If neutral means best measuring you can get that for a couple hundred bucks. Best sounding… well maybe subjective but not couple hundred bucks. Hooked up a Musician Aquarius yesterday and I have to say I’ve never heard digital sound this good. Good timing cause my vinyl rig is buzzing like an SOB and I don’t know what the issue is.
Neutral Dac?
I’m curious to see people’s opinions on what they believe is the most uncolored dac? Every dac I’ve tried seems to be a flavor that deviates from neutrality in some way (smooths things over, too bright, too soft on transients, lacks bass etc...). Is there a dac that people believe gets all the fundamentals correct with leaving very little sonic footprint? What is the cost threshold needed to achieve it? I’m surprised at my own findings recently but really curious if anyone else has been searching for a fundamentally uncolored dac and what they’ve found.
I realize the most obvious answer is "the dac with impeccable measurements" but I have also found some of them to sound unnatural (dry/bright).