A DAC that crushes price vs. performance ratio


I felt strongly that I wanted to inform the Gon members about a new DAC that ranks with the very best on the market regarding performance, but costs around $2,000.00.  The Lab12 DAC1 SE was compared to three reference level DACS that retail for over $12.000.00 in my review for hometheaterreview.com and was at least on the same level sonicly, if not better.  This DAC from Greece is not just "good for the money" but competes with virtually anything on the market regardless of price!

For all the details about the Lab12 DAC1 SE performance and what other DACS it was compared to take a look at the review.  If you are shopping/looking for a new digital front end to drive your system, you owe it to yourself to check this DAC out, unless you like to spend tons of more $ without getting better performance.
teajay

@auroravengeance good to hear you found your solution.  The Oyaide USB sounds like a good cable.  I use an Audioquest Coffee I picked up used and am happy as well. Enjoy your DAC!

funny -- this thread was started by @teajay in 2018

are we reasonable to assume the subject dac is now flattened and dried out roadkill for the new boys on the block? 😂🤣😁

@jjss49 Not sure how the older SE model sounded, but at least after acquiring this Dac1 Reference I no longer have the urge to upgrade my DAC even if I have the money to upgrade to more expensive DACs like for example Weiss DAC-502 MKII. 

But it seems like this DAC is sensitive to cabling though. I suspect those who did not really enjoy this DAC did not explore different cablings. The Oyaide Class S USB I mentioned above seemed to work well with this. 

I also gained performance increase with a decent power cord. I use Real Cable Citrine with this DAC and it seems like a good match. 

This ref version with the old chips is quite tasty…more lifelike than any other DAC I have heard which isn’t a ton...it is no slouch.

@auroravengeance don’t forget to upgrade the fuse big difference!  QSA yellow, SR purple to name a couple.  I discovered a wonderful Chinese graphene/crystals fuse for a song on Aliexpress if you don’t mind buying from them. As good or better than the QSA yellow to me.