Higher End DACs

The subjective review of the Metronome was nice but the measurements were not very impressive. The tube section had excessive noise and harmonic distortion and the solid state was competent but didn’t do any better than a Benchmark DAC3. I guess being able to pick filters would be nice.

Life exist without your dac and server....I own " emotions" in a low cost modified audio system... People need to think and generally dont need to buy anything more than what they already owns...The truth in your message is polluted by your feverish partiality.... My best...

I have only posted once on Audiogon, so this will be #2. I have become increasingly more interested in DACs as of late, so I got even more curious when I found this thread. Until about page 6, where it turned into a stream of consciousness post about the meaning of sound. 

Bo1972, please take the advice of the OP and find a new place to convince the world of your theories. You sound extremely passionate, and you speak a lot about listening, but you don't seem to actually be listening. At least not to the nice people on here whose thread you have hijacked.

Back to the thread... I am also looking for a new DAC and possibly a streamer. I haven't seen anyone recommend the Bel Canto Black EX line or the Audio Mojo Mystique V3, which seem to be really great products. Very different in philosophy from one another, but worth checking out. The DCS stuff has always been outside my price bracket, but I am sure it is a level of sound most would aspire to owning. The best DAC I have heard was a Chord DAVE at a Canjam Meet hooked up to a Reference Wells Audio Headtrip. The sound was extraordinary. But, I have nothing else to compare against. I am mostly a personal head-fi listener.  I do not have a 2 channel set up. I use Roon Labs, a Vinshine R2R Reference DAC and a Pathos Aurium. Yet, I can't shake the feeling that how I get my music from source to my amp and headphones makes the most difference.

Anyways, good luck with your search and I will keep reading where this all shakes out. Perhaps it will lead me down a new road for my digital listening pleasure.