Rega DAC ?

I found the original Rega DAC to sound a bit soft and lacking in resolution. It was loaned to me by a friend that also loaned me a Denafrips Ares II. The Rega DAC went back to him pretty quickly. The Ares II stayed in my system for 5-6 months.

I owned the Rega DAC as well. As mentioned above, I would add that, yes very analog sound, but not engaging. It wasn’t analytical and fairly musical but just not engaging. I traded it in on the Chord Cutest and am happy with it, but as my audio-itys worsens with age, I am thinking about investigating a new DAC.

The Rega DAC is a terrific piece. I found it performed MUCH better than the built in DAC in the Node 2i (I don’t necessarily buy the MQA difference) and was more analog sounding acrosss its filter range albeit not any great differences one vs the other. I found it was also better sounding then my one time Metrum Hex; too grainy. They can routinely be purchased for $3-$350 and are worth EVERY penny if you can find one. They were just shy of $1K new and represent a terrific value on the used market