Higher End DACs

I’ve been auditioning a ’higher end’ all in one and unfortunately I will not be able to test it with different server. My gut ’sense’ (with respect to this specific unit) is that the server is less critical (to go all out on) in this application. Hopefully I will be able to test and find out for myself definitively.

my viewpoint is the opposite.

the server is a larger roadblock to great streaming sound than the dac.

why? very simple.

line up 10 dacs from $5k to $25k, and try to tell the difference. blindfolded. it’s not very easy.

line up multiple servers.......including the Extreme......whoa......big difference. these days very fine sounding dacs are trivial to come up with.

the Extreme weighs 80 pounds. eighty pounds. why?

heat and noise. it’s just physics. and who is willing to go to that ’Extreme’? only one company.

the best sounding dacs are expensive, and can be crazy expensive. and they do sound better. all things being equal they will sound better. but all things are rarely equal. and the Extreme is a breakthrough product which has been a game changer.

@mtdining "However, I don't think vocalists really sound human short of DCS."

Really? Really, dude? So no digital playback whatsoever makes vocalists sound human other than DCS?

One of the most ridiculous statements I've heard in a long time.

Lumin t2 and be done

DAC it OUT held last August in Scottsdale, Arizona blind tested 10 DACS.
See review at AZAVCLUB.com
I would completely agree with mike that many dacs today are pretty
good. No mention of the Denafrips Terminator above. Anyone have one?
The Chinese seem to be kicking arse and taking numbers in the
hifi world these days from a value perspective.

I would also recomend looking at the dCS Bartok. I just upgraded to one from the Chord Hugo TT2. We actually were able to do listening tests in my home with my Magico S1MKII. We compared the Chord Dave and mScaler, Bartok, and fully upgraded MSB premire stack. The MSB and Bartok was better to us than the Chord stack by a decent margain. They were more full bodied and did not give up any detail while presenting a larger more realistic soundstage. 

The MSB and Bartok we pretty close together. The MSB had a bit sweeter top end and the imaging was a bit more diffuse ina good way. The MSB also clocked in at over $35k with the network module and the rest of the upgrades. So that should be taken into account. For my money the Bartok is the better value of the three the Dave and mscaler are over $16k. 

Unless you have headphones that aren't hard to drive I would go with the Bartok without the amp. I prefer an external headphone amp with my abyss.