Some DACs I am Considering-Any thoughts?

op

i trust you have seen my past comments on the various and numerous dacs i tried in the last year's ... covers several of your candidates

i do agree, the ultimate choice is system dependent

Anyone that doesn’t put the Denafrips #1 has not heard the Denafrips. It is head and shoulders above anything I have heard.

lol

all this statement speaks to is what this poster hasn't heard

my input to several recent posts below:

a) yes frank van alstine's abx comparator is quite a truth teller... excellent piece that serves its purpose spot on... like all of what frank makes

b) in my listening tests in my own system, the audio mirror, mhdt and even denafrips dacs sounded more natural, open and dimensional than the border patrol (not that the bp is not good, the others were somewhat better to my ears)

c) point b above being said, the differences are quite subtle and only upon direct comparison can one discern and be confident about the difference - that is another benefit of the ava abx unit - you can a/b knowing what's what, then you also a/b without knowing test yourself if you can reliably and consistent hear what you think you hear among two items

not to say that other dacs and other gear from relative newcomers aren’t also excellent -- but in general, when dealing with longstanding still-productive high end makers like audio note, conrad johnson, audio research, pass and so on... they have been making excellent, exquisite sounding gear for so long... it is hard to do wrong to trust their ability to deliver (although obviously their ’value equation’ may not be the best anymore with their fairly high prices, you most certainly get what you pay for...)

i always like to say, when some companies have been out there for 30-40-50 years at the top of the game, always respected, always recommended, with happy, discerning customers for several generations now, ’they have not been stealing money from deaf people all these years...." 😁😁😁

-- side note -- mhdt dacs sound much better with a tube upgrade from the stock ones shipped with new units ... even jian @mhdt says so ...