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DAC Advice (~$500)

post #1 of 18
1/8/10 at 1:50pm
Thread Starter 
I received some very helpful advice on here a few weeks ago regarding amp & phones, and now I'm looking for some feedback in choosing a DAC.

My budget is roughly $500 (give or take a few hundred in either direction) and my set up will be FLAC > DAC > Mapletree Ear + HD > Grado RS1.

I listen to mostly rock--sometimes for several hour blocks, so I want to avoid a setup that will be overly fatiguing. I'm after a fun, musical listening experience, as opposed to anything too critical. Ideally, I'd like something that will compliment the warm/bright sound of Ear + HD > RS1 without pushing things too far in the brightness direction.

I should also note that I have no problem going the used route, so DACs like Lavry DA10 and Benchmark DAC1 may be in play, but as of now here's my shortlist:

- MF V-DAC (w/ psu upgrade)
- Cambridge DAC Magic
- PS Audio DL III
- CIAudio VDA2/VAC1

Any advice or other options are much appreciated. Thanks.
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post #2 of 18
1/9/10 at 4:46am
Hmmm... in all honesty, you might be able to save a couple of bucks with the Pico DAC. In my opinion, it's just slightly warm of neutral. I think that would be a good compliment for your tube amp based on how you describe its sound signature. I'd seriously consider it.

Bear in mind, of course, that the darn thing can be pretty tricky to keep stably planted!

FWIW, if I could afford to build a relatively high-end system for the RS1 for purposes of experimentation, I would probably go with the Ear+HD and the Pico myself. Sadly, I'm not a big fan of Grados.
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post #3 of 18
1/9/10 at 1:09pm
..look at this: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f43/fs...ac-mod-465535/
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post #4 of 18
1/9/10 at 1:58pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Valens7 View Post
Hmmm... in all honesty, you might be able to save a couple of bucks with the Pico DAC. In my opinion, it's just slightly warm of neutral. I think that would be a good compliment for your tube amp based on how you describe its sound signature.
Thanks - I looked into the Pico a while back but honestly forgot all about it. Anyone know how it measures up to V-DAC or DAC Magic?
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post #5 of 18
1/9/10 at 2:00pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by upgrade View Post
Tempting upgrade, but I'm in the US.
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post #6 of 18
1/9/10 at 2:41pm
I'm in the same boat as you, and my choice being in the US would be a 2nd hand PS Audio DLIII. It seems quite a institution for his SQ/price and also (and important for the me due to space) its quite the same size as the Ear+HD and i could stack them.

The DL3 is really expensive here and i can't get a US one due to the voltage, so i'm considering other choices like the Meier Stage Dac and the Little Dot DAC_1.

Meanwhile, i'm living with the Ibasso D10 and just got a UDac.
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post #7 of 18
1/9/10 at 2:52pm
Grado's can be a little harsh in the upper registers if the amp has a high bandwidth. I would go with something tube coupled like a California Audio Labs Alpha or Sigma II. That's not because I have one in my sig, I've run through about twenty dac's and this is the lushest and smoothest so far. Not at all to much tube either. If you can find one with the 24bit upgrade you should be able to score it at 500. I got mine, with the upgrade, for 440.
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post #8 of 18
1/9/10 at 3:34pm
The HRT Music Streamer+ is a smooth and pretty forgiving DAC, definitely no harshness to be found. When I had it I preferred it to my DLIII with poorly recorded-material - may be worth looking into.
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post #9 of 18
1/9/10 at 9:59pm
An used MHDT Paradisea 3 should falls within your budget. You may have some money left to roll the tubes &/or OPAmps.
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post #10 of 18
1/10/10 at 12:45pm
Do yourself a favor and get a used Parasound D/AC 1100. I think it's one of the best bang-for-the-buck components out there and easily bests the likes of the Benchmark and Lavry in terms of SQ to my ears. And it's well within your budget even with prices creeping up a bit.
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post #11 of 18
1/10/10 at 6:07pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by OutdoorXplorer View Post
An used MHDT Paradisea 3 should falls within your budget. You may have some money left to roll the tubes &/or OPAmps.
Hmm...that's an intriguing piece of equipment. It's funny that the more research I do the harder these decisions get.

However I wonder whether a tube DAC > tube Amp be too much warmth.
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post #12 of 18
1/10/10 at 9:31pm
Please define "too much warmth".
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post #13 of 18
1/10/10 at 10:31pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by velogreg View Post
Please define "too much warmth".
Yeah...my vocab on sound isn't the best. I should spend some time looking at the glossary thread.

Here's my best attempt at explaining what I meant: I want a clean but warm sound, but not one that is overly "tubey." I guess a better way to say it is that I don't want to sacrifice too much detail by going tube DAC > tube amp. Is that a realistic concern?
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post #14 of 18
1/10/10 at 10:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fusco View Post
Thanks - I looked into the Pico a while back but honestly forgot all about it. Anyone know how it measures up to V-DAC or DAC Magic?
I haven't heard either of those DAC's, so there's not much I can say about them by way of comparison. What I can tell you is that the Pico DAC knocks the living daylights out of my Cambridge Audio 540C V2 CD player, as well as almost every other source I used before it. I also found that it was easier to listen to and more versatile than my Apogee Duet, although I think both components perform at the same level overall.
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post #15 of 18
1/11/10 at 1:49am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fusco View Post
Yeah...my vocab on sound isn't the best. I should spend some time looking at the glossary thread.

Here's my best attempt at explaining what I meant: I want a clean but warm sound, but not one that is overly "tubey." I guess a better way to say it is that I don't want to sacrifice too much detail by going tube DAC > tube amp. Is that a realistic concern?
It's a realistic concern, but it's avoidable. There's a lot of variation in how "tubey" a tubed component can sound - some are very euphonic, others are much more neutral. Additionally, the sound can always be tweaked by rolling tubes.
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