Curious about older "world class" D/A converters


Good day, all.

Recently, I’ve become a little obsessed with the idea of purchasing/employing an older DAC. The few that’ve been swirling in my mind are the Mark Levinson 360s, dCS Elgar and Spectral SDR-2000/Pro. Here’s what I have in place now (and I’ve been through many systems over the years):

- MacBook Pro / SSD / AIFF’s, over the air
- ModWright Transporter (Emission Labs 5U4G / 50’s Sylvania 6SN7’s)
- Duelund DCA20GA
- Line Magnetic 218ia (Shuguang 845B’s, Gold Lion KT-77’s and 12AX7’s)
- Kimber 4PR
- Omega Super 7XRS

I listen to all types of music (99.9% of my digital library is Redbook), favoring acoustic anything - as much as possible, I attempt to get the effect that the instruments are in the room. As is, everything is dialed in pretty darn nicely, but I feel as though I could use just a bit more focus - if I could have a sharpness dial... Anyhow, you get what I mean. And just so you know, I chose the Transporter over a Berkeley Alpha 2 (had both in the system for 8 months or so, with the former feeding the latter via AES). In the end, I feel there’s just something organic about the Transporter. The Alpha certainly did everything right, but the Transporter just seemed more "natural" (for lack of a more elaborate description). I will say, though, that in some cases, depending on the material - if I’m being completely honest with myself - I wasn’t able to tell them apart and actually got them mixed up in my own exhaustive comparisons.

So, all that said (and sorry for the long-windedness) would any of the three I mention above be worth a shot? I will admit that I’m smitten with the engineering, design and build quality of these pieces without even having an idea of what they might sound like.

Thanks for your time,
Mark (ballywho, since 2003)
ballywho
I think the coloration of the sound from any digital source component has to involve many factors. Of many factors, these four are what I think about most.
1 The ability and expertise of the designer/engineer. (I think Mike Moffat of Schiit audio and Ted Smith of PS Audio are examples of good designers). 
2 The chip itself. DAC chips are getting better, and some older versions are surprisingly good too.
3 How well the product uses the chips. How good is the overall design? The implementation of all the components.
4 What kind of sound (coloration) appeals to each person?
Some specs of various products only tell half the story! The other half is the sound. I always liked the saying, "we see what is in back of our eyes, not what is in front of them". This same observation applies to one’s ears as well!

^ Agree , Listen to 10 dacs and you will hear ten different frequency responses . The trick is to find one that suits your ears and system . The slightest change in frequency will get your descriptive terms like detailed (more highs) Warm (juiced mids and bass) lean (less bass) . All these can be tweaked by the designer with  caps, resistors ,ect...  So what really is the improvements in the newer dacs ?
Well, friends, I ended up going with an EMM Labs DAC6e SE.  Not quite as old as the ones I initially mentioned, but certainly a world class product.  I don't do SACD - and I won't need all six channels - but apparently the thing does Redbook quite well (the SE upgrade supposedly adding more to the equation with RB than SACD, and quite dramatically so). I'll report back on my impressions once it's been in place for a bit.  

Thank you all for your comments and suggestions!

Warm regards,
Mark
Curious about older "world class" D/A converters
 For doing D/A conversion of PCM 16/44 to 24/96 (RedBook cd), I and many others believe the older dacs that used properly implemented Multibit d/a converters chip are the best way of doing pcm conversion.
Those Mutibit dac/chips have ceased being made because of the very high cost of manufacturing these chips.
Good older examples of properly implemented ones are the Linn CD12, Mark Levinson No.39, Naim CD555 ect ect.
Todays Multibit ones are as above but done with discrete components because of no chip manufactures making ready made ones anymore, EG: Total dac, MSB flagship models ect ect.

Cheers George   
Mark congrats and enjoy your new DAC and please do let us know your impressions! And happy listening!