TDAC or Havana?

I have owned both, and to me it's not even close. The Havana is in a different league.

I owned the TaDac and the PreDac, and the Havana was in another league from both. It had a much deeper and wider soundstage, and much greater bass extension. I had almost the identical set up to what I currently have, and you can look at my system.

I think it helps to know what someone has in their system when they comment on gear to know how it will match with yours.

I didn't hate the TaDac, but when I bought the Havana, and in my system it was so much better, I sold the TaDac. I thought the PreDac would be an improvement, that would be a normal assumption, don't you think?

It was not any better. Since I tried so many DAC's, let me put them in the order of how I rated them, and I have actually had all of these in my system.

1) Berkeley Alpha

2) Bryston BDA-1 (so close to the Berkeley and about half the price, I bought this one)

3) MHDT Labs Havana - not the last word in detail, but super musical and a very rich full sound.

4) Bel Canto DAC3

5) PS Audio D Link III

6) Benchmark DAC 1

7) TaDac/PreDac (sounded about the same)

I have listened to the PS Audio Perfect Wave Dac extensively, but not in my system. It is also an excellent DAC and I would put it in the same company as the Berkeley and Bryston. It is actually a bit more flexible than either of those, and may have a better top end than either. Hard for me to really tell since it was not my system.

good luck.

That's a really good question, and it does make a difference. On my Bryston, it definitely sounds better upsampled, and you have the choice.

Also, I never use the USB output. I would like to try the new PS Audio PerfectWave in my system. I have liked it quite a bit in someone else's system, but that system was much warmer than mine, so of course I liked it.