[rawrster]

So I may be in the market for a new dac and looking for some suggestions. Right now my set up is primarily a Yulong D100 dac and my Violectric V200 amp. Both headphones sound quite good out of this setup and doesn't leave much to be desired. However I am paranoid as I sold my budget dac (which I should have sold a long time ago) and now looking for another. I am not sure about price range but I'd rather not spend too much but I'm thinking somewhere between 300-900 or so. I would like to have a good dac if anything was to happen to my D100 amp as I would be left with onboard or my itunes and JH5 which does sound good but not at the same level as my  home setup.
 
I don't have too many requirements but mainly I need usb and rca outputs although xlr outputs would be nice as well but not a requirement. Ideally it will sound very clean with as little coloration as possible and good usb implementation. 
 
Also I would prefer something that is from the USA as dealing with other places especially if something happens and return shipping is needed is expensive and also a pain but it's not a requirement as long as they have good customer service that doesn't take forever to respond.
 
I've looked at a few but need some more ideas. I've seen the following so far
 
Nuforce HD
gamma 2
PS Audio DLIII
Schiit Bifrost
 
Some other suggestions would be appreciated as I haven't really kept up with the dac market.

 

[estreeter]

My problem is:
 
- that I didnt know PS Audio sold anything that cheap
- I wish I had your problems
 
Redundancy is great, but $900 for something that will only be a backup plan ? Am I missing something here ? 

 

[rawrster]

Well it depends on what I get. If I feel the dac I buy is better then that will be the main one. It would make no sense for the better one to be used less but alternatively I could switch it up for a different sound or have one setup for each headphone.
 
Also I'm still thinking if I want something like that or just as a pure backup so I'm looking at the different options I have. The PS Audio DLIII runs for 800 or 900 new iirc. However most of the funds will be from a headphone I bought on impulse and will be selling soon.

 

[Anaxilus]

Just heard the prototype Schiit Gungnir.  I would replace the BiFrost w/ the Gungnir in your list if price is right.  Pretty much fixed most of the issues I had w/ the BiFrost which I liked.  I'm still gonna wait for the Statement.

 

[rawrster]

What issues did you have with the Bifrost?
 
i'm thinking of possibly getting a usb to spdif converters and be done with that since there are some dacs that do not offer usb and paying for the usb function seems like a waste when the amount they cost can come to to a decent converter.

 

[Anaxilus]

 
Quote:

What issues did you have with the Bifrost?

 
Bass extension in the last octave, a slight grain from the analog section, overall refinement.  It got the big things right like sweet natural tonality and a largely coherent and resolving signature.  For the price I think the Bif'rost is superb.  Some might consider the Gungnir a diminishing return but if you start cutting corners at the source everything else suffers.  With your new phones you'll hear it.  

 

[rawrster]

 
Quote:

 
 
Bass extension in the last octave, a slight grain from the analog section, overall refinement.  It got the big things right like sweet natural tonality and a largely coherent and resolving signature.  For the price I think the Bif'rost is superb.  Some might consider the Gungnir a diminishing return but if you start cutting corners at the source everything else suffers.  With your new phones you'll hear it.  

 
For some odd reasons your suggestions are never good for my wallet. Any idea about usb implementation as that is what I use to connect a dac to my computer. I'm selling off the D7000 and CTH Rev A and then from there I should be able to afford around the upper range of the price range I want. Although if you recommend it then it is something to consider. I'm in no rush as I do feel in the grand scheme of things I do have a good dac.
 
 
edit: I ended up picking something up in the FS forums that's at the upper limit of budget but the D7k did sell so hopefully it is what I wanted.