DAC Choices - $5,000 to $7,000

@rsf507 - Mystique V3 with balanced outputs, it arrives tomorrow from an excellent seller (super fast ship) over on USAM who upgraded to an MSB.
I am really curious the hear what all the rave reviews are about and how it compares to my Adagio.
I have not seen any EVO level Mystiques for sale on the used market yet.
The question of which input to use is interesting since my Ambre endpoint doesn’t have a USB output, but it does have S/PDIF and optical. If I want to use the USB input, then I need to give up the advantages of using a Roon endpoint and connect the Mystique directly to my Antipodes DX L3 server, or purchase something like the SOtM trio that I used to own.  I connect the Adagio to the Ambre using I2S.

@mitch2, congrats on the Mystique V3 balanced!   That is exactly what I purchased a few months ago; it will be interesting to hear your thoughts on it.   I'm using a Bricasti M5 with Roon to feed it's SPDIF input.  I found its sound quality jumped significantly after upgrading my SPDIF streamer to the Bricasti.  I've just ordered a Luna Orange USB cable to try with it, so I'm not sure which of those two inputs I'll ultimately prefer.

@ddafoe curious but since you use a Bricasti M5 would it not be less expensive to use the Bricasti M3 (or any other 1 box streamer/dac) than the Mystique/M5? One less power cord one less cable? Unless you prefer the SQ of a R2R dac vs other implementations. Your thoughts most appreciated.

With my Pi (running Roon) based SPDIF streamer, I definitely preferred the Mystique over the M3 in my system.    Adding the M5 to the Mystique using the same SPDIF cable (Shunyata Anaconda ZTRON) brought it to a whole another level; I'm now kicking myself for not upgrading streamers years ago. The V3/M5 combo (assuming you can find a used Mystique V3) actually cost me less than the M3 with the integrated streamer would have.

That being said, I was told by Bricasti and forum members that the M3 sounds its best with the integrated streamer, so assuming the M5 bump is the same for both DACs, plus add in the extra for the integrated solution, and yea I would now like to have that M3 in my system to compare.  If it is simply a case of magnifying the strengths of each DAC, I likely would still prefer the V3, but I can't say for sure without hearing both combos.

I'm truly shocked by the difference adding the M5 made.  Being able to try the USB input on the V3 vs SPDIF is a nice bonus too.   I also have an Anaconda AES cable and actually went to hook it up when I got the M5 and realized the V3 doesn't have an AES input :)   Maybe someday I'll get an EVO which looks to have AES...    I have an etherREGEN coming tomorrow to feed the M5, and am able to try it both with fiber and copper so that should be an interesting test.   I'm now a strong believer of handling your digital signal with the utmost care :)
  

If someone is looking for a Mystique V3 they might consider the option of contacting Ben to see if he has any trade-ins coming in on EVO orders; he tunes them up before re-selling them