Small form factor, budget DACs?

I currently run a PS Audio Superlink Gen. II 18 Bit DAC. I realize this is a dated piece(mid 90's?). Would the modded Lite-Ah DAC be a substantial improvement?

Spencer, Gmood1 & anyone who might be interested:
I finally got my lazy ass to make a comparison between my Wadia 861SE with GNSC Reference mods & my Scott Nixon Saru DAC+. A Goliath & David sort of comparison as the 2 units are from the opposite end of the spectrum. Not an entirely fair comparison, I agree, but these are the only 2 DACs I have on hand & so it had to suffice. So, that's the disclaimer, FYI.
Executive summary: the Wadia was overall better sounding (surprise?) but the Saru DAC+ was very, very, very good in & of itself. Too damn surprisingly good for its price point.

The setup is: Wadia 861SE with GNSC Reference mods fed into my CAT SL1 Mk3 preamp using Amperex white label 7308 USN-CEP & Ei 12AX7 in the line stage. Analog cable is TARA Labs Master Gen 2. Stock Sony DVP-S7000 transport & Scott Nixon Saru DAC+ with 4Amp power supply. Digital cable is XLO ER-6. Analog cable is Groneberg TS Premium.
I played a few CDs: Art Pepper "Winter Moon", Dee Dee Bridgewater "DEar Ella" & Reinhart Fendrich "All the Best". So, the comparison is not extensive.
Saru DAC+: a little brighter than the Wadia. Could not have noticed this if I didn't have the Wadia on hand. Excellent dynamics. Very natural sound. Plenty of bass but the Wadia has more. Really nice midrange.
Wadia: superbly natural. No hi-end glare & very smooth. Each instrument in the track is dilineated in its own space & its easy to follow all the instruments. The Saru DAC+ also reproduces all the instruments but they are not as easy to follow. The bass is tight & superbly controlled thereby making it easy to follow the bass tracks. This is not as easy in the Saru DAC+. The music just flows from the Wadia w/ great ease - no track seems to ruffle its feathers. In the Saru DAC+ I did get a feeling that it was "scurrying around" a bit. The DAC kept pace w/ the music & did a fantastic job but if it were a human being, it would have been a bit out of breath. Not so w/ the Wadia.
The PRaT factor of both DACs was really very good. In this short evaluation I could not find any serious faults in the Saru DAC+. The Wadia was much better. Was it as much better as the price difference? Certainly not! I also wonder if my DVP-S7000 had some power supply mods + some internal chassis damping would the results have been even closer? Probably!
So, this is a testimony to the progress that has been made in I.C.s that support the audio market. A few of them put together judiciously in a diminutive package can seriously challenge a Goliath like the Wadia 861.

I would compare the WADIA hooked up via Analog like it is and Simply connect the Digital out to the DAC, Then you have an Equivelant Transport with the Same CD loaded and can switch between your DAC and INTERNAL DAC of the Wadia on the Fly with the remote by just hitting AUX or CD on your preamp, this will be very fast to tell you which one is superior for cost. Take the Sony out of the equation entirely, you might find a suprise in that dac feed the same. Just a suggestion, then you have a straight up fair comparison.

Undertow,
Thanks for making the suggestion. I did think of what you wrote & decided not to go ahead because (1) the digital inputs have been disabled per Wadia's recommendation. They suggested that if the unit is being used as a single-box player, the performance is little better w/ the digital inputs disabled. I have to get this 60lb monster off the shelf, completely disassemble the top & bottom plates of the chassis to get to the DIP switches on the bottom to re-enable the digital inputs. A royal PITA! & (2) the Wadia running into the Saru DAC+ is likely to sound quite compromised since I will not be able to make use of the Clocklink feature (that now exists internally between the internal DAC & transport). From whatever I have read from other Wadia users, this Clocklink feature is of paramount importance in making the Wadia separates sounding superb. This is understandable - Wadia correctly implemented the clocking scheme by using the DAC clock to lock the transport. When one uses Wadia separates, all Wadia gear comes w/ the Clocklink feature & one is able to turn it on from a menu pick. The Saru DAC+ provides no such feature. Thus, the Wadia transport+Saru DAC+ combination is going to sound way inferior to the Wadia 1-box thereby leading to an incorrect conclusion.
(If there is any Wadia user reading this, let me know if I'm wrong. Thanks!)

Bombaywalla,
Thanks for the little review...good stuff! Nice to hear the SN DAC did well against the heavy hitting Wadia. It's funny what sorts of things run through your mind when comparing units of such wide price differences. You kind of hope the expensive unit comes out on top. Especially if you paid for it with your cash.LOL $150 DAC against a $9000 unit ... yeap diminishing returns is a mother.

I wish I lived closer I would love to bring my DAC over for a comparison. If nothing else it would be fun.

Glad you can put your mind to ease a little.

All the best,