Music Fidelity X-V3 Bundle vs MF Trivista or A324

Sounds like the best advice Glitch. I will keep my eyes open for a good deal on the DAC2. Another item that disappears all too quickly after being listed though :)

How sensitive is it to transport? This will be used with my computer as transport, the sound card right now is an E-MU0404 but I have no problem upgraded to at least an RME DIGI96/8

I use mine with my computer as well (Waveterminal U24 soundcard) and it sounds great. I can't say how sensitive it is to transports because I've done no extensive testing, but the DAC2 does to a certain degree attempt to re-clock to remove jitter so I imagine differences in transports should be minimized. I'm planning on selling my DAC2 at some point in the near future, the soon to be released DAC3 should set the bar in a new stratosphere...

Musical Fidelity A5 should be auditioned.

I have not tried the A324 but I own the Trivista, and the X10v3 with power supply, and have borrowed an X DAC v3 off a friend to compare the X bundle with the Trivista. No, the bundle is not the equivalent of the Trivista; and the higher resolution system you have, the more the difference will be apparent. Dynamics, soundstage and liquidity are all better on the Trivista. It can be argued that the X bundle resolution is better but to my ears, it just sound sharper, not better.

Interestingly and unexpectedly, the X10v3 with power supply does bring something to the party when the Trivista output is wired through it in my system. I suspect this may not be the case in all systems though.

Trust this helps.

If your transport breaks on the Tri-Vista SACD, you can't buy a replacement!

Other than that I loved my Tri-Vista. It's too bad I can't use it anymore. Shame on MF for using such a crappy vendor such as Phillips.