Weiss DAC2 or W4S or PWD or Zodiac + or . . .

If you are on Windows, you really ought to spring for J River or XX Highend.

Although it has been around awhile, my Weiss DAC2 got me off the merry go round by being the first DAC that really sounded like music to me. That included the likes of the Berkley Audio Designs Alpha.

I do have W4S DAC-2 fed async USB from a notebook, Windows 7, running foobar playing FLAC.
Superb sound, absolutely no complaints. Much better than the Benchmark via S/PDIF I used to have before with the same setup. YMMV.

Might also want to consider the Resolution Audio Cantata
http://resolutionaudio.com/

Thank you all for the comments.

The Cantata looks interesting but a bit pricey. I did have an Opus 21 CD player a couple year ago and wasn't "in love" with it. It seemed a little polite on music that is less so. I was using it direct into my amps at the time so maybe that had something to do with it.

Read TAS's review of the W4S DAC2 before you decide to buy.

i love my zodiac+, it sounds very smooth (i think its because of its own clocking chip), and i use it as a preamp, connected directly to threshold 10e monoblock - I Am very happy with the results.

I also have the w4s dac2 for my other set up, so far I think the zodiac+ is in a different league; but maybe i should just let it run in a bit more before comparing the two.

Try to run in the W4S a bit more. It sound completely different to what it first came out from the box. All the harshness textures just disappeared.

w4S-2 is not even near the performance of Antelope Zodiac+ or Weiss 202.
The last 2can play music the W4S-2 is mechanical and uninvolving.

And of course there are better dacs than Zodiac+ and 202

Do the newer Antelope DAC's still have issues?

If I were you I would also have a lok at the Pink Faun DAC2 or DAC3 and BMC DAC1. The current BMC DAC doesn't have asynchronus USB the upcomming model will have it.

I have been reading lots of stuff about the Antelope but haven't seen anyone mention "issues" with them.The only complaint is the $5 wallwart power supply which is ridiculous on a $2700 dac.

I own the PS Audio PW DAC and Trans. I do not run a network set (aka Bridge option for the DAC). IT's a great, very natural sounding DAC with little in the way of harsh digital artifacts. It will handle all bit depth's, sampling frequencies. I have found whether playing 16/44.1 or 24/192, the unit sounds best playing in Native mode. By selecting that mode, you bypass the sample rate convertor. It does allow you to upsample source files if you want. Bridge still has some bugs like gapless play for Flac files. They are working on a fix. Do some reading in their forum where issues regarding bridge are being discussed. What I like most about PS Audio is their product support. Even the President of the company responds to inquiries in their forum located here.
http://www.psaudio.com/ps/forum/viewforum/6/

The Berkeley Audio Alpha DAC is another worthy of consideration.

I still haven't decided. Was leaning heavily toward the PWD but interestingly the shop where I auditioned it primarily uses a Sonos ZP90 as the network streamer for demonstration. Apparently many of the employees have Sonos in their personal systems. As I mentioned in my original post I have a Cullen Circuits modified ZP80 that I've been using into my Benchmark as a "temporary solution" in my hifi rig. Since the vast majority of the stuff I listen to isn't available in hi-rez I'm thinking of sticking with the modded Sonos for awhile and if I do that I'm not sure the PWD is the best overall DAC choice.

The guy I got my Sonos from spoke highly of the Redwine Isabellina DAC with his only complaint being that it couldn't do hi-rez which was important to him. I've also been quite intrigued by the Audio Note DAC 3.1/4.1 kits but I REALLY wish I could hear one before buying.

It might be easier if the Bridge were a bit more mature but as of now the Sonos user experience is so nice and not having to deal with fiddly gear is important to me at the moment.

Bud, there were also issues with the volume control.

It may be above the OP's budget, but the Metric Halo is also worth checking out.

I've received quite a few emails regarding the Z+ VS DAC2, so I might just post my opinions here as well :)

Yes, at such price point, the Z+ power supply does look ridiculous . However, even with such power supply, it still manager to sound better than the W4S DAC2.

I now have over 400 hours on the DAC2, I gotta say the improvement is big after the burn in period.

However, the Z+ does still sounds more dynamic, more details, better imaging and smoother than the DAC2.

The differences become more obvious with 24bit music.

Just FYI, my conclusion are based on my following setups:

1. itunes+ Amarra > DAC2/Z+ > Threshold 10e monoblocks > M&D mini+ with omni-harmonizer

2. itunes+ Amarra > DAC2/Z+> Threshold SA1 monoblocks > Gallo Ref 3.0

Both of the setup are connect with stock USB cables, the speaker, jumper and RCA cables are from Connexaudio (pure silver). I'm using both DACs as pre-amps.

APL DAC-S better then the rest

Kiskaprince, please share more details on your experience with the APL DAC-S and what else you've compared it to.