DAC Upgrade

Wow! I didn't realized I would create such a firestorm of opinions on DAC's and the various technology and  formats. I respect every opinion on the board but although measurements are important, I have found that great measurements don't always produce great sounding equipment. You can see the state of confusion we audiophiles are in when it comes to buying our equipment since we now choose from a plethora of really good products. I wish I could evaluate every DAC mentioned here but that is not possible so the only other choice other than system measurements is to rely on the findings of other audiophiles and reviewers. I am sure that any of the DAC's mentioned here would make me very happy at my price range. I will continue my search for now and probably add to my short list. 
Thanks everyone for your input

@cavy

I have found that great measurements don’t always produce great sounding equipment

It usually does when doing a double-blind session (and level-matched below clipping and quick switching). Measurements don’t mean squat when you have it in your home or go to a dealer’s demo room.

My main point was arguing against clearly incorrect statements that measurements can easily prove. It’s fine to say you prefer one over another, but to state that one is more transparent when more distortion/aliasing exist, just shows the flaws of sighted listening evaluations.

Ask anyone how owns a R2R Multibit dac or cdp while playing PCM Redbook that has the ability to switch on the fly between NOS and OS, and you'll get the majority saying the NOS sounds better to them for the reasons I mentioned above, which are:

" In NOS mode with the Holo Spring dac playing PCM RedBook, there is more body to the sound, and the treble has more transparent and noticeable "harmonic" extension to it."      

mzkmxcv

@cavy I have found that great measurements don’t always produce great sounding equipment

It usually does when doing a double-blind session (and level-matched below clipping and quick switching)

Please tell us about the double-blind listening tests you've conducted. Or, are you relying on the effort of others when you make this claim?

@cleeds

The effort of others who have hundreds of international participants ranging in age/experience/sex and are pretty much always in agreement.

I don’t have the money nor the time to buy dozens of equipment and setup level matched blind listening tests.

You are the one claiming the studies don’t prove so, so the burden is mostly on your end.

Also, using common sense to not belive in things just cause I’m good by others. For instance, 24Bit has no benefit over 16Bit in a residential environment, that’s because the only difference is the noise floor, and the noise floor of 16Bit is lower than any residential environment. 
 
I like being proven wrong with facts, not someone telling me so. I don’t buy into expensive digital cables the same way I don’t buy into essential oils over medical treatment.