Need help choosing a new DAC

@terrapin77

I believe that @mresseguie made some very insightful points. Given your description of what type of sonic presentation you’re seeking the non over sampling (NOS) DAC approach make a lot of sense. As mentioned above the overwhelming format available is Redbook CD. Much of it is well recorded.

I would focus on good quality DACs that strive to extract the musical beauty and naturalness good CD playback is capable of. There is a well made/engineered Swiss made NOS , Merason Frerot DAC. Not a common brand talked about on this forum but worth checking into. It fits well within your budget target. @soix mentioned the Musician Audio Pegasus , also worth investigation.

Charles

I recommend a Schiit Yggdrasil. I helped a friend research a DAC, in the process I bought a Gungnir multibit as an experiment (for my computer system), and we got him a Yggdrasil. The natural and detailed sound compares with DACs of much higher cost. Since a DAC is so central to digital sound, you don’t want to skimp. This is a very high caliber DAC for the money.

Noting your budget I must share that I purchased a Sonnet Morpheus with MQA for $3,200. I think you can come in at @2,900 without. This component transformed my system and will pretty much make any recorded production sound good with proper adjustments between it and your preamp. 

You left out max $$ budget 

@jimob ​​​​​​My max budget is $2500