[Swiftfalcon]

MSB Select 2
Metrum Pavane
DAVE
Yggy
GO V2
Hugo TT
Hugo
Mojo
GO V1

You ranked Pavane over Dave! Is it more resolving? Or is it the tonality?

 

[ggetzoff]

1. Eastern Electric Minimax Supreme (Sparko Lab's discrete op amps in the I/V sockets) Telefunken 12AU7 A smooth, reference Dac IMHO. Don't see a reason to upgrade from this dac. The caveat it is that this dac needs discrete OPAs and the right tube.
2. Eastern Electric Minimax (Sparko Lab's discrete op amps in the I/V sockets) Telfunken 12AU7
3. Oppo BDP-95 A solid, all-around performer, but nothing special.
4. AK4396 (built by me) A very smooth dac, but without a lot of detail.

 

[Mortsnets]

1. Modi Multibit using coax in with the Signstek coverting from usb
2. Starting Point Systems DAC3
3. Ifi idsd nano le
4. Signstek mini usb dac/converter
5. AQ Dragonfly v1, Schiit Modi v1

 

[Soundwave76]

1. RME ADI-2 Pro
2. Forgot all the rest after this...

 

[audiobomber]

Best to worst:
Audiolab 8200CD / digital preamp / USB DAC (Now 8 years old. John Westlake is a genius)
Korg DS-DAC-10R
iFi Audio nano iOne
Sabaj Da2
Sabaj D3

I still own the above except for the D3, which I returned.
People comparing DAC's in different systems should say so, as this compromises the comparison.

 

[Benny-x]

Best to worst:
1. T+A - DAC 8 DSD; playing DSD512 via HQPlayer.
2. T+A - DAC 8 DSD; playing DSD512 via Roon.
3. T+A - DAC 8 DSD; playing all other formats and rates.
3. LH Labs - Pulse X Infinity 2.0 + LPS4 2.0
5. PS-Audio PWD MkII
6. Lite - DAC-83
7. JKenny - Cuinas

 

[aisnikkor]

1. Holo Spring 2 KTE+KTE SU-1
2. Oppo Sonica DAC
3. Oppo BDP-83SE (SACD and CD)
4. Oppo BDP-103 (SACD)
5. AQ Dragonfly Red
6. Denon 2900 (mods)
7. Oppo BDP-103 (CD)

Over time, my primary source was originally #6, then 3, 2 and 1 respectively. The biggest changes were from 6 to 3, and 2 to 1. Really enjoying the Spring 2 as my current source for my main system.

Still have the Oppo 103 (for imaging my SACDs) and the DFR for portable and work use.

 

[Baten]

1. Holo Spring 2 KTE (just standalone USB)
2. Topping DX3 (stupidly good value)
3. iFi micro BL
4. JDS labs EL Dac ~= Grace SDAC ~= macbook pro output sounds fine really
5. Topping D50 too sharp for me

 

[m17xr2b]

You ranked Pavane over Dave! Is it more resolving? Or is it the tonality?

To be honest I've only heard the Dave out of its headphone output and never as a standalone DAC. The Pavane in my system is more resolving and creates a better 3D sound image than just the Dave. And I'm bias towards the pavane tonality.

 

[JM1979]

From a DAC perspective:

1. Hugo 2
2. Mojo
3. Dragonfly Red
4. Micro dsd black label

If you include the headphone amp into the ranking:

1. Hugo 2
2. Micro dsd black label
3. Mojo
3. Dragonfly red

I just realized I’ve listened to the Chord Dave and that is clearly #1 for me. But since I’ve never owned it and only played around listening to it, it’s probably not fair to list it since my other stuff is portable and not desktop.

 

[Dvdlucena]

Easier for me to put these into tiers, rather than to pick one I prefer over another. That said, I do own Yggy A2, Onyx, Qutest, and Cyan. I will put an asterisk next to those DACs I have owned or still own, and two for those I still own.

Tier 4 is what I personally found to be usable for speakers. Those below had something odd, which became too audible for my use in speakers.
Tier 3 is what I personally found to be usable for headphones. I ranked the Hugo 2 here because I liked it with headphones, but not when connected to any of my headphone amplifiers.
Tier 2 is...well, it's a step below the top tier.

Tier 1
Chord Dave
Metrum Pavane
Schiit Yggdrasil Analog 2 (**)

Tier 2
Chord Qutest (**)
Holo Audio Spring Dac Level 3
Metrum Onyx (**)
Schiit Gungnir Multibit (*)

Tier 3
Chord Hugo 2
Holo Audio Cyan (**)
Metrum Amethyst (*)
RME ADI-2 DAC
Soekris dac1541

Tier 4
Arcam irDAC (*)
Meridian Director (*)
PS Audio PerfectWave DAC (*)

Tier 5
Chord Mojo (**)
Grace Design m9xx (**)
Schiit Bifrost Multibit (*)
Schiit Modi Multibit (*)

Very a interesting. Have to decid abougado metrum amenthys vs chore Hugo 2. Quat did tou
Prefered?


Saw Soveral asteriscs and was wondering The meanings about Thome
Two

 

[richard51]

I know now what I did not know when I purchase all my pieces of gear, amplifier, dac, speakers...Nothing sound at his optimal potential quality level without many, many cleaning tweaks on power source grid, mechanical vibrations, room treatment and other things , then I never listen to my audio system truly before these numerous modifications were implemented... My question how can you say that a dac is way better than another except for price ? Sure a 3 thousand dollars dac must sound better than a 100 dollars one even without any tweaks of any kind....But the sound of a dac like the sound of speakers or the sound resulting of the choice of an amplifier is perceived very differently in a clean grid or in a non clean one (acoustic grid of the room, mechanical vibrations grid, electro-magnetic grid of the house and of the audio system). Then except for price as indicator of a " relatively" higher quality, nothing in a review can help you truly in your choice...Without an optimal audio grid on all count, you cannot know the true ratio quality/price of a particular dac, except that this trivial evidence : a 1000 dollars dac probably sound better than a 100 dollars one in the same non treated grid; but even that is not absolutely sure...I apologize for my rant...My best to all...

P.S.
My actual dac, Starting Point systems dac is so good that changing it appears ludicrous, if I consider his price and the sound quality perceived in a clean grid...
Before my cleaning method I perceive this dac with some limitations described by reviewers...I liked it even without implemented cleaning methods,but after that cleaning methods this dac has no more defects for me and sound way better like all my other pieces of gear, be it headphones, speakers, and my amplifier itself cannot reveal his true potential in the same easy way in a non cleaned grid or in a cleaned one...

 

[sheldaze]

Very a interesting. Have to decid abougado metrum amenthys vs chore Hugo 2. Quat did tou
Prefered?


Saw Soveral asteriscs and was wondering The meanings about Thome
Two

Some of these I've only heard briefly, and others I owned (*) or at the time I wrote the list, still owned (**).

Even at the level of Chord Hugo 2 and Metrum Amethyst, there's enough variation to warrant a good listening session. I could listen to Hugo all day, but I'm not too particular about big dynamics. Other people heard the treble without dynamics and called it sterile. My issue with the Amethyst wasn't so much to do with its performance, but just that it was not a good representative of the Metrum "house" sound you get at the higher levels of Onyx/Jade/Pavane/Adagio. In my opinion, I feel that Bifrost at least has some of the same character as the Yggdrasil, without the resolution and dynamics. The Amethyst to my ears sounded different enough that it required several weeks before I could adjust to the Onyx. It was a good change, but it was more dramatic than I would have expected. The other systems are also good, including Soekris, which I thought shared a lot of the same sound with its less expensive dac1421.

 

[KaiserTK]

1. Chord Dave
2. Schiit Gungnir A1
3. iFi Pro iDSD
4. RME ADI-2 Dac
5. Soekris DAC1541
6. Chord Qutest (with or without mScaler)
7. iFi Micro BL
8. Chord Hugo2

*DMP-Z1 would be #1 if I include AIOs without dedicated LO
**Heard several others (X-Sabre Pro MQA, Yggdrasil A2, Onyx, etc) but only once or twice

 

[baskingshark]

1) Khadas tone board - IMHO very good value @ 99 USD. However it doesn't come with a case (can top up about $10 USD and some sellers provide a case).The naked board doesn't really pick up any RF interference without case

2) Tempotec Sonata HD - USB DAC/AMP cable. So so sound quality wise.