~$400 DAC with good detail and soundstage - Page 2

That's one possible reason.  There's also an awful lot of groupthink here, among other things.

When we're just talking about the soundstage, I love my own AMB γ2. I've compared it with the HRT Music Streamer II+ and while the latter has more width, the γ2 excels in depth. Kinda like HD800 vs O2 in this area. I even seem to prefer the γ2 to the Lavry DA11 that I used to have for a while. 

That being said, I wish I could try the Parasound sometime. 

I think people like audio-gd is because of great customer service. For a lot of people, it's ironic because it's a small business with an outdated website, but they are very active. IMO, Audio-GD dac-19 for about $500 is a great choice because it use PCM1704UK instead of Wolfson or ESS Sabre chips found in $1000-$3000 DACs, both sigma-delta.

Implementation and execution is the most important, only DACs I know with same care as Audio-GD's are into high thousands.

I appreciate what Audio-gd is trying to do but they seriously need to revamp their website and product differentiation. It's hella confusing to see so many different products offered there without any clear distinction between them and this is coming from their old customer. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by K3cT 

I appreciate what Audio-gd is trying to do but they seriously need to revamp their website and product differentiation. It's hella confusing to see so many different products offered there without any clear distinction between them and this is coming from their old customer. 

How dare you!

One thing that I really appreciated about contacting Audio-GD was that they never tried to up sell me. This was also a bit frustrating as K3cT mentioned because its hard for people to differentiate their products.

I eventually decided that I was going to make my first purchase for an office or semi mobile choice (by packing my listening gear into a pelican 1500) so I went with the FUN.

I really had a hard time making that choice because Comfortable mentioned the DAC-19 has PCM1704 chips in it, that many people herald as being quite an experience.

Monkey has it right about the group think, if you read too many reviews it can be troubling for you and cause you to struggle with your choice. The best thing you can do for yourself in my opinion is find a place that you can try out some gear, then educate yourself on the components used in that gear. You ultimately will need to form your opinion.

Even in my house (with a couple other engineers) we have drastically different opinions on every component. The important thing would be to make up your mind for your own reasons so you feel comfortable with your choice, that being said... compiling a list through your own research is a fantastic way to begin that process.

Vintage DAC recommendation : Counterpoint DA-10. Available for 500 $ or less...

You might want to check out the Schiit Audio Bifrost. I've been enjoying a non-USB build ($349.00) for the last couple of days, and find it to have a good sound stage with good detail. It's fairly new, but you should be able to find impressions in the Bifrost threads.

NICE necro!

Its not that bad - I dug one up from 2006 the other day : some board members were still in pre-school way back then ! 

DACport LX or maybe you could find their Mini dac used within that price range? I really love my DACport LX. Very transparent, lush mids, detailed and balanced.