Best DAC $1000 and under used

I can't speak to the sonic differences between a modded Link and the Gold Link. But FWIW, a "hard" treble was not among the faults I found with the Gold -- quite the opposite in fact. Then again, reading your other thread, you and I hold pretty much opposite opinions of what the MSB upsampling does to the sound, and also the effect of the Monarchy DIP to a degree, so take that for what it's worth. And also this: I own a Pearl, and am familiar with the sound of the Data Basic. IMO, Theta transports have their virtues but treble sweetness is not prime among them. One thing you might also try, if you haven't already, is a "filtering"-type power cord on the digital stuff.

I will vote for the Benchmark DAC1. I like it better than a lot of other DAC in the price range based on my experience..

I can say this with conviction the Xindaak dac-8 which has a remote volume control ,8 seperate power supllys including 2 toroidal transformers,burr brown opamps, analog devises excellent 1852 dac Rubicon caps,Wima,
1% metal film resistors,high speed doides and a vacuum tube output stage for under $1000 it beats up on lavrys and benchmarks,just throw in a decent power cord and put in a good 1960s, 6922 vacuum tube and you are in business.
This used with a oppo980 as a transport it has can go toe to toe with any $5k cdp I know of and I have heard a lot .

Hello I was reading your views on the Xindak and i totally agree, my brother has the new Benchmark,it may be slightly more detailed than my Xindak- D/A-8 but that also depends what tube I am using ,as far as musicality no way ,the soundstage is far deeper all instruments sound much more live not razor sharp.and you can switch settings between
96mhz and 192,depending on the recording .
I like the idea that I can take 4 different vacuum tubes
and each one will make the dac sound different but still musical, the other guys no+ the parts qaulity is like I sent out the dac and got it modded .Rubicon capacitors
Stock, Wimas caps from Germany, and 1% resistors and 8 powersupplys.and it weighs over 23 lbs because of the massive power supplys it's your money, the 1 thing that
benchmark does more is Advertise ,why do you think
all the rave reviews politics.I compared even my brother agrees ,and is selling his .p.s a remote controlled
volume output stage to complement this .at 2x the cost it
is still a star.