looking for good DAC with Sennheiser HD800 (up to $700)
Jul 23, 2010 at 7:22 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 16

dudefromearth

Head-Fier
Joined
May 18, 2010
Posts
99
Likes
10
I have the nuforce uDAC ATM but appearently it is not the best. Currently I play through my PC:
 
HD800> Matrix-MStage > RCA Cables> Nuforce Udac >PC
 
I can pay up to $700 for a DAC that is well better than the nuforce uDAC. What do you recommend?
 
Jul 23, 2010 at 9:08 PM Post #2 of 16
PS Audio DLIII. It is slightly warm and balances off the HD800s a bit in the right direction (according to my ears).
 
Jul 25, 2010 at 9:11 PM Post #4 of 16
The Music Hall DAC 25.2 features a 6922 tube single-ended (rca) output plus a solid-state differential balanced output, as well as a "asynchronous reclocking and anti jitter control system"; there is a demo for $425 at Audiogon.
 

 
Jul 25, 2010 at 11:38 PM Post #6 of 16
I have the music hall dac25.2 and its  a great dac but I would get the xindak dac-5 or dac-8. I got to hear the dac-5 a few weeks ago and it sounded much nicer than my music hall. I think the xindak is probably on par with the Mhdt Havana.
 
Jul 26, 2010 at 4:44 PM Post #7 of 16
I have the lehmann BCL and found he meier StageDac to be an excellent match with the HD800. If the matrix really does sound comparable to the Lehman I would highly recommend  the StageDAC.
 
 
Jul 29, 2010 at 8:41 PM Post #8 of 16


Quote:
After rather extensively researching the same price bracket for a DAC, I'm left with an Audio-GD DAC-19 DSP set to arrive this week!


I would probably get the same in this price range.
 
Jul 29, 2010 at 9:00 PM Post #9 of 16


Quote:
PS Audio DLIII. It is slightly warm and balances off the HD800s a bit in the right direction (according to my ears).


Excellent suggestion.  I just picked one up in brand new condition from Audiogon for $425 shipped.  With your budget, you might even be able to find a modded DL III.
 
Jul 29, 2010 at 9:24 PM Post #10 of 16


Quote:
Excellent suggestion.  I just picked one up in brand new condition from Audiogon for $425 shipped.  With your budget, you might even be able to find a modded DL III.


Thanks. Listening to it right now with my HD800s (Tragically Hip) and simply amazing. If you go with a "bright' side of neutral DAC, the HD800s would not sound ideal and a little too bright.
 
Aug 2, 2010 at 7:21 AM Post #11 of 16
The Benchmark DAC1 USB  is doing it for me....it doesn't add anything to the transported material - no additives needed for my hd800....gives me true bass and lush highs but it's only as good as the transported data and mastered material...it's not going to make 1960 bad mastering sound like a current mastering....garbage in/garbage out...
 
...or, to stay within your price range, the DAC1 could be a good choice.
 
Also, the built in amp on the DAC1 really is not that bad at all.
 
That's my 2 cents.
 
Wish the OP luck.
 
Now that I own stats...I can truly say that this combo is nearly stat like!
 
Aug 2, 2010 at 7:25 AM Post #12 of 16
I would definitely get the DAC19 DSP with that budget, anything else  would need the rest of your gear to be extremely high end for decent performance.
 
Aug 3, 2010 at 1:55 AM Post #13 of 16
Has anybody had a chance to hear this one yet?
 

 
Aug 3, 2010 at 4:50 AM Post #14 of 16
Check out some tube dac's I think a tube dac would compliment your HD-800 really well
 
 
I like to use a tube dac with my hd800's I feel that it completes the sound. I use a lite dac60 with them paired with a violectric amp, I like this dac better than the benchmark dac1, the xindak looks interesting I heard its better than the lite dac60 which is better than the dac58
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top