Well, I went ahead and ordered this DAC during this past Black Friday sales. A month or so previous to this purchase I had bought the Denafrips Ares II (12th) and although it sounded 'fast' and musically engaging it also 'rolled off' the high frequencies a bit too much for my 'I like it real' tastes. Luckily for me that Denafrips DAC had its problems (extraneous noises came creeping in from time to time disrupting the listening experience, so I had to return it). I can say I like the Draco much more than the Denafrips because of the more 'natural' sound coming out of it. And the 300-hour burn-in period is totally true (at first it sounded way too compressed, unnatural, etc.). After the burn-in period, this thing has opened up and has been churning out great sounds ever since. The bass is tight, strong, and fast, the mids and highs are 'correct' too. I've been listening to all sorts of old CDs that I thought I knew well but to my surprise, this DAC presents much more detail and holographic presentation than I had experienced before...a total shock! I did change the power cord and the 2 fuses inside so that might have helped. Another thing to keep in mind is WHERE you connect it. The sound is completely different if your power source is clean than if it's just plugged into a regular outlet...so experiment before returning! 😁
@theodoroschronis29662 ай бұрын
thank you for your very precise and informative reviews! Would Draco be an upgrade to a Chord Mojo 2 as a dac to a hifi system? Are there any similar differences as with Chord Cutest? Thank you in advance!
@gregjun50113 жыл бұрын
Thank you for the review. How do Musician Audio compare with the Denafrips?
@rezaestacio34453 жыл бұрын
I'm also curious about this.
@rickyblair88022 жыл бұрын
Yeh tell us!
@apj.-.-.-.-.-.-.-1192 жыл бұрын
theyre literally the same thing look up the internals
@juanvillalba58793 жыл бұрын
Chinese Dac's like Topping and Smsl (especially the high-end ones) has very good critics. We would like to know your impressions about them. Regards, good review as always.
@ProjectOverseer3 жыл бұрын
Interesting review, Terry with good insight 👍 I thought I was familiar with most HiFi terminology, but "Hoover Smooth" is a new one to add to my HiFi black book of lingo 😅
@PursuitPerfectSystem3 жыл бұрын
Not Hoover "UBER" haha I have been thinking about this and couldnt work out what I was supposed to have said - the penny just dropped ahaha
@ProjectOverseer3 жыл бұрын
@@PursuitPerfectSystem Haha ... Okay, I hear that now. I'll add that instead 😅
@ProjectOverseer3 жыл бұрын
@@PursuitPerfectSystem I was just jesting with you, Terry. A little bit of leg pulling ... you're doing a great job as always.
@fletchermunson62253 жыл бұрын
Maybe you should set up a ten DAC shoot out competition. Nothing is impossible for someone who doesn't have to do it himself.
@PursuitPerfectSystem3 жыл бұрын
A dac shoot out could be interesting 10 is quite a lot though :)
@fletchermunson62253 жыл бұрын
@@PursuitPerfectSystem Asking was easy.
@andrewfurst57113 жыл бұрын
@@fletchermunson6225 Ha ha, that's a great quote about "Nothing is impossible...". I do appreciate the thorough review by PPS here, and yes it's kind of greedy on our part to want more comparisons to many other DACs.
@fletchermunson62253 жыл бұрын
@@andrewfurst5711 You say "greedy" like it's a bad thing.
@andrewfurst57113 жыл бұрын
@@fletchermunson6225 "Greed is good", to quote Gordon Gekko. I'm greedy about these comparisons too. The comparison I'd like to see most (at the moment) is the Draco vs. the Bifrost 2.
@flatericy3 жыл бұрын
Comparison vs ares 2 is a real test :)
@andrewfurst57113 жыл бұрын
Yes, though I'd also like to see a comparison to Bifrost 2.
@klepp192 жыл бұрын
I own Qutest, Ares II, Pontus II & so far Draco is more musically revealing!
@dougg10752 жыл бұрын
You’re in the zone man. Great review
@PursuitPerfectSystem2 жыл бұрын
All my reviews are great 😉 thanks
@clarice1001nights2 жыл бұрын
Clarice Carter The diodes on my unit would indicate OS never light up. They should. If I turn on a different input source, the DAC lights up immediately. There is no way to determine if you are doing 1x, 2x, 3x, 4x, DSD, or 48K. If the claim is that os is automatic, the diodes should shine. If not that is a mistake of the manufacturer. What I find extraordinarily odd is that the Musician Draco and the Dynafrips Ares ii when opened look like the same machine. In the Ares every thing works, in the Musician (in mine at the very least) some important things don't. Critics are told that the OS is automatic??? But why would diodes not work, and programming them also fail to work?? How is it that critics do not show how the oversampling can be set? OS makes a difference in detailing, but if we fly over that detail, we miss a significant selling point. The Ares can and the Draco can not, that is a knock off. Am I missing something, or are we all missing something? The leading seller is in Singapore and the other in China. That is quite a physical distance for a coincidence. If one is getting the better boards and paying for design and manufacturing, is the other providing products that are good, but at lower price point with warts the other will not put into their Brand. I do not want to be negative. I bought the Draco and found the sound musical, but selling a product that does not do what the other does and changing similar money for, does not seem like the right way to treat customers
@PursuitPerfectSystem2 жыл бұрын
There is only oversampling on or off not a choice through different oversampling modes?
@pjlett5688 Жыл бұрын
Over sampling is on with the nos light Off, the review forgot to mention !!
@kyleconnolly44403 жыл бұрын
Cool review. Out of curiosity, in NOS mode, did you try oversampling from your computer with something like audirvana (sox filter) or hq player? I have a nos r2r and I experience aliasing if I don't upsample the single before pushing it to my DAC. You should try it out if you can. Cheers!
@Temmple2 жыл бұрын
I am wondering how the Draco would compare to the internal DAC on the newer BlueSound Node N130.
@Percival1919 Жыл бұрын
Hi There, interesting review. I'm looking for the right Dac for my budget. I recently have considered the EARMEN TRADUTTO. But I like the fact the Draco has a hdmi (i2s) input, as I want to connect my TV
@PursuitPerfectSystem Жыл бұрын
The hdmi i2s is not for connecting to tvs it’s for connecting to music players. If you connect it to a tv you will break it, please do not do that
@brandonm8416 Жыл бұрын
I’m so confused with so many good DACs on the market (and not being able to preview them I’m my system) it’s insane. Think I must retreat and go back to a turntable 😂
@riccitone2 жыл бұрын
Really happy you reviewed the Draco as an option to it''s higher-priced sibling. Thank you. I've been wondering about the potential benefits and flexibility gains from a decent DDC. Totally wondering if it would be better to do what you suggested, that it could be an option to save some money and implement a DDC. Can I ask, which DDC you are about to bring in? Anyway, now on the fence between a Musician Draco or a Toppings D70s!
@PursuitPerfectSystem2 жыл бұрын
I bought a Singzer SU6 but I havent even taken it out of the box yet
@classicaudio92492 жыл бұрын
Which one is better? Qutest and Draco.
@bobb.99173 жыл бұрын
Good review, I guess? (not your fault). As a consumer I am just going to continue to use the DAC in my Marantz SACD 30N. That may change…but to a simple consumer it is so…so…so…OVERWHELMING!.. DACs from $300 to $5000 and beyond….and "I" just have no reference point with words describing sound quality when I watch these reviews. It is a little crazy out there….as you mention….and look…The prices are dropping significantly like on The Aries. I am sitting back and enjoying what I already have in DAC land…I am thinking that a couple of Rel T/5x Subs will make a much more noticeable change in the sound quality of my system for money spent. 😁👍🏼
@PursuitPerfectSystem3 жыл бұрын
Thanks man, fwiw dacs can make a very big difference to the sound obviously different to adding subwoofers. If you don't have subwoofers and do have a dac then maybe the subwoofers make more sense anyway. In saying that all the dacs I have heard that are built into amps don't sound nearly as good as external ones so you might get a big benefit from checking this out when the time is right for you
@bobb.99173 жыл бұрын
@@PursuitPerfectSystem yes..you have the luxury of listening to a lot of different DACs. My Marantz SACD is not an amp. It is a Streamer and SACD/CD Player. Again, I have no idea how good the DAC is in the unit. It’s my only reference. I do agree with you that internal DACs are not as good as external units, but only because everything I read says so. I have no 1st-hand knowledge of that. For me…and many, I have no idea "how much" of a change/improvement in the sound is from a $400 unit to a $5000 unit. And as you say here, some may prefer the sound of the Draco over The Pegasus. It brings me back to "OVERWHELMED". These things are not a small amount of money, either. Thanks so much for the conversation, more info is always better! 👍🏼
@PursuitPerfectSystem3 жыл бұрын
@@bobb.9917 if the dac is in the CD player it's probably good, I am sure some amp ones are too depending on lots of factors. I think the hardest thing with thr tyrrany of choice is just that and then getting products to demo can be hard too as really you need to try a dac just to see if it's worth it. That's not always easy with some of the products out there but that seems to be changing which is great
@bobb.99173 жыл бұрын
@@PursuitPerfectSystem yes…and another VERY important point. I would absolutely need to hear the DAC in my system for it to have any meaning "to me" whatsoever. Hearing one in a demo room somewhere I think, would be next to useless. Great conversation, Terry! Rel…hear I come! 😎
@PursuitPerfectSystem3 жыл бұрын
@@bobb.9917 defo thats why I said about the subwoofers making more sense if you don't have them as that's adding something new, I always used to think get the best dac you can and then build a system around it, I still do think that is a great approach. But over the last year I have heard quite a few different ones and its very possible to use them as a system sound tailoring tool as well.
@Gez4923 жыл бұрын
Do you think the Draco may be better suited to tube amps?
@PursuitPerfectSystem3 жыл бұрын
I think a lof of these R2R DAC's would work well with Tube amps, yes possibly, or maybe warmer solid states maybe like Arcam and others
@krancan253 жыл бұрын
Soooo a real comparison would be against Denafrips Ares II... :)
@PursuitPerfectSystem3 жыл бұрын
Denafrips 2 is twice the price of this
@backrack013 жыл бұрын
@@PursuitPerfectSystem its only appx $100 more.
@PursuitPerfectSystem3 жыл бұрын
@@backrack01 I was looking at the wrong currency
@backrack013 жыл бұрын
@@PursuitPerfectSystem i think it would prob would be a good comparison. Denaphrips 2 has pretty much established itself as the only affordable R2R worth buying...and since they just raised their prices(i think it was just under or around 700 not to long ago)...it'd be nice to see it have some competition.
@PursuitPerfectSystem3 жыл бұрын
@@backrack01 they are DEF not the only R2R dacs worth buying thats for certain they ate just talked about a lot
@TransformerVolumeC5 ай бұрын
399 on wallapop
@bliiblaablue3 жыл бұрын
I hear these R2R dacs need weeks of 24/7 runtime before using them, the sound should change A LOT, taming down. Any idea if this was the case with this review, meaning the reason for that raw sound?
@PursuitPerfectSystem3 жыл бұрын
Maybe raw is the wrong word - by raw in raw out I meant the signal is not messed with, not upsampled and then made to sound a certain way - I left the dac on solid for the best part of 2 weeks thats should have been long enough
@stevengilmore1509 Жыл бұрын
my ladder dac is on 24/7
@lextr31102 жыл бұрын
how do they fare against the holo spring 3..
@rajendrabiswas2 жыл бұрын
What do you feel About schiit Modi multibit ?
@mehmetcamat4458 Жыл бұрын
Have you tried the denafrips ares 2? If yes how would you compare it to Pegasus Drako and Pegasus?
@PursuitPerfectSystem Жыл бұрын
Sorry no I haven't
@ramalingam1082 жыл бұрын
Very good DAC but hard time to connect with the USB of my MacBook Pro, I return it and had easy refund, I had like to be able to keep it !
@beslemeto2 жыл бұрын
There should be no problem at all to connect that DAC to your Mac!
@ramalingam1082 жыл бұрын
@@beslemeto But I have tried with more than one USB cables without success, now it’s doing well with a Aune S8 DAC ! But when the Pegasus could connect the sound was great. Did you tried the Pegasus with a USB-C connection of a MacBook Pro ?
@1800Swagg3 жыл бұрын
Hmmm. This leaves me conflicted. As if it’s a R2R but without the R2R sound. The Ares II is a bit large for my desk. Maybe I’ll have to consider the Bifrost after all 🤔
@PursuitPerfectSystem3 жыл бұрын
Thats not really what I said or meant if you look at the spec of a lot of the newer Chinese r2r dacs they are all doing upsamplon to DSD which changes the sound. That's not r2r sound its a version of it they want you to have. Thr draco sounds more like a straight sound not messed around with
@1800Swagg3 жыл бұрын
@@PursuitPerfectSystem thanks for the clarification.
@PAULGRILL3 жыл бұрын
Does the Draco pop or crack when switching samplerate/bit depth (especially in combination with a Bluesound Node n130)?
@PursuitPerfectSystem3 жыл бұрын
No idea on the bluesound aspect but I didnt hear any pops or clicks
@PAULGRILL3 жыл бұрын
@@PursuitPerfectSystem Thank you!
@Temmple2 жыл бұрын
Did you end up finding a good dac match with the Node?
@PAULGRILL2 жыл бұрын
@@Temmple Aune X8 with Sparkos opamp sounds fine and is reasonable priced.
@Temmple2 жыл бұрын
@@PAULGRILL That one does look promising with options to swap out OP Amps. Thank you 😊
@nc34193 жыл бұрын
Looking at the Aoshida web page on this unit, the output voltages on both xlr (2.8v/2.0v)and rca (1.4v/1.0v) outs appear low. Any thoughts? Reason why Chord Qutest sounded louder.
@PursuitPerfectSystem3 жыл бұрын
What product are you looking at? It sounded louder than the Pegasus - not the Draco - I had the Qutest set to 2V - that could be why though yes. The volume thing is not really a big deal as you just turn the master up and down to compensate, it was just a point of observation
@nc34193 жыл бұрын
@@PursuitPerfectSystem I saw the published values on the Aoshida site. The Drago page has a test parameters chart showing the output voltages for both PCM and DSD using xlr and rca outs. Other dacs are outpointing more voltage at both xlr and rca which would make the volume louder hooked up to an integrated amp all things considered. Forget about what sounded louder, I'm asking about the published numbers the distributor has provided.
@petermartin94943 жыл бұрын
It is too bad that you did not review this dac with the input that most people use, USB.
@digianalogy4444 Жыл бұрын
this dac or peagasus? what's prefer
@PursuitPerfectSystem Жыл бұрын
The Pegasus I think sounds the smoother of the two, the Draco was a little more raw sounding and rougher around the edges as a result. Its more affordable too
@IrenESorius3 жыл бұрын
👍👍!
@supes3232 жыл бұрын
So still no review of any of the denafrips dacs?? I dont understand why there arent many youtubers that have reviewed both the denafrips and pegasus dacs back 2 back? Conflict of interest perhaps? What happened to good honest unbiased reviews? It is very easy to assume that these reviewers are in bed with one or another manufacture in some capacity. Just calling out the obvious but hopefully I stand to be corrected.
@PursuitPerfectSystem2 жыл бұрын
I think you are making assumptions based on speculation with 0 facts. I reviewed 5 different R2R Dacs this year from 3 different manufacturers ranging from £600 to over £6000. I compared them two several other high end Dacs I gave here between £1k -£4k Where is there a conflict of interest there?
@apmihai823 жыл бұрын
I had a look on website and both the Draco and Ares 2 have eerily similar internal designs. Makes one wonder..
@PursuitPerfectSystem3 жыл бұрын
If you check the google images they are actually nothing alike - they have to have rows of resistors thats how R2R works - that is not exclusive to Denafrips - they might have copied other companies from years ago
@HungryEatNow2 жыл бұрын
Seriously just get Pegasus
@funkyfurballs10783 жыл бұрын
Looks an awful lot like a NuPrime product?
@PursuitPerfectSystem3 жыл бұрын
Not in the flesh, Nu prime is a very different- its just got an angled front plate I think like NuPrime have something similar.
@aussie81143 жыл бұрын
Why would they end the price in 99 cents. Do they really think we are that stupid.
@beslemeto2 жыл бұрын
Psychological game.Works slow, but it is efficient.
@aussie81142 жыл бұрын
@@beslemeto Not for me. I want at least a full off 😂
@beslemeto2 жыл бұрын
@@aussie8114 Yes people like us are prepared and this trick does not work on us rather than making us angry, because we accept that as a humiliation.But of course companies don't give a shit about that...If it works it works if not they have nothing to lose...
@aussie81142 жыл бұрын
@@beslemeto Very much so. I see it as them treating the buyer as fools, and don’t worry, I tell them that 🤬 Well sometimes I do 😂
@beslemeto2 жыл бұрын
@@aussie8114 Well i have been reading some psychological books and believe me consistency can do miracles sometimes...Personally if i was selling something i wold put a price ending with .98 so i would be even cheaper than the competition. 😅
@pjlett5688 Жыл бұрын
Try breaking it in first 300 hours first ,you didnot !
@PursuitPerfectSystem Жыл бұрын
To be fair I don’t remember how many hours went onto this dac, possibly not 300 but that’s on the manufacturer not me. I can’t give that much run in time to every piece of gear I would only be able to produce 12 videos a year.