Absolute top tier DAC for standard res Redbook CD


Hi All.

Putting together a reference level system.
My Source is predominantly standard 16/44 played from a MacMini using iTunes and Amarra. Some of my music is purchased from iTunes and the rest is ripped from standard CD's.
For my tastes in music, my high def catalogues are still limited; so Redbook 16/44 will be my primary source for quite some time.

I'm not spending DCS or MSB money. But $15-20k retail is not out of the question.

Upsampling vs non-upsampling?
USB input vs SPDIF?

All opinions welcome.

And I know I need to hear them, but getting these ultra $$$ DAC's into your house for an audition ain't easy.

Looking for musical, emotional, engaging, accurate , with great dimension. Not looking for analytical and sterile.
mattnshilp
Hey all. Sorry for the slow going. Work has been crazy and the Memory Player went to Sam for some upgrades. 

Havent even been in my room in weeks. 

Anyone want to post a list of their top 5 songs they use to audition components? I’ll put mine up when I get a chance. 
Hi mattnshilp, Thankyou for your post on my behalf,  I apologize to all here by not getting back here sooner,  I have been building a second system,  I put a lot of my building experience into this,  no room for mistakes and sale off and loose money! here is where I'm at,  magico q3 speaker's which I really don't like, but do not hate them to sale them, so,  I put my self up to the challenge to make these speaker's sing like no other q3 speaker's, so I  got the New Luxman L-509X integrated amplifier,  Tara Lab's muse speaker cable's and interconnect's,  Tara Lab's cobalt power cord,  I moved the furutech gtx-Rhodium duplex receptacle's to this system,  I have the NCF furutech version receptacle's on the main system. So I am now pulling the trigger on the ps audio direct stream memory dac and matching transport,  the cool thing here is the speaker's are 4 ohms, without the new digital,  this sounds phenomenal,  I  have close to 200 hrs burn in,  and the cable's are still getting better,  great match for magico!, I believe this is a fix for the speaker's,  @ aolmrd1241, Currious,  may I ask what you are usein for the digital HDMI cable? 
audiolabyrinth asked..."Curious, may I ask what you are using for the digital HDMI cable?"

Sure... The Wireworld Platinum Starlight 7. Used between the DS and DMP the music just flows...Nice cable.  
aolmrd1241,  That HDMI  cable is exactly what I am leaning towards,  have you auditioned any other cable for this set?, the nordost Valhalla 2 HDMI cable is interesting too, I wonder if Crystal cable makes the absolute dream in HDMI?, can you give some impression's on how the wireworld platinum starlight 7 sound's?, Thankyou for your help. 
Audiolabyrinth....I cut and pasted my response from someone else who asked my opinion on the PS Audio forums awhile back.I tried a couple PSA cables and did not care for them. So I figured with all the great reviews,I would try the platinum 7. I loved it from the getgo and have never looked back.


“For my system and my tastes, the WW just sounds right. There are no frequency's that stand out one over the other to draw attention to the listening experience, ie; pulling you away from the enjoyment of the music at hand. The body and structure of a good/great recording holds up very,very well. This cable has a wonderful natural/organic characteristic to it...Just right imo.

Details of the bass,mid and treble are killer and with that detail comes the amazing ability to see deeper into a mix with zero etch or bloat that will grow fatiguing after a while. This is a silver wire..but totally lacking in the silver brightness that many dislike.

With that being said…the WW does require some run in time out of the box. The attributes of silver wire [some brightness] do come through in the initial phase of listening, but give it time and things do settle in superbly if I do say so myself. I could not change the WW if I wanted to…its that good! 

And this coming from a hdmi skeptic before hearing and ultimately believing that hdmi cables do make a huge difference… as much as any other cable in your system., maybe even more so.”