[Sam-Fi]

I am looking in the range of $1.3k and what high-end/reference quality.
 
Who can deliver. I am primarialy looking at a standalone DAC but a CDP is not off limits - I am looking for bang for the buck.
 
Thanks,
Sam-fi

 

[edstrelow]

What part of vinyl sound do you want, surface noise, clicks and pops, or wow and flutter?

 

[nikongod]

wow and flutter are more frequently a symptom of a screwed up tape machine than vinyl (IME). 
 
You forgot footfall, acoustic feedback, and rumble on the TT front.
 
On the tape front, there is also tape hiss to consider in the reproduction of both tape and Vinyl sound (although the hiss on vinyl is more frequently tape hiss that wasnt scrubbed off... listen to the grove between the music - dead silent). Quite a few cheap DACs simulate this with the use of noisy op amps.
 
 
On a serious note:
Why not just get a tape machine and a record player if thats what you want to hear? You dont have to spend particularly much on either to get SQ that poops on a LOT of digital trash (its digital... it works or it dosnt)

 

[Sam-Fi]

Everything I own is in Digital/CD format. Going Vinyl would be a huge capital undertaking - not to mention time. But I love the sound of Vinyl - digital has a way of falling apart. It lacks the musical subtlties and induces listening fatigue. 
Certainly there is a DAC that could help me get close enough to this.
 
 
 

 

[LFF]

Here is quick trick.
 
1) Get your CD player and plug it into a reel to reel or a tape machine line in.
 
2) Plug your pre-amp into the line out of the tape machine and plug that into the CD input of the pre-amp.
 
3) Enjoy analog sound.
 

 

[Sam-Fi]

Uncle.

 

[Jazzyfi]

Buy a good vintage CD player like marantz cd63, 67, Luxman, Philips, or whatever in your budget and add a tube buffer (ex. Yaqin CD1, 2, 3, or MF X10-D) between your cd player and your pre-amp/integrated amp. You will have a serious analog sound with less than 1.3k$.

 

[wharfrat1]

Cullen Modded DL III.  I love mine! 

 

[Sam-Fi]

I am thinking a NOS dac and Tubes.

 

[FrankCooter]

Check out the Audio Note kits.  NOS and tubes. I own a 1.0 and intend to upgrade to a 3.0. Very highly recommended.

 

[Sam-Fi]

Does it get better than audio note?

 

[wavoman]

Here is a directory of tube-based DACs ... although you asked for vinyl sound, not tube sound, this thread seems to have headed in the direction of tubes.  Vinyl thru a solid state amp sounds different than CD thru a solid state amp.  Either thru tubes sound different again -- 4 sound signatures for the 4 combinations.
 
http://www.worldtubeaudio.com/directory/categories/kategorie_89.htm
 
 
To my ears, tubes (in amps, pre-amps, buffers, or DACs) add some very pleasing and euphonic harmonics that capture some of the real-world acoustic effects of certain types of live performances, especially those in small intimate rooms, and well-tuned concert halls (but not, e.g. in stadiums, and of little importance for studio albums).  It does this to both analog and digital sources.  Good soild state amps however seem more muscular (better transients), and often seem to me to have better separation and frequency response.  Solid state digital amps (class D, ICE, tripath ...) sound different still (a little towards crisp and away from mellow).
 
This is totally different IMO to the analog (vinyl) vs digital (CD and downloaded) source comparison.  If you are not thrown for a loop by pops and clicks, vinyl does seem to have both better transients and smoother frequency response, although less detail and separation, than digital.  Sometimes the detail in digital is too much, as when you can (in CDs mastered from older analog tapes) hear the tape hiss better than you can with the LP.  With a modern CD that was digitally (and expertly) mastered, and recorded well in a studio, you can reach a level of perfection with regards to detail that I don't get from vinyl.  I'll listen to an SACD of, say, a female vocalist with complex backing instrumentation through an tube HP amp ... I'll also listen to an LP through a solid state amp ... it all depends.
 
I have assembled the half-speed mastered LP, the SACD, and the re-mastered redbook CD of Carole King, Tapestry.  I am attempting to listen to all of them with HE90's both thru a tube amp (HE90V) and thru a solid state amp (a digital one, in fact, PS Audio, using an energizer built by AudioCats employing Lundhal transformers).  Of course the cartridge and phono stage make a difference, but there is only so much I can control!
 
I will report!

 

[KingStyles]

RWA Isabellina dac. Many people said it was the most analog sounding dac they heard. I see just the dac going for less than that on his deal pages sometimes.

 

[Listens2tubes]

I found this the other day. It is an Audio by Van Alstne Trancsendence 8+ DAC http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=83861.0 This one now has a sale pending notation but this would fit your bill well.IMO Being able to tube roll would be a big plus. These come up used from time to time or call Frank and ask him about sourcing one from a trade in.

 

[mike1127]

x