[jonathan c]

After a few hours of CD replay to warm up the gear .... some casual, some focused listening via Musician Taurus ....

So natural! .... music 'blossoms' - occupies space in realistic fashion. Onset and decay of notes, of chords are convincing - as is the dynamic range, impact. Male / female vocal duets (e.g. Teddy Pendergrass / Stephanie Mills) are sublime.

 

[proMC]

Been waiting for another review on the Taurus! Can you breakdown your thoughts on the soundstage, treble and any comparisons? I have the R26, my 2nd r2r

 

[jonathan c]

I have no experience with Gustard R26. My other DAC is Mojo Audio Mystique (pro). My prior DAC was Border Patrol SE. [Both are R2R non-oversampling. BPSE has tube rectification in power supply section.]

 

[proMC]

Great.. so what are some more detailed listening impressions? I’m considering purchasing it

 

[proMC]

I have no experience with Gustard R26. My other DAC is Mojo Audio Mystique (pro). My prior DAC was Border Patrol SE. [Both are R2R non-oversampling. BPSE has tube rectification in power supply section.]

Nice, I’m considering buying the Taurus do you have a more detailed description of the sound you could share?

 

[jonathan c]

To @proMC, some reasons why Musician Taurus is the DAC in my system:
• Absence of etch, glare, glassiness in midrange through upper treble;
• Pure, natural rendition of harmonics / overtones on individual / mass stringed instruments;
• Excellence in rendition of female & male vocals - the proper mix of diction, projection, throatiness;
• Clear, complete recovery & rendition of ambience / reverberation - if present in a recording;
• Soundstaging is convincing: air between instruments / voices is clear, inert, not energised. This gives instruments / voices natural-sounding definition, heft, and impact.
• Ease of switching listening 'modes': focus on individual instruments, voices - or bask in the sonic totality;
• In sum, the sound from the Musician Taurus conversion of digital to analogue is organic, is life-like.
• I make no comparative comments vis-a-vis other DACs.

 

[JerseyD]

To @proMC, some reasons why Musician Taurus is the DAC in my system:
• Absence of etch, glare, glassiness in midrange through upper treble;
• Pure, natural rendition of harmonics / overtones on individual / mass stringed instruments;
• Excellence in rendition of female & male vocals - the proper mix of diction, projection, throatiness;
• Clear, complete recovery & rendition of ambience / reverberation - if present in a recording;
• Soundstaging is convincing: air between instruments / voices is clear, inert, not energised. This gives instruments / voices natural-sounding definition, heft, and impact.
• Ease of switching listening 'modes': focus on individual instruments, voices - or bask in the sonic totality;
• In sum, the sound from the Musician Taurus conversion of digital to analogue is organic, is life-like.
• I make no comparative comments vis-a-vis other DACs.

Jonathan, has the Taurus supplanted the Mojo in your main system?

 

[jonathan c]

Jonathan, has the Taurus supplanted the Mojo in your main system?

It looks sounds likely ....

 

[proMC]

It looks sounds likely ....

How does the treble sound? I heard it’s smooth, never fatiguing.. but does the leading edge of the transients leave something to be desired? Like is it too smooth?

 

[jonathan c]

How does the treble sound? I heard it’s smooth, never fatiguing.. but does the leading edge of the transients leave something to be desired? Like is it too smooth?

Leading edge is fine ... it sounds complete, without 'etch', glare ... snare drums, high-hats, cymbals all have life-like onset ... if recorded properly.

 

[L2470]

Check out what's on AliExpress! ARM STM32F 446 ALTERA USB DAC, High-precision DMD 1024 PCM 1536 kHz Chip for $1,709,618.48
https://sl.aliexpress.ru/p?key=8Y2EO9S

 

[L2470]

Discount.

 

[proMC]

Discount.

The price I’m seeing is 373 583… which is $4000 US

 

[proMC]

Discount.

But what about this…

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256...2533167.3256806476027871&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa

 

[L2470]

this link does not open for me