Bel Canto DAC3 vs ARC DAC 7 ? Anyone

Bryston BDA-1

I have had both in my system, and many others.

Bryston BDA-1 is the best I have tried, including; Berkeley Alpha Dac, Tube Audio Design Predac, Benchmark Dac1 usb, MHDT Labs Havana (this is very nice btw), PS Audio III, the Bel Canto and the ARC. I have tried some others not worth mentioning too, and I jumped on the Bryston once it was in my system. Best all around DAC I have used.

Berkeley was great, very detailed, full sound, not bright at all, and the ARC sounded very much like the Berkeley. A buddy of mine took the Berkeley, and he couldn't be happier, and it does sound stellar in his set up.

But with my gear the Bryston had a bigger soundstage, and was warmer than either. A more coherent sound.

Bel Canto was extremely detailed, with a big soundstage, but was a bit on the bright side. Tube Audio Design PreDac, well I didn't like it. Benchmark and PS Audio were VERY bright in my rig.

MHDT Havana was great, warm, nice soundstage (great price), but I wanted just a bit more detail. I would go back to the Havana before any of the others if I decided to get rid of the Bryston, but I am not going to do that.

That said, it really does depend on your gear. I always look for a little extra warmth since I have Maggies and powerful SS amps. I guess that's why I really like vinyl better than digital, and any digital I use I look for warmth.

I used the Toslink from my AppleTV. RCA's to the preamp (my Cary SLP98P does not have XLR's).

I have an Oppo BD83 connected via SPDIF, but I rarely use it. I almost exclusively use my AppleTV on digital, and to be honest, I probably listen about 90% to vinyl. But, I do really like the Bryston.