Should I really, really buy a Berkeley Reference DAC...Testify!

Um, listen to the latest from Mytek, Schiit and Ayre. I think they are going to be far less expensive, and you might like them more, or at least, not tell a difference, than the "reference."

But to your own ears and wallet be true.

+1 for Erik's post.
I own the Schiit Bifrost and Modi Multibit DAC's and couldn't be happier.

I've never heard the Berk Ref DAC but I do wonder why I see them up for sale so often considering how new they are.

I'm a Meitner/EMM Labs man myself and would step up to the MA-1 as gateway drug option from where you are now before going whole hog on ANY $15k DAC

These days, I just don't see the point spending that kind of scratch on a DAC. These things go the way of the dodo Bird within a year kind of like dropping $5-8K on a new flavor of the month Flat Screen TV. Within a 6mo to a year that same TV will be 1/2 it's current price.

Just my 2cents