[elwappo99]

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I think I may raise my budget up to $700. What could I get for DACs in that price range?

 
With that budget you have a lot of wiggle room. I'd easily suggest popping on the For Sale section and getting a good price on a used Audio-GD Dac in their higher end. I tested and owned many many DACs. Once I got a higher end Audio-GD dac, I totally stopped looking into newer ones in terms of ownership. They trump all others.
 
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Whats wrong with the DacMagic+? It seems good enough. Oh, and would the Benchmark DAC1 be a good match with the Phonitor and the aforementioned headphones? I was offered it on another forum for $600.

EDIT: Added the thing about the DAC1

 

[redmagic]

With that budget you have a lot of wiggle room. I'd easily suggest popping on the For Sale section and getting a good price on a used Audio-GD Dac in their higher end. I tested and owned many many DACs. Once I got a higher end Audio-GD dac, I totally stopped looking into newer ones in terms of ownership. They trump all others.

Alright, after looking on the FS section, I seem to have found 6 contenders. The 6 contenders are as follows:

1. Schiit Gungnir w/ USB - $725
2. PS Audio NuWave DAC - $750
3. Audio-gd NFB 1.32 - $600
4. Yulong Sabre D18 - $600
5. Lavry DA-10 -$650
6. Burson Audio DA-160 - $625

Any ideas on which one is the best for quality and money?

 

[twizzleraddict]

Quote:

Alright, after looking on the FS section, I seem to have found 6 contenders. The 6 contenders are as follows:

• Schiit Gungnir w/ USB - $725
• PS Audio NuWave DAC - $750
• Audio-gd NFB 1.32 - $600
• Yulong Sabre D18 - $600
• Lavry DA-10 -$650
• Burson Audio DA-160 - $625

Any ideas on which one is the best for quality and money?

 
I would drop the Burson from the list. When compared with a PS Audio PWDII, it was noticeably lacking in resolution. The NuWave derives much of its design to the PWDII so should be similar. I had a Lavry DA-10 from a while back when it was in my 2-ch system and it was very detailed but ultimately sterile to me (I had electrostatic speakers which allowed for a quite resolving presentation). It lacked emotion for the most part...

 

[redmagic]

I would drop the Burson from the list. When compared with a PS Audio PWDII, it was noticeably lacking in resolution. The NuWave derives much of its design to the PWDII so should be similar. I had a Lavry DA-10 from a while back when it was in my 2-ch system and it was very detailed but ultimately sterile to me (I had electrostatic speakers which allowed for a quite resolving presentation). It lacked emotion for the most part...

Alright, it seems the Burson is off the list and from how do you described the Lavry that is probably off the list too.

 

[Cante Ista]

I have seen positive comments onD18. I have not heard it thou. If I were u I would read up on it. Good luck!

 

[daniel_hokkaido]

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Whats wrong with the DacMagic+? It seems good enough. Oh, and would the Benchmark DAC1 be a good match with the Phonitor and the aforementioned headphones? I was offered it on another forum for $600.

EDIT: Added the thing about the DAC1

 
I mentioned the plus due to your budget (it has hp amp). I owned the dac magic (no hp amp) an found it really harsh and digital. no sense of reality about it. The Mdac I have now is better but still pretty flat and 
not so dynamic. Yeah benchmark are well regarded. I know their DAC2 HGC ($2K) is one id love to home trial. 

 

[twizzleraddict]

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Alright, it seems the Burson is off the list and from how do you described the Lavry that is probably off the list too.

 
I would also be careful with system matching. The Lavry can be mated well with better upstream gear and might actually sound good with the Phonitor/Auditor pairing, as the SPL amps are pretty smooth sounding.
 
I think the way I used the Lavry at the time was driving it through a Cary PP tube amp (Rocket 88) in Pentode mode (needed the power for the Martin Logan electrostatics I had back then). Therefore, the sound was a bit "rough around the edges" and sort of "harsh" for me. However, it might be a good choice with the SPL. 

 

[Acix]

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With that budget you have a lot of wiggle room. I'd easily suggest popping on the For Sale section and getting a good price on a used Audio-GD Dac in their higher end. I tested and owned many many DACs. Once I got a higher end Audio-GD dac, I totally stopped looking into newer ones in terms of ownership. They trump all others.
 

 
There's a whole new world out there waiting for you... in this new world you have the high end studio DACs, like the new Apogee's, Antelope Eclipse, Lavry Blue/Gold, Prism, Weiss, Lynx, Benchmark, RME, maybe I forgot a few but I think you've got the point. I mean there are so many great DACs out there to check out, will be a bit sad to stop your wonderful audio journey with Audio-GD, especially if you got one of the SPL amps.

 

[Cante Ista]

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There's a whole new world out there waiting for you... in this new world you have the high end studio DACs, like the new Apogee's, Antelope Eclipse, Lavry Blue/Gold, Prism, Weiss, Lynx, Benchmark, RME, maybe I forgot a few but I think you've got the point. I mean there are so many great DACs out there to check out, will be a bit sad to stop your wonderful audio journey with Audio-GD, especially if you got one of the SPL amps.

Yeah, but if he is happy with what he is got, I am sure his wallet is also happier. Stop tempting us!

 
BTW, I love the album Acix! Just wanted to give it a shout our on a public forum. 

 

[Acix]

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Yeah, but if he is happy with what he is got, I am sure his wallet is also happier. Stop tempting us!

 
BTW, I love the album Acix! Just wanted to give it a shout our on a public forum. 

 
Thanks for compliment!! about the DACs I'm tempting my self as well ...I love my Phonitor, but I also want to hear the Bryston BHA and the GS-X mk2. I want to bring to my studio most of the high end studio DACs that I've mention before. I guess in away I'm happy to continue my audio adventures, I mean this is a part of what we're doing here, right?

 

[Cante Ista]

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Thanks for compliment!! about the DACs I'm tempting my self as well ...I love my Phonitor, but I also want to hear the Bryston BHA and the GS-X mk2. I want to bring to my studio most of the high end studio DACs that I've mention before. I guess in away I'm happy to continue my audio adventures, I mean this is a part of what we're doing here, right?

Totally, I was just messing with you. I would love to hear and maybe get those dacs myself. I had the weiss dac in my sights for a while. It is priced outside of my reach, for a long while at least.

 

[Acix]

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Totally, I was just messing with you. I would love to hear and maybe get those dacs myself. I had the weiss dac in my sights for a while. It is priced outside of my reach, for a long while at least.

 
I know you're messing me around...

Both Weiss DACs (DAC2/ 202) are on top of my list, also the Antelope Eclipse, and the Lynx aurora/ Hilo. I'll need just to bring them all to my studio at the same time for comparison, and this can cost me a lot especially here in Israel.

 

[Cante Ista]

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I know you're messing me around...

Both Weiss DACs (DAC2/ 202) are on top of my list, also the Antelope Eclipse, and the Lynx aurora/ Hilo. I'll need just to bring them all to my studio at the same time for comparison, and this can cost me a lot especially here in Israel.

 

[gzone3lement]

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Thanks for compliment!! about the DACs I'm tempting my self as well ...I love my Phonitor, but I also want to hear the Bryston BHA and the GS-X mk2.

 
X2. I'm very curious in how the SPL Phonitor stacks up with the GS-X mk2.

 

[Cante Ista]

I will write up a review after I receive my GSX, which I think will be about a month or so in the future. I do like my Phoinitor and in the past people said that it stocks up well against the GSX, but that was before MK2, so it I am curious how these two compare now.