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Absolute top tier DAC for standard res Redbook CD

Hi All.

Putting together a reference level system.
My Source is predominantly standard 16/44 played from a MacMini using iTunes and Amarra. Some of my music is purchased from iTunes and the rest is ripped from standard CD's.
For my tastes in music, my high def catalogues are still limited; so Redbook 16/44 will be my primary source for quite some time.

I'm not spending DCS or MSB money. But $15-20k retail is not out of the question.

Upsampling vs non-upsampling?
USB input vs SPDIF?

All opinions welcome.

And I know I need to hear them, but getting these ultra $$$ DAC's into your house for an audition ain't easy.

Looking for musical, emotional, engaging, accurate , with great dimension. Not looking for analytical and sterile.
mattnshilp
markolino72
9 posts
 
i’m not throlling!
i just tried to say that i enjoy more this little dac FOR REDBOOK(and my collection is 99.9% of redbook) than any other i had (ex:audio note dac 3) which was more natural, more palpable, more realistic BUT LESS MUSICAL! SOTA? hummmm BUT NO MUSIC? Something is wrong with ultra capable dacs! i also had a 1bit native dsd cs4398 dac very good in dsd but atrocious with 44/16. Top tier dac for redbook is probably a dac that does only redbook!!!!! the uca202 seems to output what is on the cd and it has no preamp or analogue output circuit as high end dacs. so you can add your own preamp!!! 2. SOTA DAC working on usb??? bah. AND AGAIN i insist that with such SOTA devices 50% of your collection is inaudible (i hear a lot of classical music not recognized to be well recorded) and when the message goes very complex a lot of those SOTA dacs are totally UNCAPABLE. if you wanna buy a 30.000$ dac just for hear Diana Krall or only some jazz trios is up to you! 3. some high end music servers are build around a 40$ raspberry like boards! and it will be sold for 6000$. IS TIME TO WAKE UP IDIOPHILES!















mattnshilp OP
917 posts
 
Ok. Markolino. For $30- amazon prime, I’ll bite. It’s ordered. Hopefully this miracle $30- DAC will help me wake up from the 30 years of useless audiophile wandering I’ve clearly experienced. I can’t wait for my eyes to be opened to this Behrenger miracle!!

Stay tuned.
david_ten
5,480 posts
 
@mattnshilp 

Since you've been tuning to less musical and totally "un-cap-able" with complex music passages, with your go to DACs, I'm very much looking forward to your impressions and findings. : )
markolino72
9 posts
 
uca202 (not the uca222 never heard it)!
willemj
1,036 posts
 
The uca 220 is technically the same as the uca 202. The only difference is the colour of the case and some software.
Anyone who wants to do a listening test should realize that the uca 202 has a quite low ouput of 1.2V, compared to many DACs that comply with the cd red book standard of 2.0V (or more). A low output level is not a bad idea, given the high input sensitivity of many amplifiers, but in a direct comparison it will not be as loud. Since the brain interprets louder as better, the differential should be compensated (and very precisely) for the comparison to be meaningful.
I do want to repeat that I would never claim that this modest unit is as good as e.g. a Benchmark. It is, however, remarkably good for the price, much better than any laptop sound card, and excellent to upgrade a secundary system composed of  legacy gear.
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