DAC du jour


Should I get a used PS Audio PerfectWave DirectStream vs RME ADI-2 at same price?

 


128x128fstein

I would be looking at the Gustard X26Pro as well as. Search the reviews. I know of no other DAC that has put so much effort into a DAC and to have done so for $1500 is nothing short of amazing. Dual DAC chips, dual mono completely including power supplies. Sort of like having mono bloc DAC. They use the ESS Sabre 9038's. 

If you double that $1500, then the Musetec 005 is the much better DAC over the Gustard X26 Pro. I sold my Gustard to buy the Musetec. However, I wish I did not since I later had a need for a warm DAC with details.

I helped setup a listening station with 3 RME ADI-2 DACs. It sounded OK but I preferred the warmer Gustard X26 Pro and definitely preferred the Musetec 005.

 

In this category I would recommend a Schiit Gungnir… or if you are serious about high quality sound (I don’t know what your associated equipment is)… or will in the future a Schiit Yggdrasil. I did ablot of research for a friend… and got a Gungnir as an experiment, we bought him a Yggdrasil… an amazing DAC for the money or twice that. So, if you are looking to a better  in the future save up for the Yggdrasil, or otherwise look carefully at the Gungnir.

 

My systems show under my ID, give you some idea where I am coming from… 50 years as an audiophile.