Dac: Old vs New

@tonyjack I was in the same boat. I own an old but very respected dac and was curious as to how dac has progressed over the years. I bought the Topping d90se to try. Well received and measured really well. Well getting right to the point, it sucked. It has high details but low transparency. in a sense that it allows you to hear almost everything. But it doesn’t differentiate pitch and loudness very well. So even though you can hear more instruments, those instruments sounded similar to each other and one song sound similar to the next. A monotone presentation that got boring very quickly. Soundstage was meh. Air was meh. 

So yea the Topping was a disappointment. But I did like how vocals sounded on it though.

@tonyjack I’m actually selling my dac (Anedio D2) for a very good price. PM me if you want more details. Be warned that it makes a pop when turning off or turning on, you can avoid this by turning dac on before amp, and turning amp off before turning dac off. Or you can leave dac on 24/7

It’s a fantastic dac (also a pre-amp and headphone amp combo) and normally I wouldn’t sell but I bought a BMC amp and its potential is not fully realized unless I also buy a BMC dac to connect both product through the "Current-Injection" method.

If the Topping comparison was anything to go by, I don’t think there’s a new dac out there that can touch my Anedio D2 for under $500.

This dac was very special at the time it was released. John grandberg (project86) said it rival some Invictus dac at $8,000 or something. My memory is a little hazy but you can find more details when you search up d1/d2 reviews. 

I had a PS Audio DL3 Cullen lvl 3 and still remember that I really enjoyed it when I had it. I would say at the current $500 mark, new DACs will not be as enjoyable as it. You might get better measurements but there's no free lunch when it comes to budget components. I'd suggest saving a little bit more and getting something a little over the $1k range like a used Yggdrasil or Pontus II. Those should provide some technical improvements without losing musicality.

I'm using a Schiit Modius AKM 4493 chipped dac and it sounds great..  It cost $179.99 from Schiit B stock.  I've been using it for two years. It has micro USB, coaxial, optical, and AES inputs, and both SE and balanced outputs.  I also use an IFi Zen Dac Signature version one (USB input only - retail $249.99) which also has SE and balanced outputs. IMHO, it's another great sounding dac for the money.  I also use a vintage (2008) Audio By Van Alstine Insight multibit dac with a Schiit EITR USB to S/PDIF converter and it sounds quite good with my Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet. I paid about $300 used (retail was $900 about $1200 in current U.S. dollars.)

For some reason,  the AVA Insight dac will only work with the EITR with a micro USB HD 10 Amazon Fire.  The Insight will not work with any of the USB-C Amazon Fire dacs that I use.