USB/Fw DAC with volume control

Not aware of anyone that has done a direct comparison between these DACs (and I have been reading up quite a bit on DACs). If I had to roll the dice and buy blind I would get the MSB. Another contender is the Bel Canto 3.5vb with the external powersupply. Stereophile compared the Weiss, dCS and Bel Canto, and preferred the Bel Canto (also the cheapest).

I have auditioned (in my system) both dCS and MSB. Out of the two, I would choose ... Berkeley Alpha DAC and Alpha USB. To my ears, it represents the biggest bang for the buck. AnalogDAC would be my second choice.

Shootouts:

Weiss:

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=105049.msg1159717#msg1159717

dCS:

http://dagogo.com/empirical-audio-overdrive-dac-pace-car-reclocker-and-monolith-battery-supply-review

SACD:

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?icomp&1351958193&openusid&zzErndog&4&5#Erndog

PWD:

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=97269.0

vinyl:

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=95464#msg960567

Steve N.
Empirical Audio

Elberoth, if money was not a factor would you still pick the BADA over the MSB analog DAC?

I use an Antelope Zodiac Gold DAC for this very same purpose. I was able to directly compare it to a well-regarded Weiss DAC (FireWire attatched), and I think that the Antelope sounded better. Plus, the Antelope supports almost any I/O option (except FireWire) and supports up to 384 kHz files, both in and out. It's a great product that doesn't receive enough mention, IMO.

Bill

Elberoth, if money was not a factor would you still pick the BADA over the MSB analog DAC?

AFAIK both DACs cost the same - BADA $4990 + $1890, AnalogDAC - $7k.

But yeah, even if the BADA was more expensive @ say 8k or 9k, I would still pick BADA, as it has better resolution, soundstaging, and also sounds smoother, more liquid.

I have only auditioned those DACs via USB input - no idea how they would compare via SPIDIF inputs.