Exogal DAC

Thankful, Oh, goodness, my friend, GET going on an aftermarket power cord! You will gain so much more performance, and this is also true of the Ion PowerDAC. 

I have made many systems, both review and personal, with the Clarity Cables and they continue to find favor. I also very much enjoy their USB cable. 

I have mine on the marketplace right now, because I have the same preference in sound as you do.

The Comet doesn't have the treble energy I'd like and falls to the warmer more saturated side of the spectrum without sacrifcing micro-detail by going too thick. It's smoother and has less fast attack than my older NOS dac(save for the bass where the NOS becomes flabby.) The man I bought it from said "Think Vega but better, maybe more color."

Technically it's solid, the only other DAC in the price range I've heard was a Quest yle and it's dryer than that, far more detailed. But as I say above its far enough from my preferences that performance ceases to matter, I prefer a more top-down kind of sound.

redfuneral, did you do comparison of cables? You can change the character of any DAC quite a bit by using alternative cables. For instance, I have three USB cables which change the character of the system dramatically, and placement of different power cords alters the sound for either top or bottom end enhancement. 

It sounds like you like the Comet, but wish there was more upper end energy. That is relatively easy to come by with cable changes, and I think you would avoid shrillness, or stridency, in the process.