Dac that has tone and timing?


I’m hoping to see if anyone has experience and has found a dac that nails both a "meat on the bones" presentation that also preserves the leading edges of notes and maintains pace, rhythm, and timing. In general, it seems that tonally dense dacs tend to have rounded-off leading edges of notes, and dacs with great PRAT have a leaner tonality. I’d love it under $5k but willing to spend more if necessary.

schw06

Schw006, I have had the following DACs in my own system, or own them and can highly recommend them. For reference they are quite a few R2R ladder DACs, which sonically are perfect for me.

$1,850 Denafrips Pontus II "12th Anniversary) DAC (R2R DAC)

$3,200 Musician Aquarius DAC (R2R DAC)

$5,500 Holo Audio May DAC "Kitsune KTE Edition" (R2R DAC)

$4,900 Denafrips Terminator II "12th Anniversary Edition" (R2R DAC)

$7,200 Denafrips Terminator Plus "12th Anniversary Edition (R2R DAC)

Others I have heard in systems I know, but never in my own....but can recommend:

$7,000 T+A DAC 200

$6,900 Lampizator Baltic (Think it was a 3)

For $5,000 I'd go with the Terminator II 12th no question. If you're good going to $7,000 then the Terminator Plus 12th, T+A DAC 200, and the Lampi Baltic.....would be a killer DAC shootout.

Best of luck to you

I’m humbled by all of your responses. I was away for the holiday and returned to see a lot of great suggestions which have really helped narrow the field. I want to thank you all for your time and knowledge!