A Top DAC

throwing in my rec here as i recently went through a dac serach. for me and my system, i found the rockna wavedream signature to be very nice and then when paired with the rockna wavedream net it really just went to a new level. i'm done looking at digital front ends (i'm 100% digital btw). 

please dm me if you have further questions but here's a quick description of what i'm hearing: i'm getting vinyl like tone and texture with a beautifully large soundstage. detail wise, i would say this is up there with any dcs or msb but i run mine on the hybrid filter which is more reminscent of the msb sound. the designer used to use and design msb modules but now he is creating them in house. it doesn't have the beautiful chassis of a dcs or msb but thats where you save some money too. i couldn't be happier with my purchase. (it feeds a soulution 721 pre which goes into a symphonic line kraft 300 that power s5 mk2's)

The new Bakoon Dac coming later this year will be worth waiting for imo.

CH Precision C1.1 with T1 and X1 power supply. You can also go for the mono version of the above set. Best I've ever heard. (admit that I have not heard all of the others)

Stickman451

I have not had a chance to compare any of these to any of the other ones on your list so I can only comment on what I’ve heard. Based on everything you read my vote would go to the DCS. A good friend of mine owns a high end audio store in the Chicago area and he is a DCS dealer and has been so for the last 3 years. His top digital brands used to be Esoteric, Berkeley & Playback Design, All well respected brands. When he got the DCS on the floor and customers started comparing this dac against that dac it was not even close. In the first year alone, he sold three times as many DCS dacs then all 3 of the other brands combined. 

I visit sit there frequently so I get a chance to listen to both the Bartok and the Rossini on many different types of electronics and speakers and the DCS stuff just sounds so good. They are very reliable as well. He has been in business for over 40 years and he claims that the DCS gear is the best digital he’s ever heard. I agree. If you want a streamer/dac I think the DCS is going to be tough to beat. Good luck with whatever you choose.

Scot

I’m going to get an in-house demo of the DCS Rossini and the external clock this weekend.  It’ll be an interesting comparison to my Analog DAC.  Will post my impressions early next week.