saying - hide yo kids, hide yo wife, thro awee yo deltasig?

And that I need to rethink about making my "last" DAC on PCM1794 and rather switch to PCM63...

You can do much better than the 1794 while still staying with delta sigma IMO.

Analog Devices? Cirrus? Asahi Kasei? Just don't say - Wolfson. I'll never understand how PWD2 sounds how it sounds with these chips. Everything Wolfson has always sounded pretty meh to me.

AD1955 is my favorite overall, followed by AKM4399. Then WM8741/2, Sabre, and Cirrus and BB at the bottom of the list. The old TOTL Accuphase DAC used I think eight stacked 1955s, and it was *sweet*. The new Sabre based one is not.

The first Vega prototype was based on the AKM like the ARK MX, but they ultimately went with the Sabre for the DSD and DXD capabilities and upsampling they wanted. Auralic admits they had to get a lot of outside help because the 9018 spec sheet is full of holes and misinformation. I suspect that's why so many Sabre based DACs aren't very good.

Quote from: purrin on September 11, 2013, 06:56:50 PM

I mean shit, it took my wife 2 seconds to identify which one she preferred, and she didn't even know which was which.

Ah ha, the truth comes out and the wife influence factor has swung the decision in favor of the M7 completely! 

All kidding aside, if the OR is required to squeeze the best performance out of both these units, for those that don't have the luxury of this component (and the needed cabling), what would be the recommendation between these 2 units standalone? I think that also bears comparing (possibly a low priority for you right now) and worth some thoughts on. It'd be great to add the Ag M7 (standalone) into this comparison list (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ao9CyUbvb2nFdHZ4RlZaQ2JwX1JsZG9vQlAtTmhvM2c#gid=0) to see how the scores compare as designed, since you mentioned it compares poorly with stock USB.

I'll be doing a thorough going over via USB and coax from my transport if that'll be of any use.  The doc will eventually get filled in I'm sure.

To Soup, for lending us the AGD

Not a problem! I'm really happy you liked it so much Marv. I knew it was something special the first time I heard it. I can't wait to hear it with the OR5 in place to compare to the stock USB, which is the only way I have ever heard it. Though I guess I feel a little bad that it made you buy a new DAC.

To bad it doesn't come in silver!   

Great to see another really good DAC at a pretty reasonable price!

I want to hear a good ladder DAC ahead of the 009...

That is exactly what I will be doing with mine. Master 7 into a KGSSHV at 500v rails with 10mAs of output bias current into the 009s. That will be my endgame rig.

Though I also have a Neko D100 Mk2 in house to compare as well just for kicks. I had read alot of good things about it and Wes is a friend, so I asked him if i could borrow it for a while to compare to the M7.

Hoping to be able to snag the new Bryston BDA-2 from a local dealer to compare as well.

But alas, all the comparing of DACs will be waiting till I receive my 009s from price japan, which should be some time in mid to late ocotober

Edit: I had also wondered what happened to all the M7 impressions, the other thread kind of died...I should check more pages than just my subscriptions more often

Well good, Im happy to have helped you make up your mind. The Master 7 never ended up on the classifieds though, Darryl knew I wanted it, Id told him to message me if he ever felt like selling it.

Damn, got it already? That is pretty quick, does it sound as good right out the gate as mine did?

So are you buying a M7 now, Marv?

Heh yeah. This is the DAC you think your X-Sabre sounds like.