coli

Responses from coli

NOS DAC's without any digital filtering?
Get a NOS R2R dac and experience for yourself :) Do you remember how analog recording or broadcast sounds like? NOS DACs are the closest to analog sounding in the digital world. 
burr-brown vs. sabre vs. ?
Lynx is crystal (cirrus logic), same DAC as in many sound cards.All the DACs with the same chip when properly implemented sounds similar. So first figure out which DAC chip you like the sound of, then find an implementation with the biggest bang f... 
What's the greatest bargain in DAC's these days?
Ross Martin, you can get a 8 channel DAC for $800. Top of the line chip too. 
DAC/Preamp with Balanced Outputs $2500 new/used
Marantz? 
burr-brown vs. sabre vs. ?
burr-brown sounds very nice. Sabre sounds digital thin. NOS R2R sounds heavenly. 1bit DSD sounds super digital thin.If you are looking for a ADC instead of a DAC, looks at the Ross Martin PCM4222. 
Yggdrasil Dac by Schiit?
There's only one issue with it, it's not NOS. They got a 5% fee to try it, so you can go for that and let us know what you think. 
I screwed up
You just discovered the truth about audiophile setups. Look into active monitors, they are just so much better. 
interconnects
Difference is too huge. Eg: normal interconnect vs Neotech vs AES cable.Eliminating it would be the best. 
Marantz HD-DAC1 vs Bel Canto DAC 1.x/2.x/3.x?
One thing that helps a lot is a pro grade reclocker, eg: mutec smart clock, then add in balanced power and they really all sound pretty much the same as long as they use the same $5 DAC chip. The only place in DAC world that may be worth the dolla... 
Marantz HD-DAC1 vs Bel Canto DAC 1.x/2.x/3.x?
DAC is one place where price has nothing to do with sound quality. See if you can find out which DAC chip they use, as all DAC using the same chip sounds alike.Looks like Del Canto uses PCM1796, which is a 6bit R2R + rest Delta Sigma. This chip so... 
Need integrated amp with built-in USB DAC
Much better bang for the buck to go with AV receivers. 
Anyone Try this?
Stereophile is a snake oil magazine. 
Unsatisfied with Esoteric K-01: Alternatives?
Metrum DACs: musical, beautiful, analog sounding. 
Jitterbugs from Audioquest and the Regen
Direct Stream DAC is a piece of shi* that produce degraded sound if there is any input jitter, even $100 AV receiver perform better than that $6000 DAC. 
Speaker Advice?
Try the Focal SM9.