DAC Under $3000

gnoworyta,

For $1,850 a Denafrips Pontus II 12th cannot be beat, but I'd buy it with a Denafrips Iris DDC for $550......$2,400 all in with a nice USB cable. Will allow you to output I2S from the Iris to Pontus II.....an amazingly musical setup and, and what I currently own.....I also personally prefer the Pontus/Iris combination to the Denafrips Venus II DAC.

For a bit more money $2,800 (and as Soix recommended) the Musician Aquarius is a step up, and I can guess it too would sing with a DDC outputting I2S to the DAC. I did not have the Iris DDC with me when I borrowed to the Aquarius, but it is a great DAC. 

The Ayre DAC’s are an easy recommendation as long as you can live with USB only in the case of the QB9. The Codex has USB and an optical input. It’s also a wonderful headphone amp. They are both very natural sounding DAC’s. Good Luck!

Appreciate all the replies. Thanks!

I did get a the CEC DAC DS5 directly from Japan for $1,500 and it is a superb DAC

Plays DSD but not SACD.

Note,  it is a 110 volts I did get a transformer for it, even though some experts sat it does not  matter. Our “120” is seldom 120, right now my power regulator  indicates   115

In USA the same CEC DAC goes goes $3,000 and in Europe for more than 3,000 euros!

Good luck on your search.

Some Ayre DACs only support USB… but others support SP/DIF, optical, and AES. It depends on the model.