[olegausany]

Has anyone tried the Schiit Gungnir with the WA7 by chance?

Why do you want to use such expensive Dac with WA7?

 

[JoelT]

Not sure that I would call the Gungnir expensive in the scope of what you can pay for a DAC. Mid-tier maybe? Regardless, I'm curious as to how much difference there is vs. the internal DAC. Furthermore, if I would get a stand alone DAC, I'd like it to be a clear upgrade, and something I'd be happy to use with another amp down the road.

 

[olegausany]

If you want clear upgrade get Arcam irDac for just $700 without paying extra for USB or paying for useless in case of Gungnir XLR outputs

 

[pragu]

  Not sure that I would call the Gungnir expensive in the scope of what you can pay for a DAC. Mid-tier maybe? Regardless, I'm curious as to how much difference there is vs. the internal DAC. Furthermore, if I would get a stand alone DAC, I'd like it to be a clear upgrade, and something I'd be happy to use with another amp down the road.

I would love to know what DACs people use with their WA7s. I read somewhere that the internal DAC is on par with the Dragonfly, but I find that hard to believe. I imagine that the Gungnir would be a pretty attractive choice, especially with a pair of silver wa7 + wa7tp sitting on top.

 

[groovyd]

I use a McIntosh D100.  Amazing DAC, mediocre headphone amp.  It does have both fixed and variable balanced and unbalanced outputs and is internally balanced throughout.  The only negative so far being the volume control tries to debounce your input sometimes when you pause in changing the volume for a second and then try to raise or lower it again it will ignore the second change in volume until it resets it's display which takes about 3 or 4 seconds.  Same thing happens following hitting the mute button, that you cannot change the volume for a few seconds while it updates it's display.  Wrote the engineer about this and their response was this is operating as designed... lol... kinda an expensive excuse at the price and cache of McIntosh if you ask me.

 

[shultzee]

  I would love to know what DACs people use with their WA7s. I read somewhere that the internal DAC is on par with the Dragonfly, but I find that hard to believe. I imagine that the Gungnir would be a pretty attractive choice, especially with a pair of silver wa7 + wa7tp sitting on top.

 
 
I just got a X-sabre to go with my Wa7.   I am really thrilled with the combo.  If it gets any better with burn in I'm not going to be able to take it lol.

 

[JoelT]

  I use a McIntosh D100.  

Well, No one can accuse you of lowballing your DAC purchase. Wow.

 
 

   
 
I just got a X-sabre to go with my Wa7.   I am really thrilled with the combo.  If it gets any better with burn in I'm not going to be able to take it lol.
 

I have the X-Sabre on my short list as well, but it I'm a bit concerned about the treble quality based on reviews I've read thus far. I really wish I could demo these DAC's. Bleh.

 

[groovyd]

haha, yeah well I had plans to get one of their block amps for a nice set of speakers as well and my setup requires both balanced and unbalanced variable and fixed outputs to drive desktop speakers, and a couple different headphones together.  the D100 was the swiss army knife for me.  only wish they fixed the firmware and doubled (or quadrupled) the output drive of the headphone amp.  it sounds good just lacks a bit of punch.  the pre-amp outputs are all top notch though, impressive sound.

 

[JoelT]

Gripes aside (actually, your comment reminded me of the software volume issues you talked about a while back), I have yet to read anything negative about how the McIntosh D100 sounds. Most of us mere mortals only can dream of such equipment. Not that there should be any negatives at the price point. So I take it the WA7 is really just a temporary stop-gap amp until you're ready to make the plunge in to something more "summit-fi"?

 

[shultzee]

  Well, No one can accuse you of lowballing your DAC purchase. Wow.

 
 
I have the X-Sabre on my short list as well, but it I'm a bit concerned about the treble quality based on reviews I've read thus far. I really wish I could demo these DAC's. Bleh.

To me the x-sabre is just in another league from the dacs I have previously owned which consisted of Audioengine d-3, Pan-Am, Uber Bitfrost and the wa7.  I don't have a reference above that.  I can say that the x-sabre/wa7 combo is pretty amazing.

 

[olegausany]

I currently use X-Sabre with my amps and completely agree that it's great dac, but even irDac is much better than Bifrost Uber

 

[groovyd]

  Gripes aside (actually, your comment reminded me of the software volume issues you talked about a while back), I have yet to read anything negative about how the McIntosh D100 sounds. Most of us mere mortals only can dream of such equipment. Not that there should be any negatives at the price point. So I take it the WA7 is really just a temporary stop-gap amp until you're ready to make the plunge in to something more "summit-fi"?

 
I had humored the idea of adding in a SR-009 and WES but to be honest the WA7 + WA7tp and my LCD-X are pretty much end game quality for me.  I don't see anything at all about the WA7 I would improve sound-wise, especially now that it has doubled down with the WA7tp.  I don't even find myself thinking about amp upgrades anymore.  There is still a chance I might get to the stax kit but you know what, what I have is also very nice and makes me perfectly happy.
 
I have to say though the D100 was also a step up in terms of sound as opposed to the onboard DAC or my ol' HeadRoom Ultra Desktop Amp I used to drive it with.  Plus it also affords the way to a better speaker setup since McIntosh power amps are pretty much top shelf product.
 
I am an embedded engineer who has done both software and hardware design (as well as a bit of mechanical) so no doubt I will always have 'something' to gripe about.  As engineers, it is in our nature. Of course if I sat down to take on a project like designing an amp or whatnot it would be absolutely perfect 

 

 

[JoelT]

   
I had humored the idea of adding in a SR-009 and WES but to be honest the WA7 + WA7tp and my LCD-X are pretty much end game quality for me.  I don't see anything at all about the WA7 I would improve sound-wise, especially now that it has doubled down with the WA7tp.  I don't even find myself thinking about amp upgrades anymore.  There is still a chance I might get to the stax kit but you know what, what I have is also very nice and makes me perfectly happy.
 
I have to say though the D100 was also a step up in terms of sound as opposed to the onboard DAC or my ol' HeadRoom Ultra Desktop Amp I used to drive it with.  Plus it also affords the way to a better speaker setup since McIntosh power amps are pretty much top shelf product.

Your current setup is about where I'd like to end up truthfully (with the exception of the uber-dac). For me, a better DAC and probably a future headphone upgrade are still on the table. I'm finding the WA7+WA7tp to be quite satisfying at the moment. I'll probably wait a year or two on the headphones, as the current version of the LCD-2 with the fazor is actually very, very good...not to mention that I'm always interested in checking out whatever new and improved products are on the horizon. A proper Stax setup is beyond my reach, though I'd like to listen to one at some point just to get a taste of what the SR-009 sounds like.
 
All this said, there's a lot to be said for a setup that makes you "perfectly happy". Recognizing this is probably as important as anything, truth be told.   
 

  I am an embedded engineer who has done both software and hardware design (as well as a bit of mechanical) so no doubt I will always have 'something' to gripe about.  As engineers, it is in our nature. Of course if I sat down to take on a project like designing an amp or whatnot it would be absolutely perfect 

 

Haha. Right. It's all those other engineers who are hacks/idiots. I'm not sure why they can't get things right. 

 

 

[atomicbob]

  I would love to know what DACs people use with their WA7s. I read somewhere that the internal DAC is on par with the Dragonfly, but I find that hard to believe. I imagine that the Gungnir would be a pretty attractive choice, especially with a pair of silver wa7 + wa7tp sitting on top.

I find a Concero HD with the Apodizing filter engaged produces a very enjoyable result for WA7 + HD800 / T90 / T1.

 

[EdmontonCanuck]

 Not sure that I would call the Gungnir expensive in the scope of what you can pay for a DAC. Mid-tier maybe? Regardless, I'm curious as to how much difference there is vs. the internal DAC. Furthermore, if I would get a stand alone DAC, I'd like it to be a clear upgrade, and something I'd be happy to use with another amp down the road.

I would love to know what DACs people use with their WA7s. I read somewhere that the internal DAC is on par with the Dragonfly, but I find that hard to believe. I imagine that the Gungnir would be a pretty attractive choice, especially with a pair of silver wa7 + wa7tp sitting on top.

I'm using the exaSound DAC. Definitely an upper-tier DAC, and one I'm proud to say is Canadian (go Habs!!!! Lol).

If you're interested in learning a little bit more about it, I just watched this interesting interview given during Axpona 2014 with exaSounds's George Klissarov:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Xjck1ZuhHg





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