Throwing iFi Pro iDSD into the ring. Excellent sounding DAC and incredibly versatile.
Best DAC for around $2,500 or less
What are your opinions on the best DAC for under $2,500? Looking at the Schiit Yggy or many of recommend Denafrips so looking at their Pontus. Any thoughts on how these two compare? It might be misguided by I tend to think your getting a little more for your money with a direct to consumer company like Schiit and I know they are highly regarded for their DACS. Anything else to look at in this price range?
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I have many dacs some very $$ .i sold a Lampizator amber3 after auditioning this in my home this has a who who of hot rodded brand name parts , and World class classic Analog devises 1865K laser trimmed multi Bit dac ,or R2R great natural sonics these Sabre bit dac can’t duplicate ,power supplies make a big difference in dacs this has 9 of the worlds best Bellison super regulators ,the latest Xmos board, Vishay naked,and Caddock resistors Femto clock, and no ic chips ,Descreet op amps with upgrade for a bit more the Staccato Descreet opamps running in pure class A drop me an email .this bettered my friends Schiit Yaggdrasil and other dacs of much more money,nine have all this superior build quality and 247,000uf of capacitance nothing even remotely close in this price range .and 45 day return,5 yr warranty and made in USA. https://www.mojo-audio.com/mystique-v2x-dac/ |
OP update, I ended up finding an upgrade Audio Mirror Tubadour III for a good deal and hooked that up last week. The difference between it and just running the Node 2i was substantial. The music is less "bright" and not as fatiguing and the realism improved dramatically. A very good investment and a good first step for $1,000. As I upgrade I'll look towards the Terminator but was happy to hear such a dramatic improvement in the music quality with the addition of a separate DAC. Best, Mike |
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@mvrooman1526 Congrats on your purchase! I use a Magna Mano ULTRA Network Streamer with my AMT3-SE, which I purchased because of its I2S output. That is the best input on the dac and I'd encourage you to find a streamer that allows you to use it as an eventual upgrade. Also, if you're feeling the itch in a while, you might consider sending the dac to Vlad for an upgrade to SE status. Everyone who's posted about doing so has given a positive review. And I'll note that multiple posters have preferred the AM to the denefrips terminator. I didn't do that comparison, but did prefer my AM to a PS Audio directstream, lampizator Amber 3, ifi idac pro, matrix x-sabre pro, & Shiit Bifrost 2 in my system. I think you made a wise decision and suspect you will have trouble finding a better dac for anywhere near the current cost of entry... and please do post if you do. |
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