I hope somewhere along the line someone can get their hands on both the SA8005 and the Oppo 105D for comparison.   I was all set to get one of these SA8005 units to play my SACDs on (and return the Oppo 105) to duty as a blu ray player, then Oppo decides they are going to support streaming...

Hi everyone,       I got a DAC Magic Plus about 9 months ago. I use it just with the computer and only USB.  It's worth mentioning I think that the DAC Magic Plus includes a headphone amp, pre outs and balanced outputs. That may be important to someone starting out.  You get an all in one box...

Well I just got my Yulong DA8,  I think it sounds great with my HD650s.  Of course I also think my Cambridge DacMagic Plus and Oppo-105 sound great.   Duty/customs was $36 bucks or something.  I found Gary's experience very useful.  Now I can stop obsessing about equipment and go back to...

ChrisJ, actually I don't think this is trying to pick a fight at all.   I guess my poorly made point is that the application notes are a "minimum" way to get a DAC working.  Calling it a "reference design" was perhaps a throwback to the way companies like NVidia do it. They release a video...

   I have to say the lack of difference makes me wonder.  Not about Gary's methodology but the DACs themselves.       If you think about the companies who make the DAC chips (I mean Burr Brown, Cirrus Logic, Sabre, etc), they all have some sort of reference design on their web site. You can...

I just placed an order for the DA8.   I blame you for this Gary :)   Seriously, I appreciate all the work you put into this project, saving the rest of us from having to do it.  Kudos.

Ohhh... to increase the torture you should listen to it only with Miley Cyrus or Lindsay Lohan :P   Great job on this Gary.  I can hardly wait for this to be over and the winner to be announced.

Good catch on the Sony StudioSound.  For some reason I had the idea it was like my Cambridge Stream Magic which is also a music streamer but *does* have DAC features and USB support.  :)  I can't find any evidence the Sony is anything but a really expensive media player.  Sony has a HAP-S1 which...

Hi everyone,         I have been watching this thread with great interest because I am interested in a new DAC and Gary seems to have come up with a really good list of candidates.        As they say however, timing is everything.        Sony has announced their DAC/media player, the...