American made USB DAC's

I did a head-to-head of the Apogee Mini-DAC and the Benchmark with a pal. Exact same system and music both times ( except see note below). We preferred the Apogee, you might not. It depends on your musical taste I think. The Benchmark has a sound others have called 'lean'. That's probably translatable into a frequency response chart but I think of it as in lean muscles--the sound was so detailed and focused it was like following the contours of a ripped bodybuilder's leg, arm, torso etc. compared with seeing the whole form. The Apogee OTOH didn't draw attention to detail but didn't seem to be missing any either. Instead the sound was about harmonics, clarity and following the flow of the whole.

It's not that I wasn't impressed by the Benchmark--I was very impressed. I wouldn't have missed hearing it but in the end I preferred to live with the Apogee. Oh, there was one surprise. That was the HF performance of the Benchmark. It was a bit hashy and poorly defined, cymbals white not metallic, that kind of thing. That may have been been because of setup -- the BM was running without a preamp, straight into the GamuT power amp, while the Apogee went through the ( GamuT ) preamp.

Has anyone done a/b comparison of Wavelength/Apogee mini/Benchmark/Nixon dacs?

Hey Spencer - I did a head-to-head comparing the older versions of both the Benchmark and the Wavelength Brick. I don't know as it would apply though because both have significantly changed - Benchmark went to adding USB and I think refined come circuitry. Wavelength implemented asynchronous USB and also changed some internals. Generally, and FWIW, I've tried both versions of the Benchmark and have not liked either one in several different systems. I could not get stridency in the highs to go away and found both samples cold and sterile sounding. I liked the Brick a lot, but it was definitely not the last word in resolution, but much more engaging and easy to listen to than either Benchmark. I really did want to like the Benchmark as I'd heard so many respected reviewers speaking so highly of it, but alas, I would not use it myself. To be fair, I have heard a few systems at various shows that used a Benchmark, where I thought it sounded quite good. Go figure.

Zippy - Per our previous correspondence, definitely check out Red Wine's Isabelina DAC as well.

I'd heartily agree with Ejlif's nod to MHDT as a great bargain and excellent products. The Havana is their current top of the line, while the new Paradisea is now called the Paradisea 3 (being in its 3rd version). I recently had the opportunity to compare listen to the Havana at a friends place and it sounded great in his system and bettered a Northstar DAC there. Zippy, knowing your stress on visual austerity I don't know if these DACs will qualify in that way, but the Havana is certainly closer in that regard, not to mention a marginally better DAC. As previously stated, these are not USA built, but come from Taiwan and are available exclusively through MHDT's eBay Store.

Sbank -

I have owned a TriVista fully modded by Parts Connexion, a Brick and a Cosecant Silver. They are all excellent. With the right SPDIF cable the TriVista certainly held its own and may have bettered the old (pre-asynch) Brick. I had sold the MF before I got the Brick as well as other system changes, so we are dealing with memory here.

I personally prefer the USB interface so that was the end of the TriVista for me. Also I did not like the up-sampling - this was the unit that convinced me I am a NOS guy

The Cosecant Silver was beyond either - I hated to part with it. And I agree with Drumsgreg, Gordon is a prince to deal with. He often posts in the PC Audio Forum on Asylum.