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What's the greatest bargain in DAC's these days?

Hi, Gang,
I am currently running my Music Hall CD 25.2 CD player as a transport through my Musical Fidelity M1 DAC. I also have the Musical Fidelity V-Link 192 for playing hi-res files from the USB port on my laptop.
DAC's are such a fast-moving market segment that I started to wonder whether there was a "stupid good" DAC, even better than the MF M1 DAC, that could be had for well under $1000.
I started a thread in the Amps/Preamps forum called "What's The Greatest Bargain in SET These Days" that yielded tons of great info. I hope this thread does, as well!
rebbi

Showing 6 responses by rebbi

rebbi OP
1,326 posts
 
Well, if the Parasound Z-DAC is as good as some of you say it is, it should
be a steal! And that Simaudio Moon 100D is also very well priced at Music
Direct. But just to point out that the really cheap one at Music Direct is the
v.1. The v.2 is also on sale, but it's $1150. :-/
rebbi OP
1,326 posts
 
Johnjc,
I can't find references to either of those DAC's. Can you provide any links?
rebbi OP
1,326 posts
 
I have narrowed the field to wanting a DAC with variable level analogue outputs. In the sub $1000 category, I see the Parasound ZDAC v.2 and the Jolida FX Mark III. Anybody have thoughts about the relative merits of these two units?
rebbi OP
1,326 posts
 
After_hrs,
Yeah, I have to say that I'm not the world's biggest fan of Music Hall's stuff. I have their CD 25.2 CD player, which I now use as just a transport out to my DAC. It's fine for what it is, but when the remote died Music Hall was of no help. I eventually found a guy in LA who sold me a remote from another Music Hall unit that works with my CD player. But good luck getting service on their stuff.
rebbi OP
1,326 posts
 
Davide,
Interesting perspective. I'll check that out.
rebbi OP
1,326 posts
 
Hey Folks,
I wanted to "bump" and refresh this discussion a bit because almost 8 months have gone by since I started this thing and the DAC market is so fast moving.
I'm definitely in the market for a new DAC to replace my Musical Fidelity M1 (fed with a MF V-Linki 192 USB-to-SPDIF converter for computer audio). I am looking for something with an "analogue" sound (aren't we all?) that will not sacrifice detail but might take some of the harshness out of some digital recordings. I need to use the DAC for both hi-res files on a Mac laptop and hooked up to a CD transport. My budget is "under $1000, the lower the better."
The Parasound ZDAC is definitely in the running.
I've also heard good things about the Jolida FX III.
The Schiit Bitfrost Uber with all the latest upgrades is a possibility, as is the Gugnir.
The Peachtree DAC itX is another option.
Your thoughts?
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