Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista DAC vs T+A DAC 8 DSD


I'm considering a Nu-Vista Mac and T+A DAC 8 DSD.  Leaving aside the price, since the Nu-Vista is a newer design, is it likely to perform better than the DAC 8? I'm just trying to find a DAC that has good resolution, but is not clinical.  My budget is about $6,500.00 (I have a lead on a used Nu-Vista).

 

Thanks in advance to any and all who reply.

noob504

It was in my system.  You may be right.  I’m going to try an Emm Labs Dac2X V2.

I used to own the DAC 200 and liked it very much - thought it was end game for me until my dealer called me with an opportunity and I went upstream further and got the T+A SD 3100 HV. 

If you decide to audition it again, may i suggest you try both USB and AES/EBU or SPDIF as well as different settings on the DAC 200 (oversampling, etc). Also, the unit should be well run in. 

You might come to a different conclusion. 

Good luck and let us know your progress.

 

@mgrif104 , the T+A SD 3100 HV is 5X the price of the DAC 200 and I can only imaging that it sounds even better, though it might not be 5X better.

I don't know how many hours were on @noob504 's borrowed DAC 200. But this is one stunning DAC that continues to amaze me.

@milpai 

Agreed - The DAC 200 is a remarkably great unit, and particularly so on DSD. Yes, the SD 3100 is better, but it’s also clearly diminishing returns though I don’t know how to quantify the difference. I can confidently say it’s not 5x better. 

 

@mgrif104 

If I were to afford the SD 3100, I would jump on it ASAP. They say YOLO - so why not enjoy the best sound that you can get. Agreed on the diminishing returns. I don't think you can quantify it with money - it is the musical (and hence mental) satisfaction that matters!