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$5k-$6K DACs w Roon?

Hi Everyone,
I've been a happy user of a Mytek Brooklyn but now that my room is coming together and my room acoustics are on order I'm thinking of a fancier DAC.  My requirements are relatively simple.  Should have USB but preferably Roon player capabilities.

Brands I have been thinking about:
  • Brekeley (Too cool?, no built in USB)
  • Bricasti (never heard it)
  • Mytek Manhattan II (discontinued?)
  • exaSound
Brands I just don't like:  PS, Chord, Benchmark.  No particular reasons to dislike them, just not interested in shopping that way.

Thoughts?
erik_squires
verdantaudio's avatar
verdantaudio
1,499 posts
 
Are you looking for a device that is "Roon Ready" and has a built in renderer/player or are you looking for a device that is compatible with a Roon Server/Renderer like the Nucleus or a Nuc connected via USB?  The list of DACs with a bridge to handle Roon directly is not that long.  You probably would be better looking at a streamer/player with a built in DAC like Naim, Lumin, Aurender, Auralic, etc...

If you are looking just for a USB DAC that will interface with a Roon server/player, I would check out the Rockna Wavelight.  A hair below your budget, but is a really awesome R2R DAC with an FPGA interface.  



erik_squires OP
16,013 posts
 
 It took some time for the M3 to break in BUT it was light years BETTER THAN my previous Ayre Codex DAC.  


Wow, that is high praise indeed, as there are very vew DACs, and no SS headphone amp, I've heard better than this.
yyzsantabarbara
4,727 posts
 
The new Gustard X26 Pro is a phenomenal performer. I think it is very low cost at $1500 (on sale for $1300) I have it and it replaced my Benchmark DAC3B in the office system. I moved the DAC3B to the living room. I stream into the Gustard with a Sonore OpticalRendu since the Gustard does not do native streaming.

RJ45 streaming and non-fibre optical streaming is second tier for me. I spent some time doing tests with 3 different streaming options, RJ45, microRendu, and fibre. It was so easy to hear the improvement with fibre optical. So that adds another $1200-$1500 for ROON READY fibre streaming.

I was thinking of getting the AudioByte stack (son of Rockna) but I think I like to save my money with the Gustard.
hgeifman
2,130 posts
 
I saw a Bricast M1 SE $4995 Including shipping Price Reduced that was sold. When you are ready, please search Bricasti M1SE for sale and see what appears.  
Also please contact some Bricasti retailers to determine if they have any acceptable trade-ins.  You never know. If interested, also search on Bricasti M3.   
erik_squires OP
16,013 posts
 
That's a pretty good price for an SE!

There's a non-SE version, non MDx on for $4,500 right now. I think my chances of changing DAC's this year are becoming more likely. :)
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