A new dac?

thecarpathian , when will the new home be ready?  If it’s not very soon, maybe take the time to winnow the list from these excellent suggestions down to a small handful and maybe you can test them out in your current system or at a dealer; and then only pull the trigger when your willing and able to increase the DAC budget? (If it’s very soon, then even easier to wait, but you’ll have less time to sort and sample.)

FWIW, I am besotted with the Linear Tube Aero DAC. (I’ve tried a few different tubes in it. The stock ones (GE) don’t sound at all bad, but I’ve found that NOS TungSol black plates (normal) are a touch more “complete” sounding, without being overly warm or fuzzy or anything like that. I have not tried the rare black oval plates or the Ray Reserves that maybe report are even better.) I like it so much in my main system, that i just ordered a new one from LTA for a secondary system.

The ladder R2R, no over-sampling, plus the tube MicroZOTL output give a whole different and superior level of resolution and musicality than the various Delta-Sigma DACS I’ve heard, but admittedly those have been more “mid-fi” like BlueSound Node X and PowerNode, NAD C399 and M10, or high mid-if/low Hi-Fi like the original version NAD M33, which does have use one (very well regarded) ESS Sabre ES9028 DAC chip per channel. 

Anyway, good luck, i suspect there are quite a few good answers here, and no single “best” one.

@audphile1 Bought myself a proper Roon core, a Room Nucleus One, couple of nice reasonably priced Ethernet cables. I’m really digging this simple digital front end. 

Simplicity is beauty.  A Grimm MU2 might be even simplier because of the build-in Roon Core.  Curious how MA3i stacks up with MU2?

@lanx0003 never had the pleasure to hear MU2. I’m sure it’s great. Happy with the Meitner DAC. For now I’m done (famous last words). 

"DDC Equivalent" function should be done right before the dac conversion with the shortest signal path inside the same box. 

I think it was the Denafrips dudes that wanted to sell you an extra box...and then you’ll string it all together with some cable and achieve a sonic miracle...or that’s what they said.

There are some other clods hyping up/selling separate clocks or whatever....Such a signal should never pass through a cable like that...

The digital front end is far more important—just like the DAC. The Wiim Ultra sounds fine, but only fine. I owned it for a long time, but it won’t be considered a ‘decent’-sounding streamer (using digital out) unless it is paired with a good DDC.  If you really aim for budgetary gear, get Node Nano instead.

I later acquired the Volumio Rivo Plus, which is in another class above all budget streamers, including the Ultra, iFi Zen, and even the Node Nano. Don’t just take my word for it—cross-check with professional reviewers such as Hans, Tarun, iiWi, Passion for Sound, and others.

The clock and the cable are also critical for achieving true audiophile-grade sound.