I'll take the other side of this coin. Eddy, I would tell you that the idea that you will hear a "big" difference between these dacs, even from $500 to $1500, is highly debatable. You are welcome to go with what everyone is saying, but you should be prepared for the possibility that you don't hear much of a difference, or the difference is so small you'll wish you'd spent the money on something else. Maybe there are huge differences between dacs that cost $300 and $10,000, I don't know because I've never heard a $10K dac. But $1000 vs $1500? Good luck with that. I like Coli's suggestion of the Emotiva DC-1, or you could go with a Peachtree Dac-itx for $300 (I have one), the Schiit Bifrost is a nice unit and you can get the multi-bit version for under $600. Tons of great choices well under $1000, even under $600.