Try the PS Audio products. They have a nice trade in and return policy.
DAC's Made in the USA
I am shopping for my very first dac and the sheer number of product available is bewildering.Unlike many members, I have never owned an outboard dac for a 2 channel system, my budget is extremely limited and my technical knowledge of the product is low.
Further I am committed to purchase a dac made in the USA, or at least a friendly democratic country.
You can see by my equipment list that I have nothing of any great quality or renown and much of this inventory is likely to be sold to partially pay for the dac.
I am 80 years old, wear hearing aids and I am pretty satisfied with the sounds I presently hear and really wonder if I can enhance the sound quality of my CD collection (Jazz, blues and classical).
Would appreciate it if I can get some real help, i.e., people who have actually used their recommendation/not read about it. Also please remember my spending limitation, more is impossible.
Many thanks
New (not used)
Made in the USA
Ideally less than $1500
Headphone jack is not necessary
Two channel analog output
Optical and digital coaxial input
Accuphase E-202,
Adcom GFA 555,
McCormack TLC-1,
Pioneer SA-9500II,
McIntosh MA-6100
Sony DVP S9000ES (DVD, CD, SACD),ADS 910,Klipsch Forte II
Further I am committed to purchase a dac made in the USA, or at least a friendly democratic country.
You can see by my equipment list that I have nothing of any great quality or renown and much of this inventory is likely to be sold to partially pay for the dac.
I am 80 years old, wear hearing aids and I am pretty satisfied with the sounds I presently hear and really wonder if I can enhance the sound quality of my CD collection (Jazz, blues and classical).
Would appreciate it if I can get some real help, i.e., people who have actually used their recommendation/not read about it. Also please remember my spending limitation, more is impossible.
Many thanks
New (not used)
Made in the USA
Ideally less than $1500
Headphone jack is not necessary
Two channel analog output
Optical and digital coaxial input
Accuphase E-202,
Adcom GFA 555,
McCormack TLC-1,
Pioneer SA-9500II,
McIntosh MA-6100
Sony DVP S9000ES (DVD, CD, SACD),ADS 910,Klipsch Forte II
85 responses Add your response
If you want the best sounding DAC, near your price, get an Ayre Codex. It is the only boy thing they have made in China, but then, it is thousands cheaper than their better gear, and worlds better than Schiit (any flavor)! I am one million percent certain the Ayre Codex is made in the same Boulder, CO shop as all their other gear. Ayre has always tried to source everything from the USA. |
Before you spring for Schiit, try the Benchmark DAC3B. I had the Schiit Gungnir Multibit for many years, and with my equipment , the Benchmark blows it away in every way. YMMV. It’s only a few hundred dollars more, but certainly worth it. And, you can try it out for 60 days with Music Direct and no restocking fee, compared to Schiit’s meager 15 day tryout with a restocking fee. |
Good to see Schiit getting overwhelmingly positive responses! I certainly wouldn't put any stock in someone claiming their DAC "blows away" schiit dacs. I have a Yggy paired with a Freya pre and it's a superb combination. If you go with Schiit, be sure it's a Multibit. I also have a little Modi multibit and it's a very capable unit. Go with Schiit. Great products, 5 year warranty, all completely upgradable, modular design. |
While I am only in my 60’s, I fret over the same auditory limitations as you (hopefully I’ll make it to my 80’s). I would recommend that you get an auditory test to see (objectively) what frequencies you can hear. Buying equipment that can resolve to 0.0001% THD is irrelevant when you can only ‘hear’ a difference at 10% THD. This opens up a range of (cheaper) options. |
I just sold my Benchmark DAC3B but I highly recommend that DAC as a great USA made DAC. I will likely buy the DAC3B in late 2021 for the 3rd time. I am now using a DAC from communist China, Matrix Mini-i-3 Pro, and it is not bad at half the price of the DAC3B. The DAC3B was better but the Matrix maybe still breaking in with little over 100 hours. I am saving my pennies to get a Romanian DAC in the Spring. I am doing the United Nations of DACs. |
@arafiq I want to buy the Romanian AudioByte VOX | ZAP | HUB. It is $6k and I am pretty sure I will be able to turn that DAC3B sale dollars into the AudioByte stack. You ever read Jack and the Bean Stock. I like to also invest in magic beans. If you see me with the AudioByte in 6 months then I was successful. I initially thought the 1/2 the price Matrix Mini-i-3 Pro was almost identical to the DAC3B. I was using the Matrix with headphones on my bedroom system and it sounded great with a Topping A90 DAC. However, on my office system with the Thiel CS3.7 the magic is not 100% the same. Something feels a bit lacking. Everything in the office system is uber revealing so the deficiencies with the Matrix are likely being shown on the office system. I cannot really pin it down but the DAC3B was better with my speakers and all Benchmark stack. The Matrix will be OK for the short term. I think it does about 85% of what the DAC3B did but there definitely is a bit more hardness on the top, while the DAC3B has none. The Matrix is amazing on the headphone system though. I am pretty sure I will get the DAC3B again, a great DAC on my system. The HUB is a streamer so I can have 2 DACs easily on the office. |
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Kudos to you for buying American . I upgraded from a Schiit Bifrost to a Schiit Yiggy, and I really enjoy it . Running a Rogue pre, Dennis Had amp and Zu speakers, and Morrow cables all the way . I took the AMERICAN boutique approach and am glad I did. I also run American NOS tubes, but do have a love for Telefunkens. Have a Ford and a GMC , 2 Harley's and a Ranger bass boat . My grandparents were in WWII and my father fought the Chinese as a Marine in Korea . People like you make me proud . And BTW , I’ve always wanted a Border Patrol DAC and I’m currently considering a Van Alstine SET 120 amp for some SS power . Happy listening , Mike B. |
@buellrider I’ve been reading a lot about the AVA amp you mentioned. People like it a lot but love the 400 version. More Class A power. Costs more but it does come up used. FWIW, https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=174030.0 |
I do think Schiit is your best bet.. But Schiit does not support DSD and your SACD (SACD LAYER) will not work with any of these DACs due to copyright implementation back in the day. I think the only way you can use an external DAC with SACDs (SACD layer) is IIS (usually via HDMI type of connector) and even that is a bit of a wild card and I don't have any experience with using external DACs for SACD layer. Another possibility is PS Audio's DAC that support SACDs (DSD) I think but that is north of $6K. There is also several R2R DACs (vs Delta Sigma) that supposedly sounds amazing per reports and one of the most popular one is sadly, Made in China (Denafrips) but sold by a Singapore dealer exclusively (Vinshine Audio). Vinshine's owner Alvin has confirmed that Denafrips have no Chinese Communist Government ownership, rather, it is owned by a single proprietor. So... I too have the same objective of sticking to Made in USA, (but in my case, with the constraint of "without breaking the bank"). So I ended up with Schiit Mani (phono) and Modi3 (DAC). My integrated amp is 100% made in USA tube class A (and happens to cost 3X comparable China made ones). My speakers are Klipsch Cornwalls. But alas, my CD/SACD players/Streamer are either Japan or Malaysia or China. Not much I can do there without shelling out much much more $$$. DAC technology changes a lot too so that's another point to consider in as far as how disposable they are. AND then, I started questioning myself if my MADE in USA objective truly accomplishes what I want.... which is not to support governments that are not our allies or more importantly, hostile to us. I concluded that I don't know... as if I truly want to send a message to Chinese government (and frankly, American companies that decided to set up shop there), we should also shy away from 99% of Apple products, 99% of HP/IBM/Lenovo/Dell products, just about all smart phones etc.. AND, I don't see that happening at all as I don't know what practical alternatives we have with these devices... .And I highly doubt is the Chinese government has much interest in DAC companies which is more like a cottage industry compared to Huawei / Alibaba etc. Our beloved world of hi-fi audio is rather minuscule as compared to Apple / HP / Dell's operations in China. As the world turns !!! |
OP, if you bought a piece of Chinese gear -- but used, from a fellow American -- you would be helping out someone in your country without adding profit to any companies you don't support. Maybe that would help find the right gear without some of the ethical costs you're concerned with? Just a thought. |
This is what many may regard as an off-the-way suggestion. But here it is, anyway: you might consider selling the Sony universal player and buying a used (only because they no longer exist new) Oppo 105 universal disk player. This player has excellent high-res DACs built in for the disks, and also has built in inputs for both Tidal and Pandora (streaming). But the real reason I would recommend it would be that if you added a low-cost internet "tuner" (which the Oppo would take into its own DACs) you could also take advantage of the numbers of internet radio stations playing jazz and blues music .... thus creating some new experiences in your arena of preference. The "swap cost" and the internet tuner could probably fit your budget. BTW, I'm also 80yr old, enjoy the same music, and have a similar Oppo setup, except that I don't yet have (or really need) the internet radio because the local NPR station (WFCR, Amherst, MA) is already has some of the best jazz programming in the nation at night between 8:00 and 11:00pm plus a wide array of jazz podcasts. As I said, off the wall ..... but I hope perhaps of value. |
A tad bit above your price range, but If you do nothing more than read the overview... it’s worth it. https://www.decware.com/newsite/ZDSD.html |
Let me get this straight, you actually contacted the guy who distributes Denafrips products in Singapore to ask weather the Chinese Communist Party had a stake in Denafrips? ...and he actually replied, assuring you that it didn't? |
