What's the greatest bargain in DAC's these days?

I've had the Metrum Octave, to me it was just a bit mushy or soft. It didn't have the definition I wanted, easy to listen too, but boring. I replaced it with the BMC PureDac and find it more lively without giving up any of the smoothness. I also have the iFi in a 2nd system and am amazed at what they inexpensive little guy can do!

Thank you for the tip on the Parasound ZDAC. I picked one up from Audio Advisor along with a Schiit Sys passive preamp and this thing sounds fantastic for the money. I was looking for a DAC for a second system and was also considering the Nuforce DAC9 which usually goes for around $1k used.

The ZDAC has excellent detail and has a nice substantive sound to it. By that I mean the images seem fairly well fleshed out and have body. The soundstage is a bit narrow, but then again my other DAC is a Tube Audio Design PreDAC which has a very large soundstage since it has a tube output stage.

All in all I'm very happy with the ZDAC and doubt there's a better value (new) for less than the $300 I paid from AA.

Hey Folks,
I wanted to "bump" and refresh this discussion a bit because almost 8 months have gone by since I started this thing and the DAC market is so fast moving.
I'm definitely in the market for a new DAC to replace my Musical Fidelity M1 (fed with a MF V-Linki 192 USB-to-SPDIF converter for computer audio). I am looking for something with an "analogue" sound (aren't we all?) that will not sacrifice detail but might take some of the harshness out of some digital recordings. I need to use the DAC for both hi-res files on a Mac laptop and hooked up to a CD transport. My budget is "under $1000, the lower the better."
The Parasound ZDAC is definitely in the running.
I've also heard good things about the Jolida FX III.
The Schiit Bitfrost Uber with all the latest upgrades is a possibility, as is the Gugnir.
The Peachtree DAC itX is another option.
Your thoughts?

With the introduction of the Rega DAC-R at $1200 it is now possible to find good deals on used Rega DAC (first version that sold for $1000).
They are selling for about $500 used and are supposed to be very analog sounding. May be a good choice for your needs.

Hi Rebbi - good luck in your search. Can't give you a direct comparison vs all your options. Previously I was using a Gen 1 V-DAC w/V-Link. I went to a Gungnir with V-Link 192. I was playing some CDs I'd copied to hard drive yesterday and was marveling at the sound...especially as just the day before my lengthy listening session was to vinyl. The Gungnir/V-Link/MBA combo sounded great...very mellow and full in what to me resembles what I like from vinyl "sound". Worth noting is I purchased a USB cable with split power/signal runs and use this from MBA into V-Link. ALSO - have recently switched to Morrow Audio MA4s ICs (w/Eichmann Silver RCAs) going from Gungnir to pre-amp. Not saying you'd go wrong with your other options but the V-Link/Gungnir combo is working for me. As someone else will undoubtedly say (I'm sure you know this) best way to find what works for you is to audition.