fejnomit
1000+ Head-Fier
I may be in the minority but I had the MScaler->TT2 combo for a long while as my desktop set up for headphones and it was very nice sounding but - and call me crazy - the sonics I am getting from the DC-Elite into my Trifectas is subjectively better. Better depth and layering, better soundstage, better detail. Looking back I don't think I'm a "Chord house sound" guy, although from all the reviews I kinda should be. I never found the sound precise enough, especially in bass layering and in terms of air from ultra-highs. I moved to a very nice R2R Dac - Rockna's top of the line - and a very nice tube amp - DNA Stratus - after that and it was immediately better, even in the metrics that Chord is supposed to excel at and certainly - despite all the hubbub to the contrary about R2R and tubes - more precise and revealing and coherent.
But the point of this post is to say that my evolution has been toward the smaller and less complex and less expensive and yet the sound quality I am getting is more satisfying and, to my metrics, better. Perhaps my anatomy is better suited to IEMs. Perhaps I like the ease of the dongle. Or perhaps the DC Elite->Lavinia->Trifecta combo is just perfect synergy for my ears. But I am blown away each and every time I listen, no matter the genre, and far more consistently than with the Chord stack and at far less size and cost than the R2R/Tube amp stack. Just my $.02 on a Sunday morning as my music continues to put a massive smile on my soul.
Then again, maybe I'm just old now and I can't hear crap and I'm just living in a happy muffled bubble.
But the point of this post is to say that my evolution has been toward the smaller and less complex and less expensive and yet the sound quality I am getting is more satisfying and, to my metrics, better. Perhaps my anatomy is better suited to IEMs. Perhaps I like the ease of the dongle. Or perhaps the DC Elite->Lavinia->Trifecta combo is just perfect synergy for my ears. But I am blown away each and every time I listen, no matter the genre, and far more consistently than with the Chord stack and at far less size and cost than the R2R/Tube amp stack. Just my $.02 on a Sunday morning as my music continues to put a massive smile on my soul.
Then again, maybe I'm just old now and I can't hear crap and I'm just living in a happy muffled bubble.
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