DAC recommendations under $7K

@car123 Thanks. I have been doing much reading since I opened this thread & it appears many DAC’s perform better with an internal network card. However, I am not sure how exactly they work & integate with Qobuz from a software standpoint. I have no stored music. 
@verdantaudio Thank you for joining this thread. I have been reading your excellent DAC shootout starts this weekend thread that @mclinnguy referred me to. It is very long & I think I am on page 4. I will ask you the same question several of the participants asked… what DAC do you think best fits my system? My Ref 3’s are very resolving neural, my BHK can vary based upon tubes, my Moon 330A is incisive & perhaps a little lean. I started this thread thinking M3, but thinking now I want a top tier DAC, based upon the input i received & your thread. I also started thinking I wanted what I called wire to wire, incisive with no coloration. Now thinking perhaps a little warmer. However, my size requirements remain the same, not full size. Thoughts? 
BTW, sorry to be a little spastic on what I thought I need or want. Been into music all my life, but until about 2 years ago, via receivers / AVR’s, so I am slowly evolving. 
Thank you. 

Good friend of mine moved to Chapel Hill recently, and he found an excellent dealer, whom I’ve met, in Winston Salem: Ember Audio.  Re small form DACs, in addition to carrying Chord, Embe carries Ferrum.  Their Wandla, reviewed quite positively by Herb Reichert and John Atkinson last year, is 8.5” wide.  And I still recommend the GoldNote DS10 (8”).

I am getting confused; there has been alot of Weiss/Meitner/Bricasti/Aurender vs. streaming card threads lately (!)

But in this one I mentioned Weiss’ streaming was very good, along the same lines of what @car123 noticed and is suggesting with the Meitner: Perhaps using Jplay/Qobuz with the Weiss 501 would compare favourably to your Aurender N150 into the Weiss, favourably enough for you to sell the Aurender? If space is a huge concern that is a huge advantage for you.

And in this recent thread verdant audio made a knowledgeable post regarding sound between the Weiss and the Meitner, also streaming via the internals of the DAC vs. a stand alone streamer- worth a read. 

However, I am not sure how exactly they work & integate with Qobuz from a software standpoint. I have no stored music. 

Weiss does not have Qobuz connect, so you would need Jplay. Not sure about Meitner or Bricasti, or the Mola Mola, or the .... But hey, there’s a good question for the dealer. Call verdant and ask him. 

Happy hunting @signaforce !

for what it is worth, i will share my experiences with a bricasti m3 and m1, along with my weiss 501

couple years back i first tried a m3 and found it to be a very nice, clear and smooth sounding unit... at the same time an m1se popped up and i snapped that up too, so as to be able compare side by side .. m1se was a clear notch better to my ear, better separation of instruments/depth, better bass slam/solidity and better defined image outlines... thus sold the m3, that wasn’t hard

then a few months later i got the weiss, and it took me quite a good while to determine a preference between the two... finally decided that using my favorite filter (amongst an absolutely bewildering array of them available) on the m1, sound wise they were identical to my ear -- i could not confidently hear a difference... both are outstandingly smooth silky yet utterly resolving, with excellent imaging height width depth, and very very black/quiet, yet highly dynamic when called for... but for me the weiss then clearly won out on ergonomics, features (sophisticated dsp, simple yet effective room bass correction, small form factor, hp socket, better streaming) ,,, the bricasti also had its rather cumbersome stone-age ir pigtail remote setup ... so i kept the weiss (to this day still have it, upgraded to 4ch thereafter) and off went the bricasti

both outfits are stellar, highly responsive to queries and just class acts all around

hope this helps

@signaforce I know the BHK very well and had it in my system when I started the company....I originally designed speakers.  My instinct is something a bit warmer than the Qutest with a bigger image would be nice following the Chord. Here are three suggestions.  

The Bricasti M3 would be a step up in every way except that it may lack the ultra fine detail of the Qutest. It will be a bit more neutral and the image will go from focused to massive and just deliver a different experience.  Bricasti is made in Boston with phenomenal customer service.  Historically, they have had a robust upgrade program that is inexpensive relatively speaking to keep you out of the used market churning gear.  

Given your space constraint, if you go up from Bricasti, I would encourage you to look at Linn.  It's a narrower box and I think, from where you are coming from (Qutest), you would even love the Katalyst level DAC from Linn.  If you can stretch to Organik wonderful, but I find the mid-level incredibly musical and will be a bit less shocking coming from Chord. Linn has three different DACs offerings that are modular and easily swapped.  In a side by side, I found it quite competitive with other $15K units.  They even have a holiday deal now with trades too on the Selekt.  The beauty of Linn is its modularity.  They regularly come out with upgrades which is a way for them to sell you more but upgrades are typically cheaper than new boxes.  

The Weiss 501/502 are excellent and will be closest tonally to what you have now but would be an elevation in almost every way sonically.  More detail.  Bigger, deeper image, etc... but it remains slightly colder like the Chord house sounds.  The onboard streamer is outstanding and one you should used.  The DSPs are nice and the flexibility between 2 channel and Headphone is unlike most other DACs.  They have had an upgrade program for 501/502.  I know an upgrade program is coming for another of their products so as long as he can, I am sure they want to give people the chance for a modestly priced upgrade.  

This is a bit more limited/focused based on your saying you have a space limitation and want something a bit narrower.  Playback MPD6 might work brilliantly sonically but I think it is too big for you.  

Hopefully this helps.