Higher End DACs

ufguy73,

I agree that you should give Vince a call, if anything, just to talk to the man, as he's a fountain of knowledge and useful info.
But given your situation, a forum is not the best place for you right now. You should really find a dealer and work with him. He should be able not only to answer your questions (in regards to your whole system, not only DACs), as well as provide gear for you to evaluate.
We are in California too, though on the Southern end :) If there's no one local to you that you like, you're welcome to reach out and maybe i can help.

cheers,
Alex
Alma Music and Audio

I have not read all of the responses.  I believe this to be important/relevant and timely subject matter.  Thanks for starting the thread.  I have been able to audition a couple of high end DAC’s.  Before I get into those...my listening taste leans toward warm and accurate sounding classic rock, southern blues and plain old blues.
I stream both Qobuz and Tidal through a Roon+ (the Roon is a constant in all my auditions).
The two DAC’s I auditioned were the MSB Select II and the Chord Dave combined with Chords MScaler.  The results (to my ears) were opposite of the price points.  The Chord combination sounded significantly warmer and guitars, pianos and drums came across as the “real thing” in terms of accuracy. You should be able to get the Roon+, Chord Dave and Chord MScaler combination for under $25K.  This does not include proper cables which is another subject.
I suggest auditioning this Roon/Chord combination....Really hard to beat!  Have fun

@jworth thanks for chiming in!

im a guitar player myself and, in addition to classical, i predominantly lean toward blues, classic rock, bit of hard rock myself (you know, guitar-centric stuff lol).

i’ve heard good things about the Dave.

@asiufy i hear you - ive been very fortunate to benefit from everyone being kind enough to share their opinions and knowledge on this thread and am very grateful.

of course, I also recognize the inherent limitations associated with trying to gather thoughts on something that is ultimately subjective - and trying do so on a forum!

I am in communication with a local dealer, now, to see if he can make some connections with MSB and DCS (which he currently doesn’t have) - ideally, i can work with someone locally but if that doesn’t pan out I will definitely reach out and take you up on your kind offer!

ufguy73...fwiw i searched for all reviews of the bartok and can’t remember a product receiving such universal praise. i’m getting one for sure. 

@4425 as of right now, I'm actually leaning toward the Bartok also....I am not sure if I really want to A/B with a Rossini...perhaps I should set the 15k or so the Bartok runs as the ceiling and only listen to that level of price or lower (ie to ensure I can tell I am getting something compared to something like a Mytek price point, etc.).

It would also leave some cash for a TT analog setup, which I know might be heresy in this sub-forum lol