Soulution 760 D/A Converter
- Thread starter Alpinist
- Start date
High end prices are sick for a couple of years. Lets see what is in your Trinity DAC or in FM amps or in Aurender? We can go further - what we have in Kondo amps for 200k$ (except astonishing hand built).
IMO High end audio nowadays is like a high end watches market, just luxury products, a piece of material with just good or sometimes great technology that arouses big visual (watches) or hearing and spiritual (audio) emotions. And we can pay for these emotions several hundred thousand dollars
Even if we can check the time on smartphone and listen to music in pretty good quality on solid portable players with good Sennheisers for 200$ Ohh, I forgot! another example - we can also drive a Skoda!
But people have Jaeger-LeCoultre on the wrist, have Ferrari and Mercedes in the garage and Soulution and Magico in living room
Sooo back to topic - Everybody knows that Soulution technology is amazing in amps, so I think we should try 760. I will on the first oprtunity with 725/711 combo.
IMO High end audio nowadays is like a high end watches market, just luxury products, a piece of material with just good or sometimes great technology that arouses big visual (watches) or hearing and spiritual (audio) emotions. And we can pay for these emotions several hundred thousand dollars
Even if we can check the time on smartphone and listen to music in pretty good quality on solid portable players with good Sennheisers for 200$ Ohh, I forgot! another example - we can also drive a Skoda! But people have Jaeger-LeCoultre on the wrist, have Ferrari and Mercedes in the garage and Soulution and Magico in living room
Sooo back to topic - Everybody knows that Soulution technology is amazing in amps, so I think we should try 760. I will on the first oprtunity with 725/711 combo.
highEndguy
New member
My new Soulution gear arrives in a few days
Keep you all posted
Keep you all posted
The prices in hi-end audio seem to be in some kind of death spiral.
At least in my $56k Trinity DAC I can see two ultra expensive crystal oscilators (which cost more alone than the the BOM of pictured Soulution DAC by at least a factor of two) and in Kondo amps hundreds if not thousands of man hours plus top quality materials used.
In the Soulution DAC I see none of these.
One manufacturer comes with an exorbitant price ($90k MSB Select) another follows with a $70k product (dCS Vivaldi DAC/upsampler/clock combo) and all of the sudden - $50k euro (which will probably translate to $60k) looks almost 'ordinary'.
The truth is, that Mark Levinson No 30 DAC that shocked the audio world in 1994 with its $14k pricetag was by far a much more substantially built piece of gear (and probably much more advanced in terms of technology at that time) than the Soulution DAC pictured, and $14k in 1994 translates to $22k in 2015 money (or if you put it the other way round, $60,000 of 2014 dollars would be worth $37,560.00 in 1994).
Inflation Calculator 2015
At least in my $56k Trinity DAC I can see two ultra expensive crystal oscilators (which cost more alone than the the BOM of pictured Soulution DAC by at least a factor of two) and in Kondo amps hundreds if not thousands of man hours plus top quality materials used.
In the Soulution DAC I see none of these.
One manufacturer comes with an exorbitant price ($90k MSB Select) another follows with a $70k product (dCS Vivaldi DAC/upsampler/clock combo) and all of the sudden - $50k euro (which will probably translate to $60k) looks almost 'ordinary'.
The truth is, that Mark Levinson No 30 DAC that shocked the audio world in 1994 with its $14k pricetag was by far a much more substantially built piece of gear (and probably much more advanced in terms of technology at that time) than the Soulution DAC pictured, and $14k in 1994 translates to $22k in 2015 money (or if you put it the other way round, $60,000 of 2014 dollars would be worth $37,560.00 in 1994).
Inflation Calculator 2015
It's just marketing; they want to position the brand as an ultra high end one, it has nothing to do with the manufacturing cost. Their 710 amp has doubled its price as soon as it got a lot of press coverage and the brand was well known.
And the dCS Vivaldi DAC is €25k, half the Solution 760.
And the dCS Vivaldi DAC is €25k, half the Solution 760.
The Vivaldi DAC alone may be $30k or so, but if you want upsampling and ethernet input you need to get the clock and upsampler as well - and that will set you back $70k or so.
But you are right - in terms of technology, 'parts count', size, build quality or even weight, the Vivaldi DAC doesn't look to be any cheaper than the Soulution DAC, and yet - the soulution is twice as expesive.
This is just madness and shows that the retail price has nothing to do with cost of manufacture or even R&D.
But you are right - in terms of technology, 'parts count', size, build quality or even weight, the Vivaldi DAC doesn't look to be any cheaper than the Soulution DAC, and yet - the soulution is twice as expesive.
This is just madness and shows that the retail price has nothing to do with cost of manufacture or even R&D.
This one is also interesting: Bricasti DAC:
How much is it ? $8k ? $10k ? It doesn't look to be lesss of a DAC than the Soulution ... for 1/5th of the price.
Is it only me who things gear is overpriced and there is sth seriously wrong with hi-end AD2015 ?
How much is it ? $8k ? $10k ? It doesn't look to be lesss of a DAC than the Soulution ... for 1/5th of the price.
Is it only me who things gear is overpriced and there is sth seriously wrong with hi-end AD2015 ?
FlexibleAudio
Member
Adam isn't this all about how it sounds. No one hear has heard it yet. I am not sure BOM is relevant. If the sound justifies the price, people will buy the product; if not, they won't. Cyrill is a pretty savvy dude. I think he gets this. There is a lot of cash chasing this stuff in the eastern rim. But the gear better be good.
It used to be. And that is the problem.
Odyssey
Member
Please do keep us posted. Let know what you have coming inbound!
Odyssey
Member
Robert Harley's Top Product Intro's @ Munich
Soulution's 760 DAC sounded spectacular in Munich's best-sounding room
5. Soulution 760 DAC
The makers of the extraordinary electronics that were named TAS’ Overall Product of the Year in 2014 have turned their attention to digital conversion with the 760 DAC. Soulution's new DAC employs a custom upsampling filter running an Anagram Technologies algorithm on a SHARC DSP. The unit features Soulution’s Zero-Phase-Technology, a circuit that removes phase errors introduced by the analog low-pass filter. The clock appears to be quite sophisticated, and unlike those used in other high-end DACs. The power supply is massive and elaborate, with more than 500,000 microfarads of filter capacitance—more than that of some power amplifiers. The 760 was featured in the system that I thought was easily the best sound of the show—Soulution 725 preamp, 701 power amplifiers, Magico Q7 Mk II loudspeakers, and Critical Mass Systems Maxxum racks and amp platforms. We did some comparisons with Soulution’s CD player, and the new 760 DAC was clearly superior. As with other Soulution products, the 760 is premium-priced at $55,000.
Soulution's 760 DAC sounded spectacular in Munich's best-sounding room
5. Soulution 760 DAC
The makers of the extraordinary electronics that were named TAS’ Overall Product of the Year in 2014 have turned their attention to digital conversion with the 760 DAC. Soulution's new DAC employs a custom upsampling filter running an Anagram Technologies algorithm on a SHARC DSP. The unit features Soulution’s Zero-Phase-Technology, a circuit that removes phase errors introduced by the analog low-pass filter. The clock appears to be quite sophisticated, and unlike those used in other high-end DACs. The power supply is massive and elaborate, with more than 500,000 microfarads of filter capacitance—more than that of some power amplifiers. The 760 was featured in the system that I thought was easily the best sound of the show—Soulution 725 preamp, 701 power amplifiers, Magico Q7 Mk II loudspeakers, and Critical Mass Systems Maxxum racks and amp platforms. We did some comparisons with Soulution’s CD player, and the new 760 DAC was clearly superior. As with other Soulution products, the 760 is premium-priced at $55,000.
the professor
Well-known member
So when can we come to your house to listen to it? :celebrate008_2:
- Thread Author
- #36
Jock,
I think Le Roy is very happy with his Soulution 541 players, aren't you Le Roy? Just in case, can I come over and listen with Jock too?
Best,
Ken
Odyssey
Member
Let's just say that I'm recommending the 760 for you guys!! 
You really think it will beat a burnt in GG for a third of the price? The copper shielding alone should make Soulution blush...
FlexibleAudio
Member
Who knows? I don't and you don't because we haven't heard it. That's the point. This exercise is not meaningful unless we want to compare it's looks or maybe we could guess about it's smell. That might be fun.
But to play your game, I do think it is possible it will sound superior to a GG on PCM to many. Value is of course another matter which turns on variables even more diverse than SQ flavors.
I am on the record regarding my views of GG playing PCM at Axpona-- very good but not overwhelmingly so.
The GG you heard was less than a week old and the Mundorf caps in it are notorious for taking 4+ months to break in at a minimum. That is why Mike and another GG owner have reported PCM improvements and I suspect that NO one will be able to tell where it will end up before August, as by then the first GGs made will have hit 5 months old. You also went on Friday and late Sat according to reports is when Ryan fixed his Perfect Storm speakers and all finally clicked.
Besides, we already know what DSD sounds like on the GG and for 30% of the Soulution price, you could get a DSD only GG with the Copper case (best RFI shield material) and it would be quite an achievement if ANY DAC can beat that for any price.
Finally, it seems the core of the Sol. Dac is the anagram tech filtering. I will have you know that the CH guy was one of the founding memebers of Anagram and his Dac is far less costly, so...
Frankly, I cant see the value of the 760, but will keep an open mind and will make sure to listen extensively in Oct at the Zurich Show.
Soulution is trying to catch up with their Swiss counterparts…Goldmund/FM-Acoustics/CH Precision and Dartzeel are all bigger companies by sales. Not sure if they are bigger than Nagra.
Besides, we already know what DSD sounds like on the GG and for 30% of the Soulution price, you could get a DSD only GG with the Copper case (best RFI shield material) and it would be quite an achievement if ANY DAC can beat that for any price.
Finally, it seems the core of the Sol. Dac is the anagram tech filtering. I will have you know that the CH guy was one of the founding memebers of Anagram and his Dac is far less costly, so...
Frankly, I cant see the value of the 760, but will keep an open mind and will make sure to listen extensively in Oct at the Zurich Show.
Soulution is trying to catch up with their Swiss counterparts…Goldmund/FM-Acoustics/CH Precision and Dartzeel are all bigger companies by sales. Not sure if they are bigger than Nagra.