Looking for a DAC that has..

Updates:
I guess I will be keeping Pass XP-10 for now. I feel it opens up a lot more options in the dac search with a pre (with analog volume control). Plus I always wanted to experiment power cords on XP-10 other than my Shunyata Venom3.

Synchro-mesh arrived 2 weeks ago. Very very good purchase. It costs $600 but I feel it brings out a lot more $$ that I've already invested in my speakers, amp and pre. ECD-1 dac sounded a lot more glorious than before. Too bad, I didn't get to keep ECD-1 for long after Synchro-mesh arrived. Out of boredom, I posted an ad on A'gon and it was sold within 2 days.

I went ahead and got Metrum Octave. So far breaking in at about 200 hours. I will wait until after 2 weeks (of continuous play - 336 hours) to post a personal review. The comparison with ECD-1 has to be from memory. But so far so good.

One other thing, I'm intrigued by Eastern Electric DAC Plus with Dexa opamps. During my Oppo-95 days, I remember how much I was fond of wide soundstage and airy presentation of Sabre dac. I'm interested in comparing
Metrum Octave + Synchro-mesh vs. EE Plus with Dexa opamps + Synchro-mesh

So if the synchro-mesh reclocks and is then sent to a dac that has a clock is it reclocked again?

I am new to this area. But I would love to use my Apple TV as my source.

So with the reclocker I could get 24/96 from my Apple TV?

Hi Motobonsai,
If your dac has internal reclocker, my guess is it will get reclocked again. In terms of sonic benefit, I do not know as I haven't tried. But in 6moon synchro-mesh review, the reviewer stated the benefit is minimum with PWD MKII dac, which supposedly has a very good internal jitter rejection circuitry. I've also read the reclocker still adds benefit to the dac even they are claimed to have jitter control (benchmark, w4s). I use Metrum Octave NOS dac that doesn't have a clock, works like a charm.

AppleTV outputs 16/48 only. The synchro-mesh has hardware upsampling to 16/96 or 24/96 (with a switch). So yes, you could get 24/96.

Antelope Zodiac

For most DACs, delivering a low-jitter signal is beneficial, even if the DAC reclocks or resamples inside. Even Sabre-based DACs.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio