Considering Wyred 4 Sound DAC-2 DSD purchase


Looking for some advise on a purchase with limited funds. A Wyred 4 Sound DAC-2 DSD (demo) is available, but I'm wondering if the Sabre ES9018 dac chip is still a worthy contender. This DAC is now 5 years old and although it received excellent reviews, how would it stack up against a new unit in the $1000 range?
The specs and features are impressive and it uses the ESS Time Domain Jitter Eliminator which is still being used in current W4S models. (The Femto clock is available as an upgrade).

I would be pairing this DAC with my PS Audio PWT and would be able to use the I2S interface. The asynchronous USB input is limited to 24-bit 192kHz, which is fine for me.
So, any thoughts especially from those who have owned the W4S DAC-2?

128x128lowrider57

Showing 2 responses by stereo5

I had the DAC2 with dsd and femto clock upgrade.  I found the sound to be more in your face than it was to my previous Wyred DAC1.  I sold mine and bought the Sony music server.  I am one very happy camper.
I found the presentation to be very forward, I felt like I was sitting in row 1.  It was also brighter in my system than the Dac 1.  The dac 1 uses the same ESS dac so it had to be other things in the new dac contributing to that sound.  I lived with the Dac 2 for almost a year and it probably had at least 1000 hours on it.  No amount of break in or cable swapping helped the situation.