DAC That Punches Above Its Price Point


I’ll make it short. I’ve spent some hours reading the DAC threads on this forum. I am aware quality of digital matters as superior DACs usually the costlier ones will sound better than cheap DACs, making music sound more analog, lifelike, real, believable with all the soundstage and detail etc. All the good things. There are some who thought it’s the music that matters, and although different DACs may sound different it’s the music that makes the most difference. In other words, the differences that exist between DACs are not that important as it's all about the music. I can see the point that people are trying to make.

Back to the topic. I’ve read great things on the Denafrips Ares II and Pontus II, and other costlier high-end DACs. I’ve read about the Chord DAVE. I personally own a Chord QBD76 and have no urge to replace it with anything else since it sounds splendid in my system, for the money. I may be setting up another system and was wondering if there is a DAC in the lower price bracket that punches way above its price point, sounding close to if not better than the costlier designs.

I presume the Audioquest Black, Red or Cobalt are not worthy of consideration and sound noticeably inferior to the costlier options? FWIW I tried the Musical Fidelity M1 DAC and this one really sounded poor to my ears. Very digital sound and I stopped listening to it after a while. The Chord sounds a lot more analog, lifelike and real to my ears.

I would appreciate any advice. Thanks.


ryder
I highly recommend the SUNCOZ SGD1. Highly flexible and incredible sound, XLR outputs, $500. 
There is 2 types of dacs to get , R2R and sigma delta, the best R2R dac out there for the money is the Audio Mirror tub iii Se , MHDT also makes a good R2R tube dac ,the best sig dac for around 2 k is the matrix element M . The Chinese topping and SMSL dacs also should be up there also. RME ADi is another good sig delta. Lots of choices depending on your taste , clarity vs smoothness 
Check out the Merason Frerot......imho.....it beats out the Qutest.  No dsd, no filters, no frills, just music.  1794A Burr Brown chip.
I’ve had the Gustard X16 for less than a year and love it! ($500)

Check out review at ASR:

That isn’t a review. It is a set of measurements. He doesn’t even mention if he listens to it.

If you believe as ASR does that all that matters is how something measures then I suppose it is a review. But if you care about how something sounds, and that is really all you should care about, ASR is worthless.
Another vote for RME ADI-2. Quite close to my PS Audio DirectStream, gets even closer with an upgraded PSU. Much more transparent than the Ayre Codex I purchased as a backup to the PSA when it went for service. The Ayre left me counting the days to get the PSA back; the RME does not and I could live with it very happily.