Acustica Audio - Daisy

Transparent, huge, wide, and uncoloured sound. Audiophile quality Particularly nice for jazz or orchestral music, where the music demands nuances and fine detail. One user described it as similar to 30 IPS 2" tape.

 

"At the time I had the Lavry Gold AD12296-MkIII the Pacific Microsonic HDCD Model II and the HEDD. Out of all these tests to my ears and my engineering friends, we all picked the Forssell blind as sounding the best."

The sound is large, open, sweet and extremely detailed/accurate, with a three-dimensional soundstage that other converters at twice its price cannot match. Goes on the used market for around $2,500.

The hardware can either be transformerless if transparency is desired or users can choose to add transformers to the path. Then, manually drive harmonic saturation with the Silk control. One of the newer converters in Daisy's collection, released in the year 2020.

It appears to have been primarily used for obtaining an uncolored sound from analog consoles and multi-track tapes to the MADI professional digital format. It's a "vintage multi-track converter", compared to the GAX-032 which is a modern design.

 

The AM713 was built in the late 1990s/early 2000s for the Avid System 5 digital audio mixing system and R1 recorder. Euphonix were allegedly right there in contention with better known brands like Lavry, Benchmark and Apogee. Retailed brand new for about $8,000. The guy who runs Lindell Audio and GRAMMY award winning engineer Michael Wagener really liked them back in the day:

Modern multi-track converters that work with the newer digital standards. Currently retails for about $6,000.

Advertised as "mastering grade converters". In a word, they are "honest" quality. As transparent as modern technology allows.

• FRS-02A: Forssell Technologies MADA-2a, An American 2-channel (for mixdown and mastering) solid-state converter that matches its ADC counterpart with transparent, neutral output, ensuring critical accuracy for mastering.

Circuit design includes Class A JFET and no integrated circuit (IC) opamps in the signal path.

On more than one occasion, I read reviews that stated the Forrsell adding a little "enhancement", which fits pop/electronic/hip-hop and rock music better than a classical or jazz recording.

Sells for about $3,000-4,500 on the used market.

 

• BRI-01M: Bricasti Design M1, 

This 2-channel solid-state DAC from the USA provides rich, detailed, and dynamic sound, enhancing depth and resolution in mixes. Released in the year 2011 for the high end consumer audio market. Designed and built entirely in the USA. Uses the Analog Devices Inc. AD1955 converter.

 

Retail price when new: $8,700. Features a choice of 15 digital reconstruction filters. All PCM audio is internally upsampled to 5.6 MHz. Based on the M7 reverb converters. The M1 is a "no expenses spared" product. 

"Smooths out the treble region a little, making it more forgiving of less than ideal digital sources."  

This could be beneficial to engineers who are processing tracks that were recorded on low end audio interfaces.

 

• DEN-X32: Digital Audio Denmark AX32 (also known as DAD AX32), A multi-track solid-state unit designed in Denmark, delivering ultra-clean and detailed output, ideal for workflows requiring precision and neutrality.

Year 2014 technology.

A great choice when you want a "straight wire" professional grade digital to analog converter. As stated before with the ADC, a lot of famous GRAMMY winning engineers swear by it. For Jazz/orchestral/film scoring multi-track mixing emulation, it would be a good choice.

 

 

• VIV-001: dCS Puccini or possibly the Vivaldi, A 2-channel solid-state DAC from the UK, renowned for its analytical precision, making it perfect for revealing fine details in audio. Released in the year 2007.

Consumer grade audiophile equipment, similar to the Bricasti M1. More expensive than the Bricasti, however, at $18,000 when new. Currently selling on the used market for around $7,000 with its U-Clock accessory. Great "liquid" sounding midrange. Low grain/edginess[/URL] on transients.

Possesses a "background" sound to it as opposed to "forward" presentation. Instrumental separation. Pristine but never cold/clinical. 

• DEL-001: dCS Delius, This 2-channel solid-state unit from the UK offers accurate reproduction with exceptional balance and clarity, suitable for critical listening. Released in the year 1999.

Clarity but with tube-like warmth. Similar to the Bricasti M1, it enhances lesser quality digital source material. Adds "mass" to music playback. "Effortless, holographic, elegant and realistic".

 

 

• MCS-D10: McIntosh Labs D1100 

A 2-channel solid-state DAC from the USA that adds a warm, inviting tone, ideal for mastering tracks with musical richness and smoothness. A consumer audiophile grade preamp and DAC, first manufactured in the year 2016. Uses the ESS Sabre ES9018 DAC chip. 

An iconic American made audio brand. The Grateful Dead used McIntosh amps while on tour. They were one of the first companies to sell a media server (Music Streamer) to consumers back in the year 2007. "Sometimes seems to over emphasize details, but in a pleasing way." "Euphonic in a tube sort of way...puts air around instruments".

 

• COM-543: Computer Audio Design 1543 MKII DAC

A 2-channel non-oversampling resistor-ladder DAC from a UK-based company, delivering organic, natural sound with unique warmth, cherished by audiophiles. Uses 16 "vintage" Philips TDA1543/N2 resistor-ladder chips.

Released in the year 2015, in order to "get the best possible sound out of a computer". Design goal was to use as few components as possible. No switches in the digital signal. Very minimalist engineering design choices. Unlike other DACs, no digital interpolation filters or oversampling is present in the 1543 design.

 

"The key reason why we use Resistor Ladder DAC technology in our 1543 MKII DAC is due to the excellent time domain response that a Resistor Ladder DAC offers. This is best explained with two graphs.

Impulse response is when we apply a digital input to a DAC that consists of a short impulse (~5usec) of maximum level (~0dB) and then look at the analogue output of the DAC. CAD believes the analogue output impulse response of a DAC is one of the key attributes of DAC architecture that relates to sound quality."

• ACP-770: Accuphase DP-770 

A hybrid 2-channel DAC from Japan that combines solid-state precision with analog warmth, providing detailed and musical output. Released in the year 2023, with the ESS Sabre Audiophile ES9028PRO 32bit Hyper Stream Ⅱ DAC as the centerpiece.

 A $17,000 Beautiful gold face plate and top wood panel SuperAudio CD/DVD player. Also accepts auxillary digital inputs.
"The digital processor section consists of a unique “8MDSD (DSD signal)/8MDS++ (PCM signal)” D/A converter driven by eight ESS Technology ES9028PRO circuits in parallel, and a unique ANCC in the IV conversion circuit for improved performance, resulting in extremely high This enables extremely high conversion accuracy, low distortion and low noise."

 

• PRL-100: PrimaLuna EVO 100 Tube DAC, Year 2019 production. Two chipsets. The Texas Instruments SRC4192 for upconversion and a Burr Brown PCM1792A DAC.

This tube-based 2-channel DAC from the Netherlands delivers lush, smooth audio with harmonic richness and depth.

Unlike most of the others, does not market itself as reference/mastering grade. It has plenty of detail but it's not boring.

It's got tubes! Including the clock. EL34 stock but I'm not sure what kind Acustica sampled. It's also got transformers! If a colored DAC is what you're after, the PRL-100 is a good place to start. The rock and big band music DAC? Perhaps...but it's not limited to those genres.

• AAT-002: Accustic Arts Tube DAC II, A 2-channel tube DAC from Germany that produces a rich, colored sound with warm, immersive tones, ideal for emotionally engaging playback.

First introduced in the year 2007. Two ECC83 triode tubes, ten OPA627 op-amps contribute to its sound. 

"Creates a great sonic illusion that the musicians are in the room with you." Can be a bit too bright on some music.

 

• EPX-073: Euphonix MA703, a multi-track solid-state converter from the USA, ensuring clean and precise output with a transparent character to complement its ADC counterpart.

I don't have anything to add that wasn't already described in the ADC section. Use this model for multi-tracks/mixing to emulate a large format console setup.

 

 

• GAX-032: Antelope Audio Galaxy 32, 

A European solid-state multi-track DAC that offers modern, transparent output, designed for high-resolution mastering and playback.

 

Another multi-track digital to analog converter emulator that is used for mixing, primarily but can obviously be used for mixdown and mastering too. This is the most modern of all Daisy's sampled models.