Neutral Dac?

@soix I was hoping to avoid price but I’m willing to spend $15k. I would prefer to spend $199. I recognize the sweet spot is somewhere between but find myself lately thinking “how low can you go”?. I often find my expectations for 5 digit equipment gets in the way of my enjoyment because often the differences are relatively small compared to lower cost gear and my preconceived idea that a $14,000 dac should make me breakfast and rub my feet. The only thing I’ve ever bought that I thought was absolutely worth every dollar close to $10,000 is the Circle Labs A200 amp. Again I really didn’t want to get into price points and budgets and really appreciate @ghdprentice recommendation of the Schiit Yggdrasil. I’ve followed his posts in the past and believe we have similar opinions. I’m actually listening to the Schiit Modius and absolutely caught up in the music. I recognize it doesn’t soundstage like other dacs but timing is so spot on and tone/timbre are shockingly good at a throw away price. I know there’s a happy answer somewhere south of $10k and would ultimately like to stay there. I have the utmost respect for @grannyring and know anything he says I can take to the bank but would ultimately not like to put $14k in a dac unless I just can’t find happiness with something less expensive. Im dragging my heels at the moment but may ultimately cave and get the Tron…hoping someone will save me from myself.

I put the latest Denafrips Terminator, Mojo, top Bricasti, EMM, MSB, etc. DACs among others all worth an audition.  But this review of the top Chord DAC also has me intrigued.  FWIW…

https://soundnews.net/sources/dacs/digital-to-analog-veritas-in-extremis-chord-dave-dac-review/

@schw06 in your post above you say you got "caught up in the music" while listening to a $229 Schiit Modius.  To me that would suggest that going up their product line would give you more of what you know you already like. The most you can possibly spend on a Schiit is $2,700 for their top-of-the-line Yggdrasil+.  And, if you don't think it's worth it after you try it out, you can send it back and get 95% of your purchase price refunded.

For someone willing to spend up to $10K on a DAC, that seems like a no-brainer trial. 

Of course, sometimes we get infected with the "it has to be different than what I have now" disease even when we really, really like what we are currently using.  If that's the case, the Yggy probably won't cure your disease. ;-)

@mlsstl Very well said and I think that’s exactly the path I will take. The idea of having an expensive dac sounds sexy but I’m wise enough to know that chasing the dragon of the “perfect system” isn’t possible. Thanks for validating my own thought process and @ghdprentice thoughts as well. I honestly appreciate everyone’s input on this thread.

**Schiit Yggdrasil Less is More just purchased new from Schiit. It’s at a price point I’d rather support their business than buy preowned at a discount. I’m not opposed to buying Chinese dacs but do have a sense of pride when I support an American company. Thanks again to everone.

@schw06, if I’ve read through this thread correctly, did you say that you’re prepared to spend in the neighborhood of $15K to get what you’re looking for in a DAC? Now that’s a nice problem to have because IMO once you get into the world above $10k you’ve really got a lot of options and you can start considering Nagra, MSB, dCS, Chord DAVE, and the Mola Mola Tambaqui DACs, all of which are insanely good. If you start with a top shelf DAC and build your system around it, then you’ll have a stand-alone system that will last hopefully for years. The key is to be able to demo as many DACs as you possibly can without being in a hurry.

I built my system around a Chord Hugo TT2 DAC with a Chord M Scaler upsampler and WAVE High Fidelity Storm Reference BNC cables. The TT2 and the M Scaler both have Sbooster LPSU’s which are plugged into an AudioQuest Niagara power conditioner. Obviously this is far from a simple one-box plug and play solution. As if there is such a thing. But this is where my music journey took me and I’m pretty happy about how things came together.

Don’t be afraid to look at used equipment either. People who are obviously flush with way too much cash lying around sell super expensive high-end boutique audio gear at great prices just because they can.