Breakout DAC for 2013?

Yes, there are a number of nice dacs in your price range and I certainly haven't heard a lot, but my Metrum Octave keeps me quite happy with no desire to change.

Ya, I think the DSD dacs, (Mytek, Korg) could be considered 'breakout'
I know that my Grant Fidelity Dac11 at $350, delivered, is performing above and beyond what I could have found under $1k a couple of years ago.... but I'm not a digital listener, after mt Modwright 999es died, I threw in the towel, and frankly, compared to my vinyl rig (quite modest) even that Modwright couldn't 'hang'
ffwd to today: 15ips Master Tape dubs are tops for me, with vinyl and digital very close 2nd... I'd say the SB3 and Dac 11 have combined convenience, accessibility to 24/96, and sheer musicality to really win me over to digital... never thought I'd say it.. I listen to a $350 DAC as much as I listen to vinyl!!
I'm happy about that.
Sincerely, Enjoying digital audio,
Harv

I would spend your $1.5K on a used upgraded Perfect Wave DAC, with firmware version 2.0.2 installed, if you can find one at that price. It was once the flavor of the month, is not as much now, but still sounds quite good. Check out the DAC shoot out described on Changstar by some hardcore DIY types. They all agreed the PW DAC handily beats out the competition in the same general price range.

All that said, there are not night and day differences between most DACs. (I have only owned one that I hated, the much praised Ayon CD-2, which could almost break glass when turned up.) Certainly, marginal dollars are better spent on speakers than DACs

Second that. I have been listening to digital since the first 16 bit CDP - Magnavox CDB 650 and have had many DAC"s along the way. PWD DAC II is superb. Flavor of the month not necessarily any better.

Neal

"New and improved" will NEVER compensate for a well designed and implemented output stage and power supply. For that you have to spend more otherwise the budget DAC's will be more of preference in a given system rather than standing out as universally "better". This is my opinion from my personal experiences the past few years. You can do well and yes, they probably are improving but it seems more to me like a game of musical chairs, if you catch my drift.

Good luck with your search and remember, these DAC's can have a different presentation in different systems so it's not always easy to know how they might work in yours, something to REALLY think about. I have experienced this first hand. You have to read between the lines when choosing a DAC for your system then try to determine how it might work in yours. Go slow, don't take anyone's word for anything just try to build a data bank of knowledge of reported sonic characteristics and how that might work out in your system. It just isn't so simple as "best" but what your system's strenghs and weakness are and how that DAC might work in it. This is fundamental for choosing any component but with the overwhelming number of DAC's flooding the market it can become sensory overload. As someone above mentioned, I would consider looking at something used that might be comparable to spending 1.5K new, food for thought. If you've got plenty of dough to burn try them all and then you'll know for sure!:)