DAC Suggestions Please

T
We are in the Golden Age of used audio, you have so many choices of top quality gear ....

I say this b/c I ended up selling my Oppo 95 b/c it really was the jack of all trades, doing many things well, but nothing great. And when I tested the transport quality of the Oppo vs my SimAudio CD Player (Equinox SE) .... the Sim completely outshone it in every way. In other words, not all digital transports are created equal. It was night and day.

I think you should keep the Oppo 205, and if you are going to keep it, invest in a good digital transport cable, like a SPDIF RCA. Try to stay away from USB, they have inherently too much noise. the only reason we use them now is b/c the audio industry pushed it on us.

I like the Schitt recs above, but you should know that you do not need to get the Multibit options. If you are spinning redbook CDs like me, then you dont need the Multibit - it is a different chip and requires more support circtuitry for DSD than the regular PCM DACs.

Last, I started using the Bel Canto DAC 2.5 in about 2012.
I lost my job and my apartment and went broke, so had to sell the Bel Canto. Got back on my feet and bought the DAC 2.5 again and still use it daily today. there is one for a $measly $850 on Agon or USAudioMart or AudioCircle. the SQ is admirable: clean, clear, dynamic, and mildly warm but highly resolving. Not warm in a tube way, but warm in a musical but unforced kind of way. It is also a preamplifier with volume control and also has speed and slam. Highly rec’ed.

...I like the Schitt recs above, but you should know that you do not need to get the Multibit options. If you are spinning redbook CDs like me, then you dont need the Multibit ...

True. Multibit isn’t needed for redbook. But it certainly is wanted when you’re doing redbook playback, because it’s bit perfect. I think all else being equal, Schiit's multibit options sound better than their non-multibit options.

1graber2
but you should know that you do not need to get the Multibit options. If you are spinning redbook CDs like me,

True Grabber, you don’t "need" it for RedBook CD PCM 16/44 or 24/96, it will play fine on Delta Sigma (bitstream) dsd chips.
But Redbook does sound better when converted through Multibit converters, as it does it bit perfect and not a facsimile like Delta Sigma, as this from MoJo Music simply states:

Mojo Music:
" When a PCM (Redbook) file is played on a native DSD single-bit (Delta Sigma) converter, the single-bit DAC chip has to convert the PCM to DSD in real-time. This is one of the major reasons people claim DSD sounds better than PCM, when in fact, it is just that the chip in most modern single-bit (Delta Sigma) DACs do a poor job of decoding PCM.

Cheers George

Consider stretching for a Schiit Yggdrasil with the new analog2 boards...probably hard to beat at the price point. I have one that will be upgraded to the new analog boards in the very near future, lord only knows how good it will sound then!! 

Bel Canto 2.5 dac !   I heartily second 1Graber2.  I've played musical chairs with dacs for years - none staying in-system more than a few months. Then the BC came along used from a friend who "upgraded" to a $4K one.  
Since then I have not had a hairy eyeball about the dac - it's warm, ....human sounding voices, sweet violins, woody cellos, forceful big pianos - all while resolving detail. It's a keeper.  The remote is handy - lets you adjust the volume, balance and input ( optical, coax and analog) from your comfy listening position.