Best DAC you ever heard?

Best I ever heard is the Bricasti M1

 

This one's easy - dCS Vivaldi full digital frontend. Absolutely jaw-dropping realism.

 

Still not as good as a turntable. According to Michael Fremer.

 

Chord 2Qute.

 

Can't decide yet from what I've spent time with. So far:

DCS Vivaldi (definitely better than the DCS Rossini and DCS Debussy I listened to though)

MSB Diamond DAC V with matching power supply. It's better than the MSB Analog I listened to.

CH Precision C1 DAC

Still would like to listen to the Soulution 760 DAC, Mola Mola DAC, Trinity DAC, MSB Select DAC, and maybe the Light Harmonic Da Vinci DAC, Gryphon Kalliope DAC, TotalDAC of some kind, Phasure NOS1A DAC, Esoteric Grandioso DAC, TAD DA1000 DAC, Audionet DAC, Chord Dave DAC, Vitus Masterpiece DAC, Audio Research Reference DAC and the Boulder 2120 DAC before deciding which is best.

Listened to but didn't care for Bricasti M1 DAC, Metronome C8 DAC, T+A DAC 8, Simaudio Moon 750D DAC/CD transport, Berkeley Alpha DAC Reference Series(this has some nice qualities to it but doesn't quite hold up to the more expensive of the first three brands of DAC's I have mentioned at the very top of my post.

 

My own

 

Lampizator golden gate by a country mile

 

T+A DAC8

 

As much as I hate to admit it because 90% of my listening is digital, when friends come over we start with digital and finish with analog. You just can't go in the other direction.

 

Audio Note DAC 5.1, DAC 4.1x, DAC 3.1x Balanced

I've yet to be impressed by any of the big computer audio designed DACs. After hearing several in Stereophile's class A+ rated gear I must confess that they were rather greatly disappointing especially the large dollars that don't translate into any sort of goose-bump factor.

For a budget contender I like my Line Magnetic 502CA but only in tube mode. I find most SS gear of any stripe to be rather unlistenable on longer stretches.

 

If too drunk I prefer ending up with digital since it has the invention called "repeat"

 

Forgot to mention haven't heard the Nagra HD DAC yet either.

 

Heard the Nagra recently but it was brand new out of the box so it sounded as though it needed 200 hrs, but it was very impressive nonetheless.

Best I've heard is the dCS Rossini with master clock, but on par is the MSB Diamond V, and slightly below the top tier are DAC's such as the Gryphon Kalliope and Rockna wavedream - which is excellent performance for the money.

I own a Berkeley Alpha 2 and a Bricasti M1 which are both built around the same AD1955 DAC chip, but the Bricasti employs 1 per channel in dual mono mode for a few dB lower noise floor, as per the Berkeley Alpha Reference.

The Berkeley is a great dac for detail, yet is never aggressive and always grain-free.

The Bricasti is a bit more natural and dynamically accurate from top to bottom and is my personal favourite. TBH, it doesn't sound like a typical delta sigma DAC.

 

Bel Canto DAC3.7 is fantastic......and the Bel Canto Black is out of this world good.

 

Any one that makes me forget about the gear.

 

Halfway House solution....

 

Best I've heard would also be the Vivaldi but a close second, for lot less green is the Audio Research DAC9.

 

Sine this is an audiophile board, the title of the thread should really be "Best DAC You Have Never Heard".

 

Thats and old saying but a true one. We all like something different, if every component had no sound which one would we like best, and we would have nothing to chat about.

 

Actually, I was making a little joke..audiophiles are quite famous for blathering on about components they have never heard, and
are famous for formulating opinions on sonics based on spec sheets.

 

Not sure about best ever DAC i've ever heard..But i know the best cost-to-sound DAC chip i've ever heard..The Philips TDA1543.
I first became aware of this beauty when i first listened to a Hifiman 601 that had this DAC..Once used in vintage high-end CD players.Now absolutely ridiculous value on places such as ebay.A fully assembled DAC board from China can be had for £14..A fully cased and finished DAC can be had for £30..If you want a more analogue/natural sound from your DAC.This chip would take some beating at any price.

 

Which raises, yet again, the question of whether LPs just contain more info than a digital source. More than CDs I could believe, but as you move up the food chain, I wonder. Did Fremer say not as good as a TT for all digital sources?

 

I have heard, and liked, the Audio Note DAC 5 signature that I heard in several systems. However, in a couple of direct comparisons of the DAC 5 with the custom tube DACs made by Aldo D'Urso of Italy, the Aldo DAC sounded a bit better (a tube-based system with Western Electric 555 driver and 15A horn and a tube-based system with Harbeth 40.2 speakers).

I heard a nice sounding solid state system that had an MSB DAC.

 

Without a doubt, my own audio note dac 5 SIGNATURE. And my custom made Audio Note dac 4.1x II balanced SIGNATURE.

 

my two favorite dac are EC designs sd-1 (based on the TDA1543) and ec designs Mosaic T (NOS R2R).

the best for dsd Id think is t+a dac 8