Sunandmusic,
I got to participate in a blind shootout between a 3.1, 4.1 and a 5 Special. I have also heard the DAC-5 Signature in a friend's system. These are all very musical sounding devices. In the shootout, I thought the 4.1 was really the sweetspot. It was considerably better than the 3.1, and only slightly less resolving and detailed than the 5 Special (at significantly lower price). The shootout came about when a customer brought into the dealership a 4.1 he owned to compare with the 5 Special, and perhaps, to trade in the 4.1 to get the 5. Another customer, who happened to be in the store at that time, ran home to get his 3.1 for the shootout, because there was the possibility of trading it in for the 4.1 if the owner of the 4.1 traded up. As it turned out, both customers ended up executing the three-way trade.
I have only heard a direct comparison between the DAC 5 Special and one other DAC. That other DAC is something made by an Italian builder of tube gear (phono, preamps, linestages, DACs, crossovers and field coil power supplies) named Aldo D'Urso. I thought Aldo's DAC, which is much cheaper than the DAC 5, sounded better in most, but not all respects. The Aldo DAC was actually better than the DAC 5 in midrange texture and sounded more harmonically dense (more saturated sound), but, the DAC 5 was a bit more open and airy on the top end. Overall, I would take the Aldo DAC, but, the comparison was pretty close. If you are at all interested in the DAC 5 or the Aldo DAC, you can contact Deja Vu Audio (dejavu-audio.com) and speak to the proprietor, Vu Hoang (he sells both).
I admit that I have not tried to keep up with the latest developments in the DAC/digital front. If it is like any other component type, I would not expect there to have been much in the way of real improvements for some time now. The big changes have been more a matter of convenience. I DO like very much the convenience of making music selections from a server (Naim NDS).
I got to participate in a blind shootout between a 3.1, 4.1 and a 5 Special. I have also heard the DAC-5 Signature in a friend's system. These are all very musical sounding devices. In the shootout, I thought the 4.1 was really the sweetspot. It was considerably better than the 3.1, and only slightly less resolving and detailed than the 5 Special (at significantly lower price). The shootout came about when a customer brought into the dealership a 4.1 he owned to compare with the 5 Special, and perhaps, to trade in the 4.1 to get the 5. Another customer, who happened to be in the store at that time, ran home to get his 3.1 for the shootout, because there was the possibility of trading it in for the 4.1 if the owner of the 4.1 traded up. As it turned out, both customers ended up executing the three-way trade.
I have only heard a direct comparison between the DAC 5 Special and one other DAC. That other DAC is something made by an Italian builder of tube gear (phono, preamps, linestages, DACs, crossovers and field coil power supplies) named Aldo D'Urso. I thought Aldo's DAC, which is much cheaper than the DAC 5, sounded better in most, but not all respects. The Aldo DAC was actually better than the DAC 5 in midrange texture and sounded more harmonically dense (more saturated sound), but, the DAC 5 was a bit more open and airy on the top end. Overall, I would take the Aldo DAC, but, the comparison was pretty close. If you are at all interested in the DAC 5 or the Aldo DAC, you can contact Deja Vu Audio (dejavu-audio.com) and speak to the proprietor, Vu Hoang (he sells both).
I admit that I have not tried to keep up with the latest developments in the DAC/digital front. If it is like any other component type, I would not expect there to have been much in the way of real improvements for some time now. The big changes have been more a matter of convenience. I DO like very much the convenience of making music selections from a server (Naim NDS).