Best Dac for $450 - Page 2

I like my CEntrance DacPort quite a bit.  I think it may stay around for a while, at least as much as any of my gear does.  I had the DacPort LX for a month previous to the DacPort, and just decided I'd like the class A amp built in (Cudos to CEntrance, they traded up for the difference in price after a month!).  Both have very nice detail, clarity and both play 24/96K natively.  They compare well to my past DAC's (from memory only, so take it with a grain of salt - shortness of audio memory and all...)  Past dacs - DacMagic, headroom UDA, Pico DAC/Amp, blah, blah blah, awww shoot, I'm sounding like a showoff (not really, I just trade gear around a fair amount for fun).  Anyway, the DacPorts are nice, but they are a bit pricey, possibly overpriced.  They are pretty well reviewed here at head-fi.  I also saw a post earlier about "ripe for the Apogee Duet."  The (old) Duet is a heck of a cool device, great dac, totally mac-centric, and about $300 - $350 used.

So whats wrong with your HDP?

Guys, this thread is 7 months old.

The guy already bought and went through 3 or 4 DACs according to his profile.  

Hahaha awesome!

I think Cambridge DAC Magic might be ur thing, soundwisely, it's about the same comparing to pisco DAC or V-DAC if not better and come with full features. 

There are probably more people who's gonna ask the same question - so why just don't keep on? But the OP should join to share his experiences :)
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by sphinxvc 

Guys, this thread is 7 months old.

 

The guy already bought and went through 3 or 4 DACs according to his profile.  

Watch the for sale threads for a MHDT Labs Paradisea+ ... an absolutely fantastic NOS DAC that you can occasionally find in that price range (maybe better) ....

It's a NOS DAC, which means it leans more towards an analogue sound while still being very detailed. It incorporates a single tube stage which really ads to the musicality of the already notoriously musical NOS DAC design. I upgraded to the havana after a while ... being intrigued by it's more refined architecture (no opamp/etc) ... but the Paradisea is still an excellent (and quite highly thought of DAC) ... 

The MHDT DACs don't come up for sale too often but if you watch Audiogon and otherwise are fluent in search engines ... something will eventually pop up ...

Good luck, mate ...

.j