What is the best DAC ever made?

Hi Murataltuev, Thx for the response. My system consist of different pces than Teajays, firstly he has MAG 20 panels and I use MBL 101E speakers and at no time have I ever heard my AA Tube Dac sound as you put it "very bright", "soundstage desintegrated" and lastly "highs irritated"

I'm at lost for words!

This is totally off the wall, something most defiantly was wrong going on in your set-up but most defiantly not the characteristics nor fault of the AA Tube Dac.

Now I can understand your remarks in your prior posting but something else was going on, too bad you did not get to hear the real characteristics.

There is NO such a thing as the best DAC ever made. And there won't be one!!!!

Hi Dev,

When I say "bright" or "desintegrated", I mean in compare with...
Guy who bring Tube DAC said that this DAC is best he ever heard.
But after comparision in my system and than in his own, he agreed with me. So, this is just good expirience for you to think to try to compare.
As for me, after Emm and Berkeley I'm moving to Scarlatti.
All the rest sound poor in compare!
For my taste.

Dev, did you have the ARC CD7 prior to the TubeDAC? Did you have a chance to audition the latest versions of the EMM and or Berkeley? I'm sure the Scarlatti is good (I would hope so), but really viable for me. I think all of these are likely to be excellent, none is poor - but I will say that the EMM (CDSA, upgraded version) is very impressive to me.

Man, what a question and you expect to ever get a definitive answer? Look at the responses and you can see that pretty much if 100 people respond you will get 60-100 different answers. I have been in the hobby for over 25 years now and from what I can see to each his own! Yes, there are some statement products out there that are considered the BEST for a short time but they always get replaced by newer and "better" in no time! Just read some of the audio magazines out there and you will agree! One thing I just know by now is that each opinion is worth a penny and is pretty much useless unless you experience the product by yourself. What "tastes" good to me might be tastless to you.

I usually get this type fo questions by people outside "audiophilia": What is the BEsT speaker out there? What is the BEst company in Audio? What is the Best amplifier? What is the Best cup cake? The best for one is the MOST expensive. TO another is the "best sounding" for HIS or HER own tastes.

Sorry for being in a "philosophical" mood but the question did strike me funny. Please do not get me wrong. I enjoy reading the responses but if you try to make an assessment of what you learn you can go crazy. What amuses me to no end is that people actually TRY to respond to a question like this. They usually talk about their latest acquisition or something they dream about but rarely have any serious experience with. In both cases any response to what is BEST is at best subjective and in many cases very misleading.

Anyway, enjoy the hobby!