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DAC’s

Hello, curious on everyone’s thoughts. I’m still building my system. I came across a really good deal on a Meitner MA3 dac. It’s from an authorized dealer and they offered to sell me one NIB for 7k. I have read and read about dacs and I am getting tired. Haha. I really like the Denafrips Terminator 2, Holo and the lumin T3 being the cheapest of them all. Once I factor in a streamer I am already close or over the 7k. Also I don’t need a dac for anything other then just streaming. Thank you 

shtr74sims
shtr74sims OP
95 posts
 

@holmz no not yet, been a busy week. To many options haha. 

holmz's avatar
holmz
2,328 posts
 

holmz no not yet, been a busy week. To many options haha

@shtr74sims there is no dishonour in moving slowing, nor being busy. 😎
Nor looking at many other options.

While I do not personally hear a great difference between DACS, the options/controls/interface can be pretty important and a deal maker/breaker.

jjss49's avatar
jjss49
6,926 posts
 

@cakyol

In my opinion, you could get a Chord Qutest for about 2k, which is one of the best DACs around, and save about 5k.

Believe me, you will never hear the difference, especially not worth a price differential of 5k, even if you have better hearing than the creature in the movie "A Quiet Place".

the op of this thread has not listed his system nor setup, unless i missed it

for me, since early 2020, i had the mojo, 2qute, qutest, then the hugo tt2... i then added the m scaler to feed the tt2 (this stack remains one among a small handful of dac setups i currently use, as i am very pleased with its sound)

in my stepwise progression, the 2qute and qutest sounded very very similar, but otherwise, there is/was a clearly noticeable change (upgrade) in sound quality each step up the ladder, so to speak - imaging, tonality, timbre, bass solidity, richness (in an analog sense) all improved

so for me personally, i would not simply assume the op will not hear any difference -- we don’t know the quality of the rest of his system

that said, one can reasonably debate whether 5 grand at the margin is more wisely spent to buy a better dac than a qutest, compared to upgrading something else in his setup... we just don’t have the information to know, or have an opinion...

shtr74sims OP
95 posts
 

@holmz I agree with you. I have been taking my time. In no rush, I am trying to be smart and methodical in my decisions. I feel it’s been working so far. There are enough dac options to make your head spin these days. 

jerrybj
892 posts
 

In my opinion, you could get a Chord Qutest for about 2k, which is one of the best DACs around, and save about 5k. Believe me, you will never hear the difference...

This is from a guy who at the start of the year? was in 7th heaven with his bluetooth driven main system. I think what he is trying to say is "he will never [be able to] hear the difference..."

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