Yes! We have another cool livestream for you this Sunday! We have – again – some nice streamers of around 1000 Euro. In short: if you are looking for something nice in this price range, don’t miss this live test!
The list of streamers is fairly definitive. We have:
- Bluesound Node X
- Volumio Primo
- SMSL dac streaming bridge (also 1000 Euro all together)
- JBL MP350
- Eversolo DMP-A6
- IFI Neo Stream
We hope to see you in the Live Stream next Sunday!
Hello,
Would it be possible to do a live test of the Frerot Merason Dac against the Qutest from Chord and Atoll Dac 200? Seems its the three Dac that everyone are recommending in the 1500€ price range, but their sound philosophy is very different from what i gather online.
Would be very interesting to hear the difference!
Thank you so much!
We have already tested all three, although not simultaneously. The Atoll DAC200 in this multitest: https://alpha-audio.net/review/multitest-d-a-converters-1500-2500-euro/2/ Back in 2018, we have reviewed the Chord Qutest: https://alpha-audio.net/nl/review/review-chord-qutest-converter/ And the Merason Frérot has been reviewed in 2021: https://alpha-audio.net/review/review-merason-audio-frerot-nos-d-a-converter-2/
Reading these reviews again, I think all three are very natural sounding, fast en musical DAC’s. PRAT al over the place. Although the design philosophy differs notably, the sonic characteristics seem quite similar. When it comes to choices, it all depends on the ‘fit’ in your system. I guess al three DAC’s will perform excellent. What remains are the details such as connectivity, power supply, design.
Thanks you so much for your reply!
My system is a Rega elex mk4 with speaker Focal Aria 906 (speaker-cable is Viard hd hp4). Streamer is an Octavio stream connected in optical with an Audioquest cinnamon.
Which Dac do you think would be a better fit ?
(And what are the signature Sonore differences between the Qutest and the Merason ?)
Thanks you so much for your help !
Rémi
This is the playlist: https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/16914496
Alpha livestream 24 sep 2023 (by me, maty aka nauscopio)
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2cU1e7Lmh2XFkVVuSAPMQb?si=1dcd30a5147744df&nd=1
Nice. Thanks!
Great live test today, much appreciated!
As for suggestions to test going forward.
I would like to see you do even more test of alternative digital noise reduction methods, that could possibly work together with cheaper streamers. I have played around a bit myself I had great success with the cheap combination of: WiFi Extender->IFI Lan iSilencer->CAT8->Netgear gs105 (with Ifi Power X)->CAT8.
The reasoning is that the WiFi extender breaks the ethernet line and starts all over again, from scratch. The WiFi extender is very noisy but he IFI Lan Silencer seem to do an amazing job in very noisy sources and remove the bulk of that noise (not so much in less noisy places). Then the Netgear acts as a finer sandpaper close to the streamer.
If you could compare such a setup, with a cheap streamer like the Wiim Pro with IFI Power X for example, and compare it to a much more expensive stock streamer (+£700) without any of this ethernet magic, but using the same DAC, that would be much appreciated!
Hi Tobias. Thanks. I’d think though that those kind of solutions are a bit difficult to compare. You add so many variables, that if you buy something which is like the iFi LAN Silencer, but another brand, the result is very different.
We did a comparison of music software, and if I’m really honest, I’d pick a simple Intel NUC computer, put Audirvana on it and USB out into a DAC, like we did in that review.
Thanks Martijn!
I want to iterate that the WiFi extender together with the IFI LAN iSilencer gave a bigger improvement then the gs105 with iPower X, at least that was my impression.
In my case I used the WXC-50 as the streamer.
But It could also have been because my cheap plasticky router was extremely noisy and benefitted more from being decoupled…
Just wanted to share this.