Would love to have the BDA-3 but $3,800 is well out of my budget.
Move on from my Bryston BDA-1?
Given the advancement in DAC technology would I achieve a noticeable (started to say significant) improvement in audible performance by upgrading from my current (but early generation) Bryston BDA-1? I am hesitate on the assumption that the internals of the Bryston (e.g., power supplies, output stage) are still hi-grade but understand the CS-4398 chips have been surpassed. I should mention in the system I stream from a Bluesound Node 2i (and in another use an identical streamer with a Topping D90 DAC).
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The One to Beat: Gustard X26 PRO DAC Review (soundnews.net) $1300 (on sale now) I will get this delivered tomorrow. I will compare this to my 2 existing DACs, Benchmark DAC3B and Audio Mirror Tubadour III SE (mentioned above). The review above says it is a step up from the DAC3B which I am sure is better than the Bryston BDA-1. |
Would love to have the BDA-3 but $3,800 is well out of my budget.@dsands In that case I second the RME ADI-2 DAC FS recommendation above, as a much less expensive option that also uses the AKM chipset. The UI can be a bit daunting and lead to accidental misconfiguration, but once set up properly you can choose to never touch the UI again. If you are looking for something that (I feel) utilizes the CS4398 exceptionally well, then I can suggest the Prism Sound Callia. While there have certainly been major improvements in DAC architecture over the years, there have also been improvements in people optimizing and maximizing the use of older DAC chipsets. |
While we are on the subject (and thanks for all of the input) what about the new Liberty II DAC that retails for just under $1K? I realize no one has had any chance to use or review this yet but if you have had experience with the original Liberty it would be valuable to see how it stacked up against those we already have been discussing. |
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