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DAC to match $2-3K CD player

Listened to the Rolling Stones' Beggars Banquet last night--first streaming Apple Lossless files via Squeezebox Duet, then on my Naim CD5x. Of course, with the bare Squeezebox and no external DAC, there was no comparison. What I'm wondering is how far up the DAC food chain would you need to start looking to match the sound quality of a $2-3K dedicated player? (I tried a Musical Fidelity V-DAC in my office and was unimpressed, so I'm not looking for a giant killer.) I'm not going all digital any time soon, so my question is really out of curiosity and to start a conversation if anyone else is interested.
afranta
afranta OP
180 posts
 
Thanks, Smholl (and Audiowoman). I've begun ripping my cds, and your description of the W4S dac makes me think that maybe I'm closer to going that route than I thought ...
devilboy
1,176 posts
 
Big surprise coming from D'boy......A $5,000 dac will SMOKE a $2-3K player going from a transport or, here's another one.....a hard drive. To the OP: Is $2-3K really what you consider on par with a source feeding a $5,000 dac? What dacs have you heard that can't compete with a $2-3K cdp? I'd love to know.
afranta OP
180 posts
 
But the W4S DAC-1 is $995, right? Who's talking about a $5K dac?
Post removed 
afranta OP
180 posts
 
Thanks, Tvad, forgot about that one. The only dacs I've heard (enough to have an opinion about them) are the Musical Fidelity V-DAC and Cambridge Audio Dacmagic; no surprise that I wouldn't trade my cd player for either one. Hence my original question about dacs that compete with $2-3K players--and the suggestions about the W4S DAC-1, among others.
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