Since some are still posting here, I have to share something that blew me away. I am still selling the Music Hall DAC and I also have my older Krell DAC that I'm selling. I was in shock at how good the Krell still sounds. The bass was always a strong suite of the older Krell gear and this thing is no exception. I installed both the Music Hall and the Krell into my main system (Vandersteen Treo's, Empirical Audio OSDE/SE with Synchro Mesh for connecting all digital gear that aren't USB, Ayre AX5/20 with top of the line Audioquest cable with Synergistic Research Powercell 10/SE with upgrade power cord. I also used the Empirical Audio rebuilt Mac mini with Paul Haynes designed power supply for the server (it's as good as nearly any server I've heard at any price). It's highly revealing as you can imagine.
The inexpensive DAC's aren't in the Empirical league by any means. For those who feel that their DAC's under 2500k sound as good as the 'expensive' DAC's, I invite you over to listen to my system. I've yet to hear a DAC under 5k that comes close to what I have and the Aesthetix Romulus is also a KILLER DAC. Their new Eclipse I've been told, is one of the best sounding DAC's out there right now for 12,500 I believe. No need to spend all of this though. You need to figure out your budget for how good your system WILL be. I haven't seen the OP's original budget, but it's an older thread and maybe I missed it.
We all have opinions and that's what a board is about, but in dealing with digital, there is so much misinformation out there. Even EE's have posted stuff about DAC construction on digital threads I've read on the net and they aren't always correct either. To make blanket statements about a specific company's DAC being better or worse is just not fair. Implementation is the MOST important thing. Filtering is HUGE. You need to eliminate pre and post ringing. Even those of us who heard sound differently don't want ringing in their music. There is no reason to even concern yourself with a usb DAC vs a plug in or a Wolfson vs a Saber or anything like that. Try and get out to listen a bit. If you read enough DAC reviews, then check out the other reviews by the reviewer and see if what type of sound they like best. Most of the time they will share that with you. Also, consider your own system and how well components will work together. What type of output does your transport have? Personally, I've asked many a designer of digital gear and if usb is done properly, then it's a fine hook up. Coax is also good and balanced is even better. Most folks I know use toslink for their last resort. I have listened too all my digital gear from blue ray player to cable box to TV to mac mini server and I use USB from the server as it's the best connection for MY DAC. I have the Synchro Mesh box to be able to hook up my blue ray coax, TV/toslink, Cable Box, coax. That's just me and what I found has worked best in my system.
Has the OP found their DAC? If so, what did you get and how do you hook it up? Do you like it?
