Which DAC makers let you do in home trial?

Hilde45

Any descent hifi store (brick & mortar) would probably let you take one home for a home audition to see if it’s something you like and works well in your system. Finding a good dealer in your area who can provide great advise can be invaluable, something you can’t get on the internet. Good luck.

Scot

Hilde45

I forgot to mention in my last post something I feel is very important. 

The company that only offers a 14 day return policy is, in my opinion, worthless. Most digital equipment takes much longer than 14 days to break in. The sound of a dac, and many other pieces of audio equipment, can sound completely different than when first plugged in. So if it takes 30 - 60 days to fully break in a dac, what good is a 14 day return policy?

There are company’s like Linear Tube Audio that FULLY break in everything the make before they ship and they give you a full 30 return policy, no questions asked. That tells me that they are confident their products sound good and that they are not likely to get many returns. The moral of that story is, don’t be fooled by a weak return policy. A good home audition from a local brick and mortar retail store eliminates that hole concern.

Scot

That’s a great point and thank you so much. I actually decided to go with linear tube audio and I am waiting for my dac right now. One of the reasons I asked this question was because there are a limited number of options from brick and mortar stores (eg if one wants an r2r) and also the shut down has caused a difficulty as well. Some shops are doing appointments but obviously this is a very difficult time. Your comment about the relative brevity of a 14 day trial period is something that applies directly to schiit audio.