Folks:
Here's the latest list of competitors. First, here's what's
in, as of now:
- Emotiva Stealth DC-1. It's an AD1955-based DAC, making it relatively unique these days, and it's on sale for $499 shipped, making it cheap. Emotiva has a great trial period -- 30 days and you pay only return shipping.
- Resonessence Concero. An ESS 9023 DAC, it's <$1K and will be supplied by Zilch0MD (Thanks Mike!).
- Yulong DA8... An ESS 9018 DAC. It has a great reputation and I have a volunteer to take it off my hands for full price if I decide I don't like it. That person may reveal himself if he chooses, but I'm thanking him anonymously right now, because it means that this DAC will almost certainly be in the competition.
- Metrum Octave Mk II. A non-9018, NOS DAC that appears to have a supplier that offers low-cost trials.
- Lynx Hilo. Does way more things than I need, but has an excellent reputation and Happy Camper has volunteered it for the test, so it's in. Thank you HC!
- Schiit Gungnir. An AKM 4399-based DAC, and I have somebody willing to loan me one. That's a good thing, since I already used my annual Schiit return on the Mjolnir I tested last summer (yeah, another potty pun, sorry, but they asked for it). Thanks to my anonymous donor!
- Chordette QuteHD. A proprietary FPGA-based DAC, making it the kind of unique entrant that makes these comparisons fun to do. Acoustic Sounds has a 30-day return policy, no restocking, so this unit is in the test. Thanks for recommending this one JD007!
Still in the running for the final ~3 positions:
- Benchmark DAC-2. One of many ESS 9018-based mid-range DACs around, it has the advantage of coming from a company with an established reputation. More important, it has a 30-day free trial period, and they're on the East Coast of the US, meaning low return shipping costs for me.
- Anedio D2. Another well-regarded 9018 DAC, and Anedio has a $49 loaner program. Kudos to them for that!!!
- BMC PureDac. Guess what: another 9018 DAC, but at least it looks different... and has some support among the crew. Unfortunately Moon Audio has a 5% restocking fee, which might knock this one out of the comparison. I'll talk to them and Vapor Audio to see if there's a way around that. If not, it won't make the cut.
- NAD M51. A well-regarded player, not ESS 9018 which is a plus if we want a more varied field.
- Grace M903. Aimed at pro/studios first, like the Hilo (and the Benchmark, though they've apparently grown out of that niche), and has a good reputation
- Dangerous Source. Another pro/studio unit, with a reputation as a giant killer at <$1K
- Asus Xonar Essence One Muses Edition. A well-reviewed piece from a computer company... I guess those people have ears too, though you wouldn't know it from listening to my HP computer's built-in DAC.
I can tell you that I will not be picking 3 9018 DACs from this 2nd list, so I'd like some inputs on which one or two should be in. I'm also leaning toward including only one of the two studio DACs (Grace or Dangerous) and either the NAD or the Asus (not both). By grouping the units this way, I think we get a pretty diverse field...
But I'm still open to suggestions, so let me know which 3 of these final 7 should make the cut, or if there's a 4th, tell me which of the units currently in should drop out (um, please don't even think about asking me to drop the loaned/sponsored DACs... not gonna happen). Also, let me know ASAP if I missed something that was recommended earlier in the thread. I thought I kept my list up to date, but there were quite a few recommendations, so it is likely that I forgot to add at least one.
Note that no Audio-gd unit has been volunteered, and that's fine. I refuse to beat people up for not volunteering to send their expensive and fragile hardware across the country to somebody they don't know -- because I probably wouldn't do it either. I applaud those of you who
are willing to send your DACs to me, in fact I think you are amazing, wonderful, truly great people, but I understand why others won't, and we certainly shouldn't pressure them or think any less of them for their reluctance.
I expect to start ordering on Thursday or Friday if somebody puts one of these units on Black Friday sale, otherwise it will be early next week, as I try to get deliveries to coincide with my vacation days. So the sooner I get any further ideas you might have, the better.
Thanks again for all of your help in this.
