Which would you pick between the two DAC.

Excellent advice, David, re: get that PC/MAC out of the audio chain as a priority over $$$ DACs.

Dave

We are gonna need a little more info Eddy. System? Music preferences? Personal sonic preferences? Current system strengths and weaknesses? etc. 

Dave

Good DACs rarely (but sometimes, ie tube vs ss) have "huge differences" in sound character IME but have certain "tendencies": resolution, air and open-ness, speed, harmonic texture, accuracy of timbre, PRAT, soundstage, depth, warmth, bass heft. etc. They all are a unique trade off of the above, tending toward some attributes more than others. Select your key sonic priorities and then advice can be helpful. Auditioning for yourself is always better than advice, preferably in your system and room.

A lot of Schiit and Codex owners here. Perhaps they will contribute opinions on your last question. Wadia used to be a huge player in digital, but changes of ownership and design priorities seems to have diminished their presence (but not necessarily their sound quality?) in the past few years.

Dave

Eddy,

I have enough experience with Ayre and Wadia to comment that both will give you a great balance between air and open-ness, detail, and warmth. Can’t go wrong with either from where you are now.

I have never heard Schiit, so cannot say, but some I trust (david_ten for one) are very happy with their Yggdrasils.

Dave

nycjlee,

I too went off the beaten path for my most recent computer audio DAC purchase: the Exogal Comet Plus (made in America). It does some things better than anything else I have yet heard, but I had to work with it considerably (cables, cords and fuses) re: tonal balance to get the rightness in that one (important to me) attribute that I always experienced "out of the box" from Ayre. FWIW.

Dave

Eddy,

Just ran across a test/review/blog on the ISO Regen that, among other things, showed a test of noise within the Schiit Modi2 DAC with and without the ISO Regen in the USB signal path.

Bottom line, according to the author, the Schiit Modi2 does a very poor job of reducing/eliminating noise on its own and was dramatically improved by the ISO Regen. Rather than buying a new DAC, you might consider first trying the ISO Regen for $325 (30 day 100% money back guarantee) and see if your Modi2 then provides the sound you seek.

The article is beyond reproach as to "audiophile tainting" since the author pretty much judges the ISO Regen to be a complete waste of money with other modern DACs.

I would never suggest that this is also a shortcoming in Schiit’s better DACs like the Yggdrasil so hold your fire George.

The article can be found on audiosciencereview.com.

Dave

Your overconfidence is noted and evident to all, audioman58. I am guessing that there are those here that cannot/choose not to afford your utopian DAC and even more that would prefer another.

Likely a very good recommendation but equally likely to be ignored due to your style. A shame, that. 

Dave 

Agree that the Comet Plus is a special and very good sounding DAC. A true bargain at street price or maybe at any price. Its resolution raises my bar yet brings the slightest imperfection/mismatch of accompanying cables, cords, fuses, etc into the forefront. Purist Audio's top products proved to be the answer in my system, room, ears.

The executives of Exogal and the Chief Engineer Jim Kinne were indeed the brains behind Wadia in its glory days.

Dave

Just ran across the review below of the Exogal Comet. The reviewer compares it extensively to the Wadia 121 and 521. His description of the sound of the Comet is dead on based on my experience of ownership, only he chose not to opt for the optional Linear power supply for the review. A HUGE mistake and I can confidently say that is part of his valid criticism of lack of bass weight and power compared to the Wadia 521. Notice I said 'part of" because the Comet retains a "light" (but audibly improved) overall sonic character even with the optional power supply. All of the other outstanding sound qualities of this DAC simply make you ignore this and marvel at the music.

Real point here is that, if this reviewer nailed the sound of the Comet so well, his comments on the strengths and  weaknesses of the Wadia 121/521 and the house sound of Wadia's recent products should be equally valid for Eddy. 

Dave 

http://hifi-advice.com/blog/digital-reviews/spdif-dac-reviews/exogal-comet

Hi eddy,

Should you now or at a later time decide to replace your PC with a server/renderer/streamer, there are good options at reasonable prices. The Auralic Aries is a good all-in-one streamer/renderer (wireless with a good control App - easy peezy to install and use) for <$1k used. A good bump up in sound and build quality is the Aurender N100H (Ethernet connection required and includes 2T HDD storage and 240Gb SSD cache - hi-rez downloads played from the Aurender can make any compatible DAC sound pretty amazing) for about 2X that price. Both are reported to work well with a variety of DACs via USB but a few DACs struggle with the Linux-based operating system of the Aurender so best to check that out before buying.

Others will no doubt have their favorites in the lower price range.

Once you experience the benefits of improved sound quality, flexibility, and user-orientation of the better renderer/streamer products you will not go back to your desktop/laptop.

Dave

Oops, N100H has 120Gb SSD cache not 240. Sorry bout that.

Dave