[pearljam50000]

Is there anything that sounds similar for around a 1000$ more or less?

 

[leeperry]

The DAC2 is using a SMPS, an ES9018 DAC, a whole bunch of LM4562 opamps and LME49600 headamp buffers. No rocket science here, you can fairly easily find those chips in cheaper DAC's.

 

[pearljam50000]

Can you give examples please?
Thank you ^_^

 

[leeperry]

Tada

 

[TheGame21x]

The O2+ODAC probably sounds very similar, though I haven't heard the DAC2 to confirm that for myself.

  The DAC2 is using a SMPS, an ES9018 DAC, a whole bunch of LM4562 opamps and LME49600 headamp buffers. No rocket science here, you can fairly easily find those chips in cheaper DAC's.

 
Eh, that's not very good to go on. Just because a DAC/Amp has those chips doesn't mean they're implemented nearly as well as the same chips in the DAC2.

 

[leeperry]

   
Just because a DAC/Amp has those chips doesn't mean they're implemented nearly as well as the same chips in the DAC2.

 
The output stage is what colors the sound the most, LM4562 sounds so colored that its sound is hard to miss IMHO...especially when filtering ES9018. Anyway, to the OP there's only one way to find out

 

 

[nick_charles]

   
The output stage is what colors the sound the most, LM4562 sounds so colored that its sound is hard to miss IMHO...

 

 
http://www.jensign.com/RMAA/RMAAOpAmpTests.html
 
Does not look that colored and when the Benchmark variants have been tested they *always* test utterly flat with vanishingly low distortion - hardly what you would call colored. For example...
 
http://www.stereophile.com/content/benchmark-dac2-hgc-da-processorheadphone-amplifier-measurements

 

[leeperry]

Hey Nick, how is it going? I forgot that all DAC's sound the same, kudos for taking the time to straighten things out once again

 

[pearljam50000]

Any specific models will help, thanks. ^_^

 

[cel4145]

Look into Audio-GD. Lota love for their products on Head-Fi.

 

[ursdiego]

Hi, for you to consider:
My Audio-gd Reference 9 / Re9 is on second hand sale - just click HERE.
With asynchronous USB input up to 192khz / 24bit (good with PC, Mac or Linux, Squeezebox Touch and similar)
Sounds awesome. I only sell because I changed to another 4x pcm1704 DAC from Resolution Audio.
Fully Reference-line quality from Audio-Gd with the well known top quality fully discrete 4x pcm 1704U-K signal path. However, it has no balanced output. No issue for me, as RCA sounds better (I have both now and I still use RCA).
Please don't blame me for posting this link her, it may be of interest not only for me but for some more users too who look for a pcm1704 dac from audio-gd. Cheers!

 

[SilverEars]

   
http://www.jensign.com/RMAA/RMAAOpAmpTests.html
 
Does not look that colored and when the Benchmark variants have been tested they *always* test utterly flat with vanishingly low distortion - hardly what you would call colored. For example...
 
http://www.stereophile.com/content/benchmark-dac2-hgc-da-processorheadphone-amplifier-measurements

Yes, and check out JA's measurements of $5K PS Audio DS:
 
Summary:
 
"In many ways, PS Audio's DirectStream DAC measures superbly well. But I was somewhat bothered by its ultimate lack of resolution with data capable of higher-than-CD resolution, which I suspect lay behind AD's finding the processor to sound "a bit rounded off" and lacking in immediacy. Whether or not that will be an issue will depend on the listener's taste and the character of his or her other components. It is also fair to point out that the DirectStream's introduction of random noise at the 17-bit level will be sonically preferable to a processor whose errors consisted of enharmonic tones. But I was bothered by the PS Audio's poor linearity at low frequencies. Yes, some extra second- and third-harmonic content at low frequencies will add some "phatness" to the sounds of bass instruments; and as the nonlinear transfer function has been significantly improved in the midrange and above, that "phat" quality will not be accompanied by the high-frequency harshness of intermodulation. But the engineer in me doesn't like to see it.—John Atkinson"
 
http://www.stereophile.com/content/ps-audio-perfectwave-directstream-da-processor-measurements
 
I have the DAC2, and sonically it performs very well.

 

[JohnyWell]

As I remember Benchmark DAC2 uses Xmos USB chip, right?