"Scorchio!" - The Synthesis Roma 69DC is a Tube Powered Italian DAC with a Difference
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 พ.ย. 2023
- This episode sees the guys sampling an interesting and affordable digital-to-analogue converter that glows in the dark. Not only does it look a little different from its price rivals, it sounds it too...
Given that Mike and David spend so much time singing the praises of Chord Electronics DACs, the guys are delighted to recommend something that's not made in Kent! They love the Synthesis's smooth, silky but enjoyable sound - and its unusual styling.
Each episode of Hi-Fi Riff features Mike and David's unedited, unexpurgated views about all manner of weird and wonderful hi-fi designs. Business executive Mike has a wealth of knowledge from previous hi-fi retail experience, and David has written about hi-fi for thirty years. Now Editor-in-Chief of StereoNET, he's picked up a few things along the way.
So relax and enjoy some one-take hi-fi riffing - and please leave your comments below. And don’t forget to hit the Subscribe button, this one goes up to eleven!
The eighties-tastic title tune is called ‘UFO/Mike’s Jumper’, and used with the express permission of our old pal and rights holder Simon Lythe.
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I’m totally not interested in DAC’s costing 1000’s of pounds. But it’s a pleasure to listen to this review.
AKM have been back in business for while.
@Hi-Fi Riff Would love to see you guys review a quad 66 606 stack :) as part of the retro riffometer series :)
Their Roma phonostage is also quite good!
The chief advantage of this DAC is wide bandwidth. Pair it with wide bandwidth server, streamer, pre and amp, and it will beat any 10k DAC.
I still have my tacky old MF Tubalog DAC, introduced back in 1993, stored somewhere in the garage. Whatever not so fine qualities one may be justified to attribute to A.M., the fact is he was a marketing genius.
Thanks guys, always a pleasure to watch.
Interesting product this one and I'd like to hear it, though I'm not moving on from my Auralic G1 anytime soon. Blown all my cash on some wharfdale elysian 3's which arrive this Thursday, I hope I like em! Moving up from Evo 4.4's so seems a good bet :)
Hi . I hav
I purchased the Elysian 4s a couple of months ago, and if the 3s are anything like the 4s (which they are) you will love them. I think they are the first speakers I have ever had which sound fantastic with any kind of music, and the dynamics are incredible. Also, they look gorgeous.
Enjoy.
I have been pondering for ages on a suitable name for David. Punctilious Mr Price and Didactic David never seemed to quite cut it. Now you have done the job for me: Grandmaster Geek seems perfect and typical of the creativity shown on your channel.
Grandmaster Geek and Smelly Smell 🤣🤣
Mike
Initially I felt a bit sad when you started talking about people being rude to you, what with you being such a nice pair of chaps. Then you mentioned Bad Manners and Special Brew and it had me smiling again! [Looks for the comments on the B&W video.....]
It's actually on a bootleg of the Staverton Park video, where we performed live...
As everyone knows, live recordings tend to make everything look a little bigger :-)
Mike
@Hi-FiRiff I heard from someone who has been in broadcasting for many years, that it was the exact opposite..
@@jimfarrell4635noooo. 😬
Quite like the look of the red model in the thumbnail. Ostensibly, the use of RCA inputs as opposed to BNC is a little disappointing in my humble opinion.
To me it’s always great to see more hifi not made in China so well done! Never owned a stand alone dac but recently got a new MacBook Air so decided to plug it straight into the extra preamp ins on my leak stero 20 and it was just a total WOW moment for me I was enchanted by the music and it was only Spotify Hi Quality which I believe isn't even CD standard So now Im wondering would another dac actually improve things enuf to warrant the cost? I was thinking about a Lake People DAC at about $1k USD. A vac valve dac might be too soft in my setup? Wise choice swapping to a mug David as hard liquor will eat right thru those plastic bottles😂
The mac DAC is not great and definitely easily upgraded without spending a lot of money.
My go-to is the chord mojo with my mac... It's a giant killer!
Mike
I find this chip, no matter what implementation, fluffy yes I said the word fluffy. It's like cotton wool. In the world of Hi Res like dCs or Chord..mmm... sometimes less is more. However say you could have almost dCs resolution with 3D and warmth. There is one company that does just that although it's not cheap.. The DAC's have valves.. So for both of you guess who??? I always laugh and smile when you guys are on and it's great watching.. Please don't stop
You should join us for a beer... we talk shite all the time and have for over 40 years!
Mike
Yes, AKM are back in production and you can buy their latest chip the '4499' in the Geshelli Labs J2 Dac with Sparkos Labs OP Amps for around £500+ which is just a bit easier one the wallet. I'll bet it sounds as good as your Roma so I would give it a 10!
Doubtful, but that would be nice if it did.
mmm the synthesis has a tube stage I bet it sounds pretty different to the geshelli even using the same dac chip
Another great Riff. What was the comment?
Kind of interesting to hear AKM dac chips being talked about as something a bit exotic, when they are very common in Chinese hifi particularly, though there was a brief hiatus after the fire shut them down. They are regarded as being a bit warmer and less analytical than ESS dacs, but different, rather than better. Personally I like them, but its horses for courses. I havent heard any of the new post inferno models.
That DAC looks very nice indeed, but I would rather have my digital digital and keep the tubes in my amplifier.
well you can have both tube dac and tube amp 😊
@net_news Yes, but my wife said no, as did my electricity supplier.
More seriously, I swap between an R2R DAC with a 12.5 watt 300b SET and a 215 watt per side solid state amp depending on music choice.
So I get tube sound and no tube sound. If I did as you rightly suggest I could, I would have tube sound and tube sound.
Also, I think the excellent Elite Audio in Anstruther also stock these Italian jobs. Aqua LaScala DACs as well. Not sure if they have tubes.
Everyone is making good DACs now.
I'm not, yet! 😊
Priceless!
With a nod to Caroline Aherne
Nice riff chaps, kinda gives lie to the school of thought,That digital is just series of zeros and ones so must all sound the same. DAC s have been around awhile now, people know each has its own sound which can only be a good thing. Cheers
I remember Quad saying that "all cd players sound the same" when they brought out their first CD player... so it was quite amusing when they "improved" it a few months later" :-)
Mike
Great riff. I own a qutest and dont like it. Much prefer dac in naim cdsi and 2nd hand moon dac
A very interesting point - I own a Naim Unity Atom Headphone Edition, and the performance they squeeze out of the DAC is excellent IMHO.
Mike
Hi Mike was the X19 your best car until it disintegrated into a help of rust 🤣😂😂
It was my best car until my (ex) girlfriend blew the engine up.
Haha I bought one for my wife the 1500. She crashed that thing twice. I loved it it was like driving a go kart! My favourite tho was the Alfa Romeo GTV 2000 (the first shape) I bought used back in the 1970’s.@@Hi-FiRiff
OOPS that might have been me mentioned Buster Bloodvessel on the Staverton video 😀😀😀 If someone said the same on the B&W vid then I feel exonerated.....Iggy
Yes - that's where it was, not the B&W riff at all, and no, no-one else has agreed!
I feel like I am getting the short straw on this one and am starting the Complan diet immediately, whereas David is penning a tune for David Bowie - oh, hang on...
Mike
@@Hi-FiRiff ok....maybe no one openly agreed, but the comment did get 72 likes 😀 Is that song recompense for Bowie penning ''The Idiot'' for Iggy?🙂
I'm glad that you think that DACs should have a sound/character/whatever 😁. The men in white coats will be along shortly. BTW , not the ones in lab coats.
Not saying they should, just that they do.
Mike
If it sounds better it is better - I thought that was your mantra ? The best audio components are the ones you can’t hear - not the ones that you can . Of course it’s even better when it involves an exotic or expensive brand. Ain’t that the truth ?
It took you guy over 6 mins to get to the review. 😵💫
That's probably the fastest we have ever got round to it! :-)
Now listen, chaps, when you review the Musical Fidelity LS35A, as intended, will you tell us, given there are countless LS35As on the market, why Musical Fidelity bothered to make this speaker?
There are all the originals, available second hand, the recreations by Falcon and others and then the Chinese knock off versions for 500 quid, some of which get good reviews. How can there be any space in the market for yet another version? Please illuminate from the undoubted depths of your knowledge.
Newer than the originals, cheaper than the Falcons, better than the knock-offs, much better distribution worldwide, going into an MF dealership for an A1 and leaving with a pair of speakers too, good way to enter the speaker market without spending too much money on R&D... For more info ask Heinz Lichtenegger, not them. They're not in charge of MF product strategy. Maybe you're interested in that job? Maybe you know better than Heinz who created a turntable empire starting at exactly the time everybody was thinking vinyl was dead? In any case, why should we all care WHY they're making this speaker? It's not our money that was invested.. We just care if they're any good.
@@razisn Thanks for that answer, couldn't have put it better myself!
It’s amazing how they are able not to talk about the actual dac for the most of this video. What a waste of time
You're sorely missing the point of this channel. Let me guess, your beloved geometric shape is the square.
At least we talked about it a bit, which is quite impressive for David and I!