@gdhal
It ultimately depends on your setup and what works for your amp and speakers. I compared both the DAC2 and Gustard to Audioresearch DAC 8. In the end it was too hard to pick a winner. The sound was excellent from all sources - not possible to call a clear winner. Differences were not significant enough to worry about. If anything the Audioresearch seemed slightly more dynamic.
As for DAC3, all I can say is it works for my setup and is the best I have heard from digital. Blacks are very black and clarity of individual instruments is better than I have heard in the past - a huge step up from DAC2. I have not compared DAC3 with Gustard or Audioresearch but from my comments you can gather the DAC3 is significantly better versus DAC2.
Good luck in your search - I don’t think you can be disappointed with any of the latest DACs.
It ultimately depends on your setup and what works for your amp and speakers. I compared both the DAC2 and Gustard to Audioresearch DAC 8. In the end it was too hard to pick a winner. The sound was excellent from all sources - not possible to call a clear winner. Differences were not significant enough to worry about. If anything the Audioresearch seemed slightly more dynamic.
As for DAC3, all I can say is it works for my setup and is the best I have heard from digital. Blacks are very black and clarity of individual instruments is better than I have heard in the past - a huge step up from DAC2. I have not compared DAC3 with Gustard or Audioresearch but from my comments you can gather the DAC3 is significantly better versus DAC2.
Good luck in your search - I don’t think you can be disappointed with any of the latest DACs.