New DAC under 1100.00

So my Peachtree DACitx met an untimely demise today after it got knocked out of my car and landed in a puddle. I had set aside a grand for some new vintage Klipsch or JBL speakers but will now be using that money on a new DAC (I'll get the speaker in the Fall). I set the top price point at what I can get a new Rega DAC-r for. I would be interested in any suggestions. Are there any new developments in the DAC field? Well, other than the Ygdrassil.

DACs I was considering.

1. Rega DAC-r
2. Schiit Gungnir
3. PS Audio Nuwave

Any other ideas? Wasn't iFi Audio coming out with a new DAC?

 

Marantz SA 8005 which is a CD player with a DAC, can get one on the Bay for about $1,000.
Marantz NA 8005 which is a network player, Music Direct had it on sale last week, probably is still on sale for $800.

I own a Wyred4Sound DAC2 but prefer the Marantz.

 

Bel Canto DAC1.7 ---- It would end up being just a bit over your budget, but I would still suggest checking it out. The new .7 series DACs are quite nice from BC.

 

I'm in the same boat. I was looking at the music fidelity m1.

 

Heh, I sold my Wyred4Sound DAC1 after I bought a Marantz as well. I'm a big fan of their DACs, the sound really stands out from the competition IMO. Not objectively better, just different in a way I prefer. Huge, huge soundstage.

 

Have a look at this URL from Music Direct. Many interesting choices including a Mytek for just $300 over your budget.

http://www.musicdirect.com/c-690-us...page=24&BrandFilterID=0&CategoryFilterID=690&

 

How are you using your dac that it would be in your car and could fall in a puddle?

None of the recommendations thus far seem like they are designed for portable use.

 

I've been sort of interested in this little dude for a while:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PS0WLX6...TF8&colid=2ZDZWQ255FPYI&coliid=I3EJECUVEHQK8D

Not familiar with the brand, but its gotten some praise on Head-Fi, and checks all the boxes. XMOS USB, ESS9018K2M, DSD. Two-Fiddy.

 

I've owned the Rega, the W4S, and the PS Audio NWD. I far prefer the PS Audio.

 

More choices: iFi iDSD Micro, used Benchmark DAC 1 HDR, geek pulse

 

I'm very happy with my Marantz HD-DAC1. Music Direct has it for $799.99, so it's well under your budget.

 

Hi Lee. How would someone go about purchasing a Pulse today? LH Labs has rolled out several new funding asks since the Pulse. And in looking at the actual LH Labs web storefront, it doesn't look like there's any way to purchase a Pulse. There's a Pulse X and a Pulse Xfi (for $1799 and $2999 respectively). But I don't think LH Labs is making Pulses any more. They've moved on to a bewildering assortment of new products and perks.

 

Not sure what the current status of the Pulse is, but the one I got from Indiegogo was so buggy that I just immediately sold it on eBay. The inability to play sources other than USB without first initializing the DAC with a USB connection made it virtually useless to me.

 

Last I heard was that the iDSD Pro will be unveiled at the High End Show next month in Munich. iFI has provisionally set the price at US$1500.

 

I am building a high rez playback system in my car of course.

Not. I was bringing back from a friends house. He wanted to hear some high rez audio vs his CD player. I also brought my dog. He got excited and jumped out the passenger door and took the DAC with him.

 

Thanks for the answers gentlemen. I've only heard a Bel Canto DAC once and that was about three years ago. I will definitely try and track one down to listen to. Same goes for the Marantz player. How does Marantz hold up vs the Oppo 105. I hadn't really included players as I like the idea of being able to hook multiple sources through my DAC.

Other than the iFi and the Schiit non of these DACs has DSD capability. Any of you guys go back and forth between DSD and PCM? Other then the advantage of more music to listen to, any advantages?

 

You might try the Geek Out 1000. I have the 450 and it sounds phenomenal. You can get it at Amazon for 300 or less. It's DSD capable too and plays up to 384khz. It's originally built for headphones but supposedly it works on systems such as yours too.

It has rave reviews from pretty much everyone.

The V2 is coming out for 400 I think too and the Infinity Version will be available too (top of the line).

 

I have very little DSD material in file form. But I've been using DSD DACs with HQPlayer to upsample Redbook to DSD128 and higher. With an iDSD Nano and HQPlayer, you can achieve some really nice sound quality with Redbook for relatively little money. HQPlayer will also upsample PCM -> PCM, but the results are not anywhere near as dramatic as PCM -> DSD.

 

That is some bad luck. Hopefully it ends with a nice upgrade.

 

I have the Gungnir. I cannot speak for the others but it sounds fine. I would buy it again.

 

The Aune S16 price is comfortably under your limit...and I have one on its way to me right now: http://www.amazon.com/Aune-32bit-384khz-Dsd128-Isolation/dp/B00PKBED48/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1429850102&sr=1-1&keywords=aune s16 - not that Amazon is very informative.

The Aune site, however, is a bit more forthcoming. Features and info: http://en.auneaudio.com/html/en_products1/pc_hifi/189_8.html - click site links for specifications and such. The "feedback" link leads to a head-fi.org review with a few pages of follow on comments. Evidently the headphone amp section is quite serviceable...though for, say, Sennheiser HD800 phones, much better quality results from using the DAC line outs to drive a quality headphone amp. But the S16's real strengths seem to be in its USB input section and the DAC section itself. They review quite well.

As for DSD, I hear it on my Pono player (courtesy of SACDs and my proper PS3) and I think it's a worthwhile feature for me to have (I like its touch of "analogness"), but probably shouldn't be a deal breaker for most people. Still, DSD factored into my decision to get the Aune. Note that the Aune S16 has no preamp capability, the volume knob is only for the headphone amp section. But it has balanced line outs as well as the single-ended line outs. The Aune has some pretty state of the art chipsets, seems to be screwed together nicely, and, well, it's rather pretty.

 

I listen to a lot of DSD along with PCM Hires and redbook, files on my PC via JRiver via Chord Hugo. It's good to have options.

 

With the Schiit Yggdrasil out now I suspect there will be some used Gungnirs hitting the market soon.

 

The Marantz HD-DAC1 does DSD 2.8 MHz and 5.6MHz