Is the Berkeley Reference 2 still a great DAC?

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mdp632

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Over past few months the new MSB products have been conversation in terms of digital and DACs.

However, is the Berkeley Ref 2 still a competitive product at its price point?
 
mdp632 said:
Over past few months the new MSB products have been conversation in terms of digital and DACs.

However, is the Berkeley Ref 2 still a competitive product at its price point?
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Nope. Reasons why coming soon.
 
Mike said:
We will have to wait and see. We just can’t order any more REF2 DAC’s.


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To that end; perhaps a new model that has built in network streaming and a Roon endpoint. But, removes all the legacy ports.
 
Mike said:
Wishful thinking.


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I know but, one can dream right? Seems like the trend is bye SPDIF, AES and soon USB. Hello; network rendering.

A self contained DAC without more boxes and cables to add network functionality makes sense in 2019.

But, again just my opinion.
 
mdp632 said:
I know but, one can dream right? Seems like the trend is bye SPDIF, AES and soon USB. Hello; network rendering.

A self contained DAC without more boxes and cables to add network functionality makes sense in 2019.

But, again just my opinion.
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That’s definitely the way to go.


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mdp632 said:
...A self contained DAC without more boxes and cables to add network functionality makes sense in 2019.

But, again just my opinion.
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+1 ...my opinion as well. i am somewhat regretting recently buying a dac w/o network connectivity/rendering - but only for that reason.
 
Yes... New model is coming, all I was told is it was being called " New Technology DAC". Should be ready the first quarter 2019. ( Oh!... that's now)...It is going to use the same (great) box as the current reference DAC.....but to answer your question, the Berkeley Audio Reference MQA DAC is still a great DAC ... Network rendering is the way to go , but is it wired network or fiber optic connection???
 
Welcome to the forum, thank you for joining.

It’s nice to see them move forward but let’s see how long it takes to deliver.
 
skater1950 said:
Yes... New model is coming, all I was told is it was being called " New Technology DAC". Should be ready the first quarter 2019. ( Oh!... that's now)...It is going to use the same (great) box as the current reference DAC.....but to answer your question, the Berkeley Audio Reference MQA DAC is still a great DAC ... Network rendering is the way to go , but is it wired network or fiber optic connection???
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I wonder if this “new technology “ is an FPGA running their algorithm.
 
Mike said:
That’s definitely the way to go.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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aKnyght said:
+1 ...my opinion as well. i am somewhat regretting recently buying a dac w/o network connectivity/rendering - but only for that reason.
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mdp632 said:
I know but, one can dream right? Seems like the trend is bye SPDIF, AES and soon USB. Hello; network rendering.

A self contained DAC without more boxes and cables to add network functionality makes sense in 2019.

But, again just my opinion.
Click to expand...

I'll play a bit of devil's advocate here. Any Streamer/DAC combo that I'm aware of needs a NAS set up. With a dedicated streamer like most Aurenders, you can store your files on the Aurender itself without the need for external storage. I like the simple elegance of that.
 
asindc said:
I'll play a bit of devil's advocate here. Any Streamer/DAC combo that I'm aware of needs a NAS set up. With a dedicated streamer like most Aurenders, you can store your files on the Aurender itself without the need for external storage. I like the simple elegance of that.
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Oh I like simple. A NAS , which i have is just a pain at times. More connections equal more wires, getting to be a mess. I guess as I get older, simple sure is ah, simple.
 
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