[HiFiWar]

I have been using the Audio-GD R-1 NOS for 8 months and its been a great time. It takes a lot of burn in time but the performance is really superb for the price. Honestly you have picked a lot of respectable DAC's. I don't see how you could go wrong with any of them especially if you buy used.

I can get a gd R1 for around 850. Might be the budget choice . The Morpheus is 1900 used and a little beat up

 

[shwnwllms]

I can get a gd R1 for around 850. Might be the budget choice

If you plan on using HQP, go with a Cyan 2 then save up for a used Spring 3

 

[HiFiWar]

If you plan on using HQP, go with a Cyan 2 then save up for a used Spring 3

Gotta be honest I mostly use Tidal

 

[Nayyte]

I can get a gd R1 for around 850. Might be the budget choice . The Morpheus is 1900 used and a little beat up

Money is often glanced over in this hobby and it should be everyone's number one priority. We're all guilty!

 

[HiFiWar]

Money is often glanced over in this hobby and it should be everyone's number one priority. We're all guilty!

Fur sure. Quality should take priority too though or you'll lose more money

 

[haasaaroni]

It is in, and it powers up. Good signs. Unfortunately, it turns out that my excellent sounding RME ADI-2/4 PRO SE has TRS unbalanced connectors instead of the RCA unbalanced I wrongly assumed it had. K, time for a new DAC - RME is up in the classifieds . I've come up with some options, but I'd love some help with them from anyone who's used the pendant before. I'm trying to avoid ESS DACs since I'm bored with them and don't find them very special. Here's what I have so far:

Schiit Bifrost 2/64 - seems to be the default recommendation
Schiit Yggdrasil - upgrade?
AudioNote DAC - a store out here may sell them
Chord Qutest - had one, liked it a lot
Border Patrol SE-i - tube DAC
Musician Pegasus
RME ADI-2 - actually has RCA outs
Audio-gd R1 DAC
MHDT Orchid - long wait to get in
Matrix AudioMini-i4
Holo Cyan 2
Benchmark DAC B

If there's anything I am missing you think should be on my list, lemme know. Thanks for the help!

I’m planning on getting the Cyan 2, but have my Gungnir for now. It’s really excellent, but benefits from an RCA to XLR adaptor to use the balanced outputs. There are a lot of used ones for sale that come and go. It’s an excellent match for the pendant!

 

[hikaru12]

It is in, and it powers up. Good signs. Unfortunately, it turns out that my excellent sounding RME ADI-2/4 PRO SE has TRS unbalanced connectors instead of the RCA unbalanced I wrongly assumed it had. K, time for a new DAC - RME is up in the classifieds . I've come up with some options, but I'd love some help with them from anyone who's used the pendant before. I'm trying to avoid ESS DACs since I'm bored with them and don't find them very special. Here's what I have so far:

Schiit Bifrost 2/64 - seems to be the default recommendation
Schiit Yggdrasil - upgrade?
AudioNote DAC - a store out here may sell them
Chord Qutest - had one, liked it a lot
Border Patrol SE-i - tube DAC
Musician Pegasus
RME ADI-2 - actually has RCA outs
Audio-gd R1 DAC
MHDT Orchid - long wait to get in
Matrix AudioMini-i4
Holo Cyan 2
Benchmark DAC B

If there's anything I am missing you think should be on my list, lemme know. Thanks for the help!

That’s a bummer my regular RME has regular RCA connectors and it’s a great pairing. It hugely benefits from the soundstage this amp can produce as it’s pretty flat in that regard.

 

[HiFiWar]

That’s a bummer my regular RME has regular RCA connectors and it’s a great pairing. It hugely benefits from the soundstage this amp can produce as it’s pretty flat in that regard.

Yeah, I may just use an adapter, but I really hate having extra stuff in my chain

 

[hikaru12]

Yeah, I may just use an adapter, but I really hate having extra stuff in my chain

I wouldn’t - adapters usually sound worse. I can comment on the Morpheus and it sounded really dark when compared to other DACs. It’s a pretty big adjustment coming from DS/Multibit DACs to full blown NOS. That being said it had great soundstage and detail and is comparable to the Yggy. If you’re really considering this as your endgame amp that a Yggy is probably a good compliment to it.

 

[tholt]

It is in, and it powers up. Good signs. Unfortunately, it turns out that my excellent sounding RME ADI-2/4 PRO SE has TRS unbalanced connectors instead of the RCA unbalanced I wrongly assumed it had. K, time for a new DAC - RME is up in the classifieds . I've come up with some options, but I'd love some help with them from anyone who's used the pendant before. I'm trying to avoid ESS DACs since I'm bored with them and don't find them very special. Here's what I have so far:

Schiit Bifrost 2/64 - seems to be the default recommendation
Schiit Yggdrasil - upgrade?
AudioNote DAC - a store out here may sell them
Chord Qutest - had one, liked it a lot
Border Patrol SE-i - tube DAC
Musician Pegasus
RME ADI-2 - actually has RCA outs
Audio-gd R1 DAC
MHDT Orchid - long wait to get in
Matrix AudioMini-i4
Holo Cyan 2
Benchmark DAC B

If there's anything I am missing you think should be on my list, lemme know. Thanks for the help!

Glad it arrived safely and that she's good to go. Once you get the G73R in, plus the GEC U709 and the Valvos, it will really come alive.

From your DAC list, one I would have reservations on is the border patrol, a lot of people find a little soft sounding from what I understand. Since the Pendant is a bit of a chameleon depending on what tubes you have, I would use a DAC that doesn't color the sound too much, unless you have a particular sound you're going for.

Some good suggestions from others here. Enjoy the ride

 

[HiFiWar]

Glad it arrived safely and that she's good to go. Once you get the G73R in, plus the GEC U709 and the Valvos, it will really come alive.

From your DAC list, one I would have reservations on is the border patrol, a lot of people find a little soft sounding from what I understand. Since the Pendant is a bit of a chameleon depending on what tubes you have, I would use a DAC that doesn't color the sound too much, unless you have a particular sound you're going for.

Some good suggestions from others here. Enjoy the ride

Got it up and running this morning using a Schiit Modius E. Excellent sound off the stock JJ tubes running through my Mod House Argon V3. I also tried the Susvara from the high jack. It opened up the soundstage a lot, but lost some of the magic the easier to drive Argon's had. I'll keep playing with it.

 

[shwnwllms]

Got it up and running this morning using a Schiit Modius E. Excellent sound off the stock JJ tubes running through my Mod House Argon V3. I also tried the Susvara from the high jack. It opened up the soundstage a lot, but lost some of the magic the easier to drive Argon's had. I'll keep playing with it.

Try the Susvara on low Z (I’m not sure it has enough power to really drive them properly though)

 

[theveterans]

Got it up and running this morning using a Schiit Modius E. Excellent sound off the stock JJ tubes running through my Mod House Argon V3. I also tried the Susvara from the high jack. It opened up the soundstage a lot, but lost some of the magic the easier to drive Argon's had. I'll keep playing with it.

The Forge runs the Susvara on 300ohm taps without losing the midrange magic

 

[HiFiWar]

Try the Susvara on low Z (I’m not sure it has enough power to really drive them properly though)

That's why I'm on high. It's ok, tweaking stuff is fun. Wait do I have that backwards?

 

[HiFiWar]

Try the Susvara on low Z (I’m not sure it has enough power to really drive them properly though)

Oh, it has enough power. I'm running it off Low Z and it's at about 70% power with a comfortable volume level jamming to Incubus. It can easily get too loud. Is the low and high just impedance? For some reason, I thought it was Gain. Also, I managed to get a hold of a used Sonnet Morpheus - much excite! The Schiit Modius is doing a pretty great job though.