Best DAC for around $2,500 or less
I've been happy with my exaSound e32 Mark II, which does DSD and MQA. Since it's only sold through the manufacturer the argument would be you get more for your $2,500. https://exasound.com/Products/e32MarkIIDAC.aspx |
Without any reservation the latest from mojo audio $25-2700 with the Staccato Descreet opamps x4 9 Bellison super regulators, over 247k in capacitors, caddock 132 resistors R2R Classic Analog devises 1865 premium multi bit dac , scientific grade AC filtering hand biased matched channelsDC offset .this is a maxed out Hotrodded. i compared vs Schiit latest Yaggs, Chords $5k unit .this dac sounds so much more accurate, build quality wise nothing even at 2x the money has premium parts quality of this caliber. it may cost $200 more for the Staccato descreet opamp upgrade which run in pure Class-A and a 45 days audition it is thst good ,and a 5 year warranty |
In this price category you might be surprised by the quality of the humble $799 Topping D90 MQA DAC. I was really impressed by this little guy, playing a DSD stream via balanced connections through a Stax SRM-007tii and SR-009 headphones sounds excellent. I agree you need to balance the sound of your equipment and ancillaries to get the solution that works for you, but can highly recommend the D90 (or MQA version) assuming it matches your needs. Good luck. |
+1 re the MHDT Labs Orchid & "
Roll into a WE396A D getter " (which I did). In addition to my strong preference for NOS digital (or really well done R2R), I have a very constrained space on my desktop & the Orchid fits perfectly. I paid the distributor extra to add a 2nd RCA output pair (both pairs are live at all times). This allows me to run one pair into amp+desktop monitors+sub; and the other through any headphone amp that I feel like hearing that day. |
