AudiogoN Forums: Best DAC under 2k US ?

Best DAC under 2k US ?

I'm thinking of a DAC for my nearfield focal monitors (CMS series). I'm looking for a nuetral to warmish sounding DAC without overly harsh or bright tonality and also musical.

I don't know much about DAC's and I can't audition where I am right now.

Calyx DAC, Bel Canto, Peachtree, Ayer, W4S, Weiss Minerva. Anything else?

Which would suit me best.

Thanks
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Aquablu8 (Threads | Answers | This Thread)

01-13-12

Responses (1-62 of 62)

Click title to read one, or click date to read all below it.

01-14-12 A non oversampling dac such as the 47 labs shigaraki could b ... Rbrowne

01-14-12 You should probably consider the eastern electric minimax. ... Jazzerdave

01-14-12 There is a metrum octave on here new for just under $1000. i ... Stanwal

01-14-12 The mhdt labs dac's such as the paradisea and havana are als ... Rbrowne

01-15-12 I would also highly recommend the mhdt paradisea or havana d ... Ejlif

01-15-12 Blue circle 509 Facten

01-15-12 Well you are being given recommendations under 1k and i woul ... Tubegroover

01-15-12 You will need to either 1) make some basic choices (see belo ... Br3098

01-15-12 Neko audio d100 is perfect for your requirements. www.nekoa ... Gfcf424892

01-16-12 I heard the calyx and would say it meets your ask dead on. n ... Loftarasa

01-16-12 The calyx is interesting. gotta try one soon. for me the asy ... Jt_to

01-16-12 I've been most impressed by my channel islands vda-2. for su ... Eagle6014

01-16-12 Where to get the calyx in the usa? also, how does the bel c ... Aquablu8

01-27-12 Http://www.northwoodsav.com which bel canto? i'm assuming ... Eugene81

01-27-12 You thought this was going to be easy? here are some sites t ... Vicdamone

01-28-12 Stanwal, i tried posting a ping to you and another metrum oc ... Vicdamone

01-29-12 I put 2 up today. Stanwal

01-29-12 W4s dac 2 will suit your needs. a bargain at the price, beca ... Nglazer

01-29-12 I wholeheartedly recommend the metrum octave. i've owned th ... Devilboy

01-29-12 I just ordered the metrum octave dac in blanc at the current ... Vicdamone

01-29-12 Vicdamone: i believe you made a wise choice. my octave too ... Devilboy

01-31-12 I posted the wrong price for the metrum octave dac. the cor ... Vicdamone

01-31-12 Can you purchase the metrum octave dac entirely in black inc ... Aaronmadler

01-31-12 If i'm not mistaken the metrum octave can be ordered with a ... Vicdamone

01-31-12 Vicdamone: i'm trying to learn more about the audiophilleo ... Devilboy

02-01-12 Devilboy, i'm just learning about it myself. i found their w ... Vicdamone

02-01-12 Nuforce dac-9. Phusis

02-01-12 I like the new marantz 2800, which also plays cd's and sacd' ... Wildoats

02-01-12 Sorry, marantz sa 8004. Wildoats

02-01-12 Check out https://www.nekoaudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4 ... Rockadanny

02-01-12 I like the ps audio dl iii. around $500 used on audiogon or ... Stickman451

02-01-12 Rockadanny, you took the words right out of my mouth! the ne ... Gfcf424892

02-02-12 Why not import the jk32 dac simply stunnig. check out the re ... Johnjc

02-02-12 Musical fidelity m1 dac Alpha3

02-02-12 There is no definitive "best" of anything. there a ... Tpreaves

02-06-12 As a lampizator owner i'm curious about the lamp 2 in that p ... Gopher

02-07-12 From your list, if you want to keep it minimalistic, i would ... Sirotseta

02-08-12 Da-160 under 1k. Rex44

02-08-12 There is a certain level of player you have to get to achiev ... Wildoats

05-25-12 I would take a listen to a rega dac , i have found it to be ... Steam3642

06-06-12 Metrum octave. Devilboy

06-07-12 Haven't heard them yet, but i'm very curious about the nad m ... Larkston_zinazpic

06-08-12 +1 to the octave. paul hynes is also doing mods on them now. ... Jcote

06-09-12 I second the metrum octave. Elberoth2

06-20-12 Metrum octave vs linn magick ds or akurate? Aquablu8

06-22-12 Calling ray charles Lewinskih01

06-22-12 Has anyone heard of the exasound e18dac ? 1999.00 risk -free ... Raytheprinter

06-22-12 What about a used ps audio perfect wave dac? there are a bo ... Mcondon

06-22-12 Boatload? i see only 2 private sales listed. the rest are co ... Grobec

06-24-12 Wow!...not sure where mcondon is coming from with his commen ... Levy03

06-24-12 I also am very pleased with both the pwd i and even more so ... Sgr

06-25-12: Phusis
There's also HEGEL's HD20, with the (to my mind) very worthwhile feature:

... The HD20 has a high performance digital pre amplifier, fully capable of driving a high end power amplifier.

http://www.hegel.com/hd20.htm

Price in Scandinavia is roughly $1700, so I'm assuming it won't (severely) exceed $2k in the US.

(ultraaudio.com's review of my other recommendation above, the NuForce DAC-9 - also with build-in preamp, though not with the asynchronous 192k USB input that's now available:

http://www.ultraaudio.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=205:nuforce-dac-9-digital-to-analog-converter&catid=37:full-length-reviews&Itemid=2)
Phusis (Threads | Answers | This Thread)

06-25-12 "even with the mk2 upgrade, the dac doesn't sound that ... Devilboy

06-25-12 It's the i2s connection and digital lens or whatever it's ca ... Jcote

06-26-12 I know several people who have stopped using the i2s buss vi ... Sgr

06-26-12 X2 on the burson da-160. it does have nice features and is o ... Singleendedsingle

06-30-12 My comments about the perfect wave dac were too negative. if ... Mcondon

06-30-12 Mcondon, i'm interested in your impressions of the zitron wi ... Tonyptony

06-30-12 I own the ps audio pwd and pwt. my experiences differ from ... Mrtennis

07-03-12 Tonyptony, the shunyata python zitron xlr cable between the ... Mcondon

07-03-12 Thanks mcondon. i don't have a pwt - still using my lovingly ... Tonyptony

06-06-13 If anyone is interested, i'm considering parting with my exa ... Gr33nsound