Best DAC for around $2,500 or less

@rareace .. isn't the Border Patrol DAC twice the cost of the Bifrost? I think a comparison to the Gungnir Multibit would have been more meaningful (apples to apples). 

So in a direct comparison with a dac costing twice the Bifrost’s price, it held its own.   That’s a pretty good recommendation of the Bifrost.   If You’ve got a $2500 budget, as the thread title suggests, the Yggdrasil from Schiit is worth a listen.

Just picked up the RME ADI-2 da DAC and it is awesome.  

Replacing a NAD M51 and although the M51 sounds very good the RME has clarity and detail that the NAD just can not match.  

The feature set set is amazing,  little bit of a learning curve.  Anyone that thinks they can just use it out of the box is fooling themselves 

There is a lot to miss if you don’t read the entire manual.   That said once I dialed it in it sounded incredible with any and all material although not very forgiving of poor recordings.  Not to worry , between the 20 memory 5 band parametric EQ , tone control , and loudness you can get any sound desired 

well worth $1100. 

+ Audio Mirror.

Owned RME ADI-2
Owned Border Patrol
The AM bests them both for sheer musicality

The new Channel Island Audio Streamer/DAC clocks in at $2k. I bought one on a whim as there was an introductory special (that may still be going on, need to contact them to find out) that knocked $400 off the price and another $100 if you are an Audio Circle member. I won't say it's the best under $2500 but I was quite surprised at the performance of this DAC and will be keeping it in my system.