After I saw the price of the Organik DAC and the obsolescence of my Akurate DSM/3, I decided to take a deep look into DAC technologies and alternative to big brand.
Here is what I found about it:
What Linn calls Organik is in reality
DSD.
Quote from
https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/...verter-review/?do=findComment&comment=1214463
In this context, the new upsampling architecture of the Linn Organik DAC is interesting. In the self-programmed FPGA, the digital signal is upscaled to 98.304 MHz before the actual conversion. For the conversion, 32 "so-called flip-flops" (1-bit memory) are used per channel. Source: FIDELITY NR. 63.
98.304 MHz corresponds to DSD 2048 (98304 MHz : 48 kHz)
Anyone can use HQPlayer to upsample any source to DSD 1024, with possibly best filters and modulators. A recent PC has more processing power than any FPGA chip.
The Klimax Organik has, according to Linn, a SNR of -140dB. Source:
https://www.soundstageultra.com/index.php/equipment-menu/1124-linn-klimax-dsm-av-dac-preamplifier
That's about the same as the HoloAudio May DAC:
https://www.stereophile.com/content/holoaudio-may-level-3-da-processor-measurements
The HoloAudio May also have 1 Bit Converter with 32 converter elements per channel for DSD. Same sigma wave type of converter as the Organik. (T+A, Mola Mola and others are doing the same).
So for 7k (5K for the May dac, 1K for a good enough PC running Linux and 350$ for HQPlayer + some interconnect), you can probably achieve 90% of the sound of an Organik DAC. Volume control can be done through Roon, HQPlayer or a passive pre-amp.
That's the route I'm taking, I can live with 90% of the sound quality of the Organik for 20% of the price ;-)
I'll keep you posted on my progress.