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DAC league table

A little lost in this world of technical audiophilia, I need a bit of help finding my way.

I have a Marantz streamer with (I think...) an ES Sabre 9016 Ultra Dac as its beating heart. Unhappy with the streamer as whole and thinking of separating out the functions of streaming, DAC and pre-amping, which DACs are better than this one? How do I find out, what specs might tell me?

Onward kit: Acoustics Masterpiece valve amp (used as a power amp), Monitor Audio Gold 200 speakers. Listening interest: vocals, instruments, clarity of sound, although a decent bass response never goes amiss. Source, streaming from tidal or Qobuz.

louisesjpp
audphile1's avatar
audphile1
5,692 posts
 

One potential candidate would be the ifi idsd  

https://ifi-audio.com/products/neo-idsd/

But overall a 1000 is a tough budget to get an improvement over a similarly priced marantz when talking DAC/Streamer/Preamp combo.

Look into Roon to see if you like it as a controller /cataloging software.

 

 

fuzztone's avatar
fuzztone
5,645 posts
 

IMHO Roon is not worth paying via subscription.

Good luck finding a combo streamer/DAC/preamp in that price range. I can't think of any because I have never considered that route.

audphile1's avatar
audphile1
5,692 posts
 

@louisesjpp stretch it out a bit and find a used Lumin D2. Pros - good sound and solid build. Cons - crappy UI. That’s where Roon comes in.
As to whether or not Roon’s worth the subscription cost, they offer a free trial period. If you decide you don’t like it, cancel it. Nothing to loose. You can try it now if the Marantz is Roon ready

leadcrew's avatar
leadcrew
45 posts
 

 

curiousjim's avatar
curiousjim
5,381 posts
 

@louisesjpp 

What’s the rest of your system and what kind of a budget do you have towards new equipment?

All the best.

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