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

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. 

@mitch2 I was planning on buying the AudioByte VOX | ZAP | HUB for $6K but my new Krell integrated has a built-in DAC (no choice for me). So I am not going to get the AudioByte in the near term. You should check it out.

I was also considering the Holo May, T2+, and the Wavelight but the AudioByte stack just impressed the heck out of me with the tech inside it. You can also use the AudioByte firmware to tailor the sound.  Currently there is only 1 flavor of the firmware, 2 more are planned and each will have a different sonic signature. Same guys as Rockna.

mahgister wrote

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....

You are certainly correct about that!

I have installed bass traps in the front wall corners and acoustic panels along the walls to tame treble reflections. When I am seriously listening, I cover the big screen TV with a blanket.

I have not spent the time to understand and analyze noise in the electric line and what are the typical ways to address this.

Another area I want to understand better is the relationship between the DAC output impedance relative to the preamp input impedance, and how much of that can you hear...

While the Theta DAC is better in terms of mids, highs and soundstage depth than my old Hegel HD25 DAC; the Hegel mid bass was better. That sort of indicates to me that I should continue to experiment with DACs.

I also want to experiment with balanced outputs to the preamp from the Theta, which I believe is fully balanced. I have read taking advantage of that will improve the sound.

As I reread this thread, the Mojo Audio Mystique V3 DAC looks interesting. Just so many good reviews and I appreciate the design philosophy. Right now they have a refurbished V3 balanced for $4K with two year warranty.

The only problem with balanced is the need to change from my CJ 17LS2 preamp, which is single ended only, and why I am contemplating a Don Sachs preamp. Don and I have been trading emails and he assures me that his preamp will seem like a veil has been lifted from my speakers compared the CJ. He seems like a straight forward person who shares what he believes and is willing to challenge his customers.

Thanks for listening!

Dsper .