A new dac?
Guys, help me out here.
My dac which I've been using for a number of years now is a Mytek Stereo192 DSD.
Came out in 2013, I think and was $1600 retail.
Still think it sounds good, but I've nothing to compare it to.
My question: If you are familiar with this dac or similar, what would I have to spend minimum to better it, and what do you think will better it?
I enthusiastically await the responses of the cognoscenti. (Wanted to use that word in a sentence since I read it in Calvin and Hobbes!)
Thanks everyone for taking them time to respond with all your suggestions. I'm going to waffle again and most likely keep my Mytek for now and try a few of the less expensive dacs for comparison that I can return, or keep if worth it. I will however be buying a streamer and getting a Qobuz subscription. Now, to figure out which one!😃
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Good idea to try lower cost options to compare first and return if needed. DAC technology has matured to the point where it’s almost a commodity item. There are differences among them but shame on any company that manages to offer a bad one these days. I have yet to stumble across a bad one these days. The further you go back, the more mediocre ones around when compared to today. Dare I say it’s a golden age for DACs these days. |
i would tend to agree with you @mapman schiit and numerous chi fi brands have really made budget dacs better sounding than ever that and the bluesound nodes (w lps upgrade) make for a pretty much unbeatable, great sounding dac/streamer combo for those coming into streaming for <$500!!! |
+1 Yes, I agree. DACs have come so far that you can get decent sounding budget DACs. I remember getting screechy sounding DACs with poor dynamics for a lot of money twenty years ago. Even DACs for $10K were not as good as today. Of course when put up against high quality DACS jumping to $5K and $10K they are even better. But huge progress in all categories. A friend of mine just upgraded from essentially a $3.5K Linn DAC to a ~$7K Linn DAC... I got a call with one estatic person... telling me he just could not believe that anything could have sounded so much better... He had been afraid he had wasted his money... now he thinks it was cheap, So, yes, it is a great era for DACs.
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