DACs: Asus Essence OR Audioquest Dragonfly Red?

[devhda]

I'm considering these 2 DACs.

My amp is a 120Wx2 NAD C370 and my speakers are B&W 602 S3.

By Asus Essence I mean either the Essence ST, the STX or the most recent STX II.

Have you been able to compare them against each other? In that case, what's your opinion?

Are there any other DACs that I should consider in this price range? (around 200$)

What do you think?

 

[Audio-A]

I'm considering these 2 DACs.

My amp is a 120Wx2 NAD C370 and my speakers are B&W 602 S3.

By Asus Essence I mean either the Essence ST, the STX or the most recent STX II.

Have you been able to compare them against each other? In that case, what's your opinion?

Are there any other DACs that I should consider in this price range? (around 200$)

What do you think?

Sure... ck out Emotiva... if you are on there email list they are running a sale on all they're components and pre/ pros too. I'm about to pull the trigger on the TA-100 or the Pa-100. Might be worth your while to ck them out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

https://mayflowerelectronics.com/odac-rev-b-stand-alone/

 

[PENG]

I'm considering these 2 DACs.

My amp is a 120Wx2 NAD C370 and my speakers are B&W 602 S3.

By Asus Essence I mean either the Essence ST, the STX or the most recent STX II.

Have you been able to compare them against each other? In that case, what's your opinion?

Are there any other DACs that I should consider in this price range? (around 200$)

What do you think?

The Dragonfly DACs remind me of Bose speakers. Somehow they got popular, probably due to a well picked name, one of the pioneer of USB DAC, but that's about it. IMO, relatively low value, high Price to performance and feature ratio. I wouldn't pay more than $100 for one based on the poor specs alone. There are no shortages of better choices.

I know nothing about Asus Essence DACs, but the one you mentioned appeared to be a sound card.

 

[speakerman39]

I'm considering these 2 DACs.

My amp is a 120Wx2 NAD C370 and my speakers are B&W 602 S3.

By Asus Essence I mean either the Essence ST, the STX or the most recent STX II.

Have you been able to compare them against each other? In that case, what's your opinion?

Are there any other DACs that I should consider in this price range? (around 200$)

What do you think?

NAD C370 w/the 602 S3's should sound amazing. The 602 S3's were the first B&W speakers that I ever heard. Have loved that sound signature ever since. Owned the CM1 S1's not too long ago. Found them to be superb! You have some very nice gear.


Cheers,

Phil

 

[devhda]

Sure... ck out Emotiva... if you are on there email list they are running a sale on all they're components and pre/ pros too. I'm about to pull the trigger on the TA-100 or the Pa-100. Might be worth your while to ck them out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks for your reply Audio-A. Unfortunately the Emotiva aren't available in my country.

 

[devhda]

https://mayflowerelectronics.com/odac-rev-b-stand-alone/

Hi BoredSysAdmin. Thanks for your reply.

Unfortunately this DAC isn't available in my country neither. :-/

 

[devhda]

The Dragonfly DACs remind me of Bose speakers. Somehow they got popular, probably due to a well picked name, one of the pioneer of USB DAC, but that's about it. IMO, relatively low value, high Price to performance and feature ratio. I wouldn't pay more than $100 for one based on the poor specs alone. There are no shortages of better choices.

I know nothing about Asus Essence DACs, but the one you mentioned appeared to be a sound card.

Hi PENG. Thanks for your reply. I'm also beginning to suspect that there's a lot of marketing behind the Dragonfly...

 

[devhda]

NAD C370 w/the 602 S3's should sound amazing. The 602 S3's were the first B&W speakers that I ever heard. Have loved that sound signature ever since. Owned the CM1 S1's not too long ago. Found them to be superb! You have some very nice gear.


Cheers,

Phil

Hi Phil, thanks for your reply.

Yes, they sound amazing I must say.

According to some ABX tests, my NAD C370 amplifier is indiscerneable from a +20.000$ Mark Levinson setup.

Source: http://matrixhifi.com/contenedor_mlnad.htm (Google Translate works reasonably well here)



Also, the C370 has been featured here:

The best stereo amplifiers of the 21st century

https://www.whathifi.com/features/best-stereo-amplifiers-21st-century



That's why I don't believe much in "high-end" audiophilia but in making the best out of a decent though not stratospherical budget.


I know it's hard to swallow but there are plenty of ABX tests more out there.

http://matrixhifi.com/pruebasciegas.htm


Incidentally, at that page there's also an ABX test about these two DACs:


This one is my favourite: a +2000$ Audionote DAC-3 versus a 20$ Sony Discman

vs.

http://matrixhifi.com/contenedor_discmandac3.htm



90% of the people FOUND that they sounded different in this ABX test: all of them prefered the Sony Discman.


But, please, don't tell anybody that, at the moment, my source is a Sound Blaster X-Fi Extreme...