Affordable alternativ to the PS Audio DirectStream DAC

I’ve heard quite a few DACs and ended up with the Aqua Formula xHD with my first choice being the TotalDac 12 (but out of my current budget). The La Voce has the same Aqua house sound, detailed, natural, effortless with a massive 3D sound stage (better than TotalDac btw in this regard). I’ve also heard the PSAudio Directstream with the latest FW in a friend’s system and while it’s full bodied and has quite good PRAT I didn’t care for the artificially lush sound which might have masked some of the detail. The friend’s DAC was a Soekris which was a bit more detailed and accurate (not lush, not too thin). Another DAC I recently heard at a local dealer / friend is the LessLoss DAC which I believe uses the Soekris RtoR boards, and is a very natural, detailed, overall quite beautiful sounding DAC - recommended. Another RtoR to investigate (mentioned above) would be TotalDAC. Similar to the Aqua sound in some ways (effortless, very natural timbre, great PRAT) but different in that the TDs are a bit more lush but not as airy/3D as the Aqua. Both are excellent.

Also, to whomever commented that "RtoRs are all sounding the same", simply not true. Is there a theme whereby there is an effortless and naturalness inherit in most designs, yes. Do they sound the same, no. Listen to TotalDAC, Aqua, Aries Cerat, Soekris, Lessloss, etc. and you’ll hear significant differences but all stellar DACs.
Final note - whatever your short list becomes I highly recommend demoing the DACs in your system. Only you can decide and your system will play a significant role in how the DAC integrates to your liking (or not). Happy Listening!

The latest firmware for the DS dac (3.0.6) again takes the unit to the next level sonically. Even though it is an update to the PIC code...its just plain keeps getting better and better. Hearing is believing!!! 

A few months ago a friend brought over his PS Audio DirectStream DAC and a Schitt Yggdrasil.   I run an old Peachtree DAC-iT, which I paid $500 for some years ago.  The follow-on model is now available from Peachtree for $250.  You can find my unit on EBay for about $125 these days.

There were a number of local audiophiles present and we came away with a variety of opinions, though there was one thing we all agreed upon.  The Schitt Yggdrasil was edgy and nothing any of us wanted to listen to, let alone worth its price tag in excess of $2000.

I liked the PS machine better than my Peachtree, as you might expect.  But the Peachtree actually sounded very, very good.   More than half of those present liked the Peachtree best of all!

The Peachtree just sounds good.  I thought there was a hair more detail and accuracy with the PS, but certainly not $4000+ worth.  I'd be willing to pay something like $800 for it, but nothing at all like the money that is asked.  I have NO complaints about my Peachtree. 

It only does up to 96/24, so if you have a need for 192/24, you'll want the newer Peachtree DAC iTx.  I have no interest in high rez streaming services and therefore do not have that requirement.

And as an FYI, here are the details of my system that we used to listen to these DACs.

VTA SP13 tube preamp
B&K AV1260 12 channel MOSFET power amp
Linkwitz Orion v3.3 loudspeaker system - active crossover calls for 4 amp channels per side, so 8 channels total needed.
Digital Source:   HP laptop running Ubuntu Linux, Banshee music player

The DS dac and DMP transport...when used together,form such a musically coherent presentation with the latest firmware updates...it has to be heard to believed. I tend to believe that if one’s system is not up to the task of revealing all that this pair of music making machines have to offer...it will not be fully appreciated...period.

Dear Martin-Anderson,you can find the Teac in The Netherlands (Enschede :DP-audio at the price of:1699€ , the same on the web Hifi 79 studio:  1375€, (nl.) ‘ or Wifimedia Experience Center: 1390€ (nl.) In Belgium there are also available.