USB DAC Recommendation

Mezmo my experience with the MHDT Havana could not be more different than yours concerning detail at low listening levels. I feel no need to turn up the volume, all the music and low level information is there along with natural dynamics and the amazing tonality of this unit at very moderate listening levels. I can expect as with any product that it may be system dependent but for a NOS DAC with USB and tube output, this is one hell of a performer and less than 1K to boot and worthy of consideration.

@Face: Nobody said there was an issue with the existing drivers and to be clear it's an issue with all USB DACs right now for anything above 24/96 on Windows and Mac OS X < 10.6. Only Snow Leopard has native USB Audio Class 2 drivers which allows 24/192 without additional software. So Ayre/Wavelength/etc all fall into this category not just W4S, sorry for sounding like I was singling them out.

@Marakanetz: This assumes you keep the same music server forever and never ever want to upgrade which is a rarity in this hobby. We all strive the latest/greatest/best so if an upgrade gives additional capability at the expense of broken drivers you'll find your self in a pickle. Is this scenario super likely...probably not.

@Goatwuss: And a lot of older PC hardware (especially those you mention) have legacy issues on newer OS builds so you've only confirmed my comment but yes as you point out as long as the company is around and the challenge is not insurmountable (or expensive) it's likely an update will be possible.

Tubegroover, don't mean to suggest that the Havana isn't fantastic, 'cause
I think it is and thrilled that it scratches your itch. Listened to mine all the
time for a year, and was perfectly happy. What ultimately sent me looking
for more (at admittedly three times the price) was a comparison with my
old CDP (Meridian 508.24). In particular, friend brought over the full Miles
Davis live at the Plugged Nickel set and we spent a fine afternoon
switching back and forth between the (upsampling) Meridian and the
(NOS) Havana. Through the Havana, it sounded great. On the Meridian,
it sounded like you were in the audience in the club. And it was all in the
smallest ambient details: glasses on tables, murmurs among the crowd,
the scrape of a chair, a sense of space created by the hint of an echo.
Once you knew it was there and listened for it, with enough volume, you
could make out all of this info through the Havana; but with the Meridian it
was just there, effortless like.

It was this one afternoon that spun me out of the NOS camp and off on a
frolic that ended with the Ayre. But, definitely, an entirely system-
dependant, subjective thing. Given the rest of my gear (largely Rowland
and Thiel), I'm (self-diagnosed) prone to come out on the side of detail
when given the old "detail v. musicality" tipping point choice
with gear. All my idiosyncrasies -- well, not actually all, not by a long shot
-- confessed, this was just one of those times.

Thanks Mezmo, I hear you, I KNOW how those frolics can end up:) I plan on staying in my lair and never leaving again, famous last words, heh?

True that. It's always something, though -- even if just the desire for simple stuff like, you know, food -- that draws one back out into the world. And one you're out there, you never know when those insidiously irrational upgrade gremlins are going to pounce and make you their bitch. Think the single greatest upgrade / tweak for any system would be the equivalent of garlic-a-la-vampires to keep the spiteful little bastards at bay. Let us all know if you find their magic bullet (although I suspect it's just a mental fortitude which I seem to demonstrably lack...). Meantime, enjoy.