Neutral Dac?

Crane Song Solaris Quantum for $2K from Sweetwater. It is the sound of analog which is diff from neutrality which you asked about but you will be totally pulled into the sound.

The Nagra HD DAC is neutral based on comparing with master tape but at a quantum leap in price compared to the Crane Song. Your likely reaction is that the Nagra is more laid back than the Crane Song. To make an analogy to which prolly one 0.001 % of readers can relate it's like the diff between 468 and 456 tape. 468 is neutral to the point where upon first comparison you find it dull compared to 456. But upon long term listening you find it is more relaxed which is why a lot of pros go for 468. Especially for recording classical.

* difficult to get Crane Song. I guess it's three guys working out of a garage. Sweetwater is yr best bet for getting yr hands on some actual bird.

The most neutral DAC I have heard is the Rockna Wavedream.  The edition and signature tonally are the same.  You get more detail and an even bigger soundstage with the signature vs the edition.  
 

the thing about the Wavedream is the sound profile doesn’t really stand out in any way.  It is not bright nor is it warm.  The sound isn’t full but it also isn’t thin.  It isn’t forward but it isn’t laid back.  Etc….  It is hard to describe the sound because of this and in fairness, some folks find this a bit boring as the DAC is so exceedingly uncolored.  
 

I would say this is true across the dozens of DACs I have listened too ranging from the Khadas Tone 2 up to the MSB Reference.  

I am not sure what neutral sounding is because that is subjective. I personally like my Shiit audio Byfrost DAC, which is very outclassed in this forum.

The most neutral DAC I have heard is the Rockna Wavedream.  The edition and signature tonally are the same.  You get more detail and an even bigger soundstage with the signature vs the edition.  
 

the thing about the Wavedream is the sound profile doesn’t really stand out in any way.  It is not bright nor is it warm.  The sound isn’t full but it also isn’t thin.  It isn’t forward but it isn’t laid back.  Etc….  It is hard to describe the sound because of this and in fairness, some folks find this a bit boring as the DAC is so exceedingly uncolored.  

I have a Wavedream Signature and agree it's very neutral, but "boring" is not a word I would associate with it.  It's very dynamic and punchy.  Sometimes it startles me a little when I start playing music, even though I'm expecting it, there's just so much more body and drive than any DAC I've owned previously.  

Before the Wavedream I had an Aqua La Voce S3 which to me was also quite neutral and perhaps a little more affordable for most than a Wavedream.