Peachtree DACit is very good, esp. on acoustic music , might be a bit smooth for a hard-core rocker though.
Budget DAC
On Wednesday I will receive my pair of Vandersteen 1C loudspeakers. As that I am building this system piece by piece I purchased those first and as a temporary amp solution I've purchased an old NAD 3140 integrated amp to drive them while I look for an amp and save money.
Temporarily I'm forced to use a headphone jack to RCA cable to get audio from my TV as that it's only output is an SPDIF coax, and the Apple TV only has optical out. I'm pretty unhappy with this temporary solution, as you can imagine.
I intend to eventually move into a tube amp within the next few months; probably a Jolida, Yaqin, or Dynaco ST-70. Either way I'll need a DAC for output from my AppleTV, TV, and Macbook Pro.
I'm looking for a solid DAC that will provide me the following things: SPDIF coaxial input, optical input, USB input, and the best possible decode rate I can get for my money. I'd like something that looks good (if possible) and is <$300 (or thereabouts, lower is better). I am open to used equipment, and I'd love to go used to find something that gets me more bang for my buck.
I've been looking at the Peachtree Audio DACiT, Cambridge Audio DAC Magic 100, Music Hall DAC15.2, all of which can be had around $300... but I'm sure I'm missing some options.
Suggestions?
Temporarily I'm forced to use a headphone jack to RCA cable to get audio from my TV as that it's only output is an SPDIF coax, and the Apple TV only has optical out. I'm pretty unhappy with this temporary solution, as you can imagine.
I intend to eventually move into a tube amp within the next few months; probably a Jolida, Yaqin, or Dynaco ST-70. Either way I'll need a DAC for output from my AppleTV, TV, and Macbook Pro.
I'm looking for a solid DAC that will provide me the following things: SPDIF coaxial input, optical input, USB input, and the best possible decode rate I can get for my money. I'd like something that looks good (if possible) and is <$300 (or thereabouts, lower is better). I am open to used equipment, and I'd love to go used to find something that gets me more bang for my buck.
I've been looking at the Peachtree Audio DACiT, Cambridge Audio DAC Magic 100, Music Hall DAC15.2, all of which can be had around $300... but I'm sure I'm missing some options.
Suggestions?