Higher End DACs

@ufguy73  

Two general principles [highly simplified] you are addressing (per your recent posts) are system wide component 'parity'  AND 'synergy.'  

Since a DAC or Streamer/DAC or DAC/Pre or Streamer/DAC/Pre is upstream, you are correct to push for / stretch for a higher level component.

You can start addressing parity and synergy (if need be) once you are comfortable with the new component in your current system. 

Forming future / 'idealized' system level goals to guide your component choices will be helpful.

@ufguy73, People who love listening to music realize that it is a lot easier to put together a really good system when you choose it based on HOW it sounds to "your ears".   We do not all hear things the same, we do not all have same desires of a system's sonic delivery and character and everyone's environment is different.  In addition, everyone has a different budget meaning you choose an audio system depending on how it sounds AND how much it costs.  

I suggest you listen to your audio system, AGAIN, and see what happens.  Does the music move you? Does the music sound great? Does the music get your attention? OR, does the music sound dull and flat? Does the bass sound okay or not?  How is the imaging?  Does the music have feeling or is it dull?  Does the music sound clear and with more musical detail?  How do the vocals sound?  If your audio system sound great, you are done!  If not, then you need to examine your components and decide what change, if any, needs to be made.  Sometimes maybe all you need is a cable upgrade.  

If you are unable to make these decisions, then go listen to live music to hear what good sound sounds like.  AND, also, go to your local audio retailer and listen to their systems to help decide what you like and do not like.  Visit your friends and listen to their audio systems.   You need to audition these components and decided what sounds you like.  If you are still UNABLE to decide, it means you are NOT ready. This means you need to do more listening.  If possible, see if you can borrow a component to see how it sounds in your listening room.  And, most important, do not rush the process.   I hope this helps.

Erik_squires,
Teac NT-505 dac/streamer. Dual mono AK4497’s, dual toroidal power supplies, fully balanced XLR, dual onboard clocks, full MQA support, great analog output section, upsample to DSD512, Lumin software, etc.... Amazing dac for $2k ("Esoteric-lite" I call it since Teac parent company of Esoteric - poor man’s Esoteric). I love it. Rest of system is Audio Research integrated amp and Spendor D7 and Rel S5 and MIT speaker/IC cables, Audio Art power and sub neutrik cables, Richard Gray power conditioner.

MQA a couple of steps higher than regular Tidal through my main system. I exclusively source Tidal. I have lesser systems (Bluesound, Integra) that fully decode MQA where I can’t really hear difference, but on *my* reference system I certainly can and I would never give that up.

[[granted, my system is different level than this thread deals with, but to me that’s all the more reason to demand MQA support if spending that kind of money as OP is considering -- if it makes huge difference with my $20k system and $2k DAC, why would you spend the $$ OP talking about without that feature, especially if concerned about future-proofness?? Nobody knows where MQA will be in 5 yrs, granted, but why take the chance? At a minimum is it not a feature to completely ignore, as some here seem to want to do. Relevant feature at a minimum, whether OP decides it is necessary or not. I’m just providing my personal experiences as an owner having 3 systems that fully decode MQA and being an exclusive Tidal user -- yes MQA makes huge difference if you have the system quality to resolve those differences -- if you don’t (and two of my three systems do not have that quality), then it doesn’t matter]]

Whether there’s something better than MQA I can’t say and don’t want to start an argument about that. I’m speaking from personal experience and to me it makes a noticeable difference on Tidal (when that is all I’m talking about) if your system is at a certain level of performance. As I said, only my reference system is. My second and third systems are not and I can’t hear MQA difference there, despite having full MQA decode there also (but those are $3k and $2k systems - quality not there to resolve the distinctions, IMO).

If the upstream signal quality is compromised you cannot somehow miraculously correct the shortcomings further downstream,???

 But this is exactly what people are telling ufguy73 he can do with a $35000 streamer/dac. Digital streaming is a whole new ballgame, it’s different from vinyl and CD where your front end piece the TT/cart/arm or CD player is the front end in streaming the front end is a room full of servers sitting hundreds if not thousands of miles away. So if this signal is compromised before it hits your modem how is a mega $$$ streamer going to miraculously fix it any better than a Sonos? If the signal isn’t compromised which means you actually get the signal in digital you either get it or you don’t. Now what that streamer does with it is what matters and until it hits that dac which changes this digital to analog has more to do with not messing up the signal in any way and as long as the dac can do its job the streamer did its job. How easy the user environment is is one of the most important aspects of the streamer that and not degrading the digital signal beyond repair by the dac.