best DAC under $1500?
Jul 27, 2015 at 5:27 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 11

Amish

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I'm replacing my Pagoda with another Pagoda...
 
But I want to buy a second DAC for my office. Looking to spend around $12-1500 USD.
 
The Pagoda I own is amazing. It is silent. I do not know it's there and that is what I prefer from a DAC.
 
 
What else out there competes with 'neutral"?
 
Jul 27, 2015 at 8:12 PM Post #3 of 11
I have the nuprime dac10 and think it sounds just great..
 
more here http://www.head-fi.org/t/764017/nuprime-dac-10h-desktop-dac-and-headphone-amp
 
Jul 27, 2015 at 8:16 PM Post #4 of 11
Like asking what's left the best car under 1/2 million ?!?

Mid fi?
 
Jul 27, 2015 at 8:28 PM Post #5 of 11
I think the op's just trying to find out what people are liking in 1500. range that can be helpful, there are a ton available for that price..
 
Jul 27, 2015 at 10:03 PM Post #6 of 11
  I think the op's just trying to find out what people are liking in 1500. range that can be helpful, there are a ton available for that price..

Yes this. I have my own opinion but I would appreciate any input. My hope is that I get some input on something I haven't considered before.
 
Jul 28, 2015 at 7:05 AM Post #7 of 11
Pretty much any current model DAC at any price should be 100% transparent to the human ear.
 
So provided you avoid any of the dodgier 'design by ear' boutique brands and stick with professional grade products you will not find any difference in SQ quality.
 
So to get your moneys worth with a premium level budget you should look for nice design, feature set, build quality and, particularly, software along with an ongoing commitment to support future technology changes and bug fixes. If you can afford it RME is the comapny to follow. They have the best software and will almost certainly continue to do so. This is genuine broadcast quality gear and you have almost certainly bought music or listened to a broadcast recorded using RME products. So why buy anything else.
 
The brand new Babyface Pro is the least expensive product in their inventory. At ~$800 it is well within your budget.
 
http://babyface.rme-audio.de/
 

 
Jul 30, 2015 at 5:51 AM Post #8 of 11
I really like my Hegel HD12. Silent and neutral.
 
Jul 30, 2015 at 5:55 AM Post #9 of 11
I don't know about "the best" but my personal preference is the Aurender Flow. I picked it over the Hugo even for my tastes. I wrote a review of it sometime last year.
 
Jul 30, 2015 at 5:19 PM Post #10 of 11
If you like your Pagoda, and if you haven't noticed and bothered about its laid-back and slightly unresolving sound, I would recommend another NOS DAC, like Audio-gd DAC-19, Metrum Octave, or another MHDT device. The Delta-Sigma stuff doesn't render the tone colors as rich and natural as the NOS DACs do, and most DS DACs have this terrible treble glare that can be very fatiguing (depending on how sensitive you are). On the other hand, the DS stuff is much more dynamic and more resolving. But I don't think these are important to you since you haven't thrown the Pagoda against the wall already (?).
If you still wanna try out a Delta-Sigma DAC, I personally would recommend to look into DACs with AKM chips (Emotiva DC-01, Fostex HP-A8, Hegel HD12, NuForce DAC80, Schiit Gungnir), maybe M2Tech Young or NAD M51. At least that's what I have been considering in order to break free from my a tad too laid-back Metrum Octave. However, I didn't consider them to be an improvement but rather a sidegrade with another configuration of drawbacks and advantages, with the problem of treble glare spoiling the music. The real good stuff would be above your price range. 
 
Jul 31, 2015 at 9:05 AM Post #11 of 11
http://www.stereophile.com/content/benchmark-dac2-hgc-da-processorheadphone-amplifier-measurementsenchmark DAC2 HGC is 2000 and the version without amp is around 1500 I think,one of best Sabre 9018 dacs,its pretty much same as vega except it have little bit worse jitter

At that price you wont find anything better,ofcourse if truth and accuracy are better,if you dont care about that a used then get Master 7
 

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