NEED HELP CHOOSING NEW DAC

What's your price range?

It seems to me that using CD303/200 as a transport will be a waste of bucks. Would you also consider getting a dedicated CDT? I bet you should spend lots of money to beat the DAC inside your CD player.

Price range will determine part of your question. I think you should listen to the new upsampling DAC technologies from Perp. Tech., Musical Fidelity, MSB, or Bel Canto.

If you have lots of rebook CD's I think an upsampling DAC is the way to go.

So my DAC inside the cary is good enough, price range used 2k. Thanks

...not only good but realy dedicated to work with the transport inside of your one box Cary.
Tough job to choose the right one that will outperform in your case. I'm affraid to give you advice for the one but you might research Mark Levinson older models used that are extreamly fast and revealing. Somehow grab a chance to listen first since in almost any case mating DAC with one-box CD-player needs experiments.

I thought my Electrocompaniet CD player had a good built in DAC much like the Cary and that to improve would be hard to do at any price. I then heard a Kora Hermes Dac with Telefunken tubes and decided to try one out - for 1500 plus a bit more to upgrade tubes I reached a better situation for what I call minimum High end dollar. The EC is a great transport top loader without a drawer mechanism which makes it quick change in recording . I can make a direct comparison in its DAC and the Kora and you just do not want to listen to the EC by itself. the Dodson was my second choice but a lot more money at the time.

Thank you for all of the reponses it is good to know about my CD player.

Check Muse as well. (www.museelectronics.com)
Very nice stuff.

Audio Note DAC 1.2 offers the closest thing to analog I've heard. A bargain at $1,100.00.

Hi-
If you get a chance to audition one, try the Audio Van Alstine OmegaStar DAC. It's a bargain, and sounds exceptionally good. It might not beat what you have, since I haven't been lucky enough to hear a Cary in my system, but the AVA is eminently listenable, and has some of the best lower end dynamics I've heard from a DAC while still maintaing detail & clarity in the top end without a trace of harshness.
Happy Listening!
Ed

Muse 2, with the bizel filter -- an absolute delight. Not sure, however, how compatible the Cary CD player is with a DAC.

Good luck!

Don't know I have not try it myself.