I have a Pioneer DVD player and just bought a Audio Note DAC 1.1x. The cost is under $2K it is 1x oversampling (same digital portion as the DAC5 (over $30K)) and it will receive 24/96. It down samples the 24 bit to 18 because it has a Analog Devices 18 bit DAC chip. It has a SRPP output with dual 6922 tubes and the sound is fantastic. I bought mine directly from Audio Note England for $750.00 shipped. I believe this is the best going IMHO. The DAC 1.1 kit would be very good as well. It has a smaller power supply and a different output board than the DAC 1.1x.
Outboard DAC for DVD and CD
I've been 'out of audio' for about seven years doing 'family stuff'. I'm trying to catch up with digital technology. Is there DAC's out there that I could hook my DVD player's audio outs to that would also convert regular CD signal? I would like to keep it under $2000. If not, if you had $1K-$2k to spend on an outboard DAC are you better to spend that on the latest generation new or a used Levinson or Wadia? Thanks for your help.