[Julianp13]

My first post and I know every one will have a different opinion but I need some ideas.
 
My current setup is a WD tv Live and 1Tb WD elements feeding a Cambridge Audio Dac 3 into a Stax SRM-1 Mk2 with Stax Lamdba pro headphones. I love the sound (although it does show up bad recordings!)
 
I was looking into a NOS DAC as I wanted to be able to listen to 24bit/96khz flac files and so bought a Muse Audio Dac from ebay for £30. But as soon as I plugged it in it sounded dull and lifeless compared to the CA Dac. Having never heard a nos dac maybe that's what it sounds like? 
 
I was also looking at a Lite Dac as a cheap upgrade or maybe a DACmagic as I like the old version so much.
 
I'm not scared of the soldering iron, so any threads to help me would be greatful received.
 
Thanks

 

[svyr]

I preferred my SRM-1/mk2 + SR-404 with a NOA DAC (prometheus dac). It sounded smooth but still detailed enough and not dull. The same system was intolerably bright with Benchmark DAC-1 (painfully so)...
It was ok with Yulong D100, but there was something unnatural about the highs and it was still a bit too harsh (ok for classical, not so much for modern music).

Interestingly enough it wasn't bad with my Musiland MD11 either (except for the whole DC on line out issue, and I needed caps in line to eliminate a hum from that). So mmm, yes rolled off for my taste was better (MD11 and Prometheus are both rolled off at the top).

Interestingly enough, once I moved to a SR-507, I started preferring the brighter D100, as SR-507 are a lot less bright than SR-404...

Guess that doesn't quite answer your question, but confirms that you should go to a meet and have a try of a 'good NOS DAC' or a non-NOS dac with rolled off highs



>I was looking into a NOS DAC as I wanted to be able to listen to 24bit/96khz flac

that didn't quite make sense. most nos dacs will be 24b/48khz max...