W4S DAC

A strong argument in favor of the W4S products is that the technical support is exceptional. I had what I thought was an issue with my W4S DAC and sent an email on a weekend evening, expecting to get a reply early the next week. Within an hour EJ Sarmento, the president of W4S, called me and talked me through correcting a mistake I'd made in the setup.

I have a W4S 2v2 DAC which I bought new several years ago. I have found it to be on the ’bright’ side of the spectrum and recently tried substituting in its place a Musical Fidelity TriVista DAC (which I had also bought new upon its release). Much more compatible with my overall system and definitely a warmer more balanced sound.

@laps OK, but what is the rest of your system? There's nothing on your profile page? Isn't the TriVista tube based?

I agree the Wyred 10th Anniversary  DAC does not get enough attention on these pages.  It is a bargain.    I using a 10th for years in a high resolution system and have been very happy.  The 10th is a much better performer in all SQ attributes than the V2SE.  So if you are considering a Wyred DAC go with the 10th.  I was upgrading my system recently (past 3 months) and compared the 10th head to head to the Mola Mola Tambaqui (3x the price) and DCS Bartok Appex (5x the price. Let me start by saying both DACs were better. There was better clarity expressed as increased detail, and better staging and imaging due to less thickness and more clarity in this spaces between performers. Dynamics (micro and macro) were better but to a lesser degree. I found the 10th to be competitive in image density, timbre and that intangible parameter -expression of emotion to draw you into the performance.  Tambaqui still had the edge but not by much.  The Bartok presented a less palpable and dense image. Lighter if you will. But we all know our decisions are based on degree of price/performance ratio and personal preference.  To me, I made a decision to keep the 10th and upgrade my amplification (from an old Krell KRC HR - KSA 300s to a Burmester 032 integrated).  The degree of clarity and sophistication of the sound trumped the change in the DAC.  I have not compared the 10th to other DACS in its price range.  I am sure they perform better in some areas in not all.  Listen and make the decision yourself.  For me, I feel the 10th excels in that intangible of letting you connect to the performance better than most at its price point while admittedly being bettered in some areas of performance. 

@navyachts Thank you for mentioning my profile page.  I went ahead and just now updated it with component listing and photos.  And yes the TriVista has a tube output stage.