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

@dsper, I did exactly as you suggested last year; sold my Bricasti M3 and tried the ASR darlings RME ADI2 FS and Topping D90.  I don't have anything bad to say about either of them; for the money I would recommend either.  The RME was my favorite of the two and I almost decided to keep it longer term until I was lucky enough to stumble on a Mystique V3 Balanced.   

In my system the D90 offered great dynamics, a black background, and amazing resolution.    As a device to simply analyze every last bit of detail on my favorite recordings it was great.  That being said, for my musical tastes and system preference (Pass Amp, Spendor Speakers) I found the D90 to be too forward and fatiguing for my tastes; I had to lower my listening levels and ultimately my listening time when using it.   I had problems enjoying the music through all of the analytical detail on the majority of the recordings I listen to.  Other folks who prefer that type of sound get a killer deal for its MSRP.

In comparison, I find the Mystique V3 simply plays music in my system and that is what it's all about for me and am happy to pay the difference.   Yes, I A/Bed the Mystique and RME in my system (I returned the D90) and preferred the Mystique enough to pony up the $$.  Again these are my tastes and experiences in my system...    If I need a reasonably priced musical sounding DAC again in the future between upgrades or for a different system, I would be very happy to bring the RME back into my house.

Thanks for sharing your experiences and comments. They have restored my faith in audiophiles and I will reread this thread in a more accepting manner to learn more!

Have been thinking about a new DAC and was wondering if $6,000 gets a lot more than $3,000.

In the meantime, I continue to enjoy my Theta ProBasic III that I bought for $600 a couple of years ago. It was a big improvement when I was getting tired of trying ESS DAC's that were too analytical and fatiguing with my Thiel CS5i's. 

I continue to enjoy my Theta ProBasic III

This is already a good dac..... i think that perhaps you would better do to invest more time, and less money in the controls of your room acoustic, and in the cleaning of the electrical noise floor of your house and perhaps even in the controls of vibrations from the speakers...

But audiophile experience is for me synonymus with a controlled acoustic, not with the choice of a dac mainly....

It is only my very limited experience but very convincing one for me....

My actual dac sound limited in my non controlled room and is not the same at all in my new controlled room.... The dac has not changed a bit, my evaluation of it has.....Upgrading it then seems pointless now for me ....


Sound in an abstract way is equally wave or bits, but in a concrete room sound is mostly only specific space and waves for specific ears, not bits....

 And at the end you will be better prepared to upgrade if necessary  after an acoustical optimal installation...Or even after an electrical grid controls, etc

@dsper I also wouldn't paint every ESS dac with that same brush the Matrix X-Sabre Pro I tried has a top of the line ESS chip and wasn't bright or fatiguing at all.  Very smooth actually.

I tried to live with the ASR darling Topping D90 for more than a month. Detailed, sharp, uninvolving, non-musical. Period.