DAC Suggestions Please!

Thanks for all the recommendations. I have my home work cut out for me. I will have to read up on all the DAC's.

Larry
 
Larry, one of our fellow sharks was selling his Audio Research DAC8 at a great price. It does well what a DAC should do, but no DSD. I've had one for several years and a used one would be a great option. Very competent and musical piece.
 
+1 on DAC8
It sounds to me like Chord QBD76HD maybe what you're looking for - midrange bloom with a touch of warmth, plenty of details with a hint of euphoria and meaty bottom end. It has 2 versions, QBD76HD and QBD76HDSD with the latter being able to handle DSD as name suggested. They rarely come up on the used market but when they do it's usually priced around $3-3.5k. I have QBD76HD but no plan to sell yet. But the good news is the new QBDxx is coming out soon, possibly debuting at Munich show, so I'd think a couple of used units might come up soon if you can wait a couple of months.
P.S. I did comparison on the QBD with both Hugo and Qute, but QBD is at another league esp. with a competent IEC power cord.
 
I think Mechnutt wants to play in the DSD arena and all the Chords internally convert to high rate PCM, so no true DSD. I agree that from all accounts the QBD76 is the best performer of the range, should be for the much higher sticker price though, ~$8.5K new.

The Qutes do step up a lot with a great LPSU like a Hynes SR3 or Uptone JS2. I own an EX.

The upcoming QBDhugo will NOT be cheap!

Another well hyped (non DSD Dac) is the Schitt Yggdrasil for $2.4K.. The Headfi guys seem to love it. They say its the modern re-incarnation of the Theta Dac.
 
Well I just pulled the trigger on the Cary Audio 200ts DAC. I will post a review next weekend after it arrives. Thanks for all the replies.

Larry
 
Congrats Larry! Excellent choice! Cary audio builds great sounding gear.

Looking forward to your impressions and pictures!
 
Larry - a nice choice, I have very high expectations for the new Cary DAC-200ts! I haven't seen many user comments on it yet, so thanks for your pioneering effort and I look forward to your comments. Enjoy the tunes!
 
Thanks guys. I have very high expectations for the Cary. I hope it does not disappoint like the Marantz did. I talked to the dealer again and he did another DAC shoot out and people kept commenting on how close it sounds to the Bricasti. I still have my reservations about that.
 
Mechnutt said:
Thanks guys. I have very high expectations for the Cary. I hope it does not disappoint like the Marantz did. I talked to the dealer again and he did another DAC shoot out and people kept commenting on how close it sounds to the Bricasti. I still have my reservations about that.
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Larry,

FYI - I did respond to your PM

Cheers.
 
I have had the Cary since Wed evening and it is still breaking in. The SS stage is better than the tube. The tube stage has a softer sound with more air and transparency in the midrange but the SS has a thicker, fuller sounding midrange. Overall the DAC is smooth and very analog sounding with nice tight and controlled bass and very good high frequency resolution and air. The tube stage can certainly benefit from NOS 12AU7's. I will report back when it breaks in some more.

By the way, can any one give me a detailed comparison of the sound of the Auralic Vega and PS Audio DSD dac's? If I do not keep the Cary I will probably purchase one of these.

Thanks,

Larry
 
Mechnutt said:
I am leaning to the Cary and the Vega. I talked to a couple of guys that were at a private DAC shoot out with the Cary, the Bricasti and a couple of others. The guy that put on the shoot out is a dealer of both. They said that the Cary came close in sound to the Bricasati. Unfortunately there are no Cary dealers here in the Twin Cities. The Cary with the option of using either the SS or Tube output stages is very appealing. I am hoping a review comes out soon. I talked with Cary and the have some out for reviews.

I like the Wyred 4 Sound DAC-2 DSDse with the Femto clock. I trialed a friends in my system and it sounded very good but a little clinical.
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Sounds like we have very similar tastes. I just purchased the Bricasti M1 after hearing it in Chicago at AXPONA a few weeks ago. Super pleased with the decision. It is costly, but I honestly feel it is worth the investment. If your budget can stretch, give it a trial if possible.
I had been in the same boat as you and could not find anything that really did it for me and finally decided to up my budget to find the sound I wanted. I am in Plymouth, MN by the way!
love running into local people on forums. :-)
 
Ritmo said:
Congrats on the Bricasti! It is one of my favorites.
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Thank you!
Really, really pleased with it.
I am considering the new M28 mono blocks too.
Apparently they were being played at AXPONA too, but I managed to miss them.
Really want to hear them...
 
Bavarian05 - Just as an FYI, if you can make another trip to Chicago at the end of June the Bricasti M28 amps will be on demo with the M1 DAC at Essential Audio, as noted on their Facebook page. Brian Zolner from Bricasti will be there for the demo. I have no connection to Essential Audio, just thought this might be of interest to you.
 
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