Not sure what your budget is. Have you looked into a Musetec-lks-da005?
https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/musetec-lks-mh-da005-dac/post?postid=2320113
A reasonably priced DAC upgrade from Schiit Gumby
Hello everyone. Looking for a reasonably priced DAC upgrade from the schiit Gumby I have now. Which I absolutely love but feel could be a bit more open. Source is Oppo 105. Amplification is Schiit Ragnarok 2. Speakers are Reference 3A de capos. The Schiit Gungnir does NOT have the upgrade.
I had the Denafrips Aries 2 and liked it, but it was a bit too, well, digital for me. So I guess I’m looking for a warmer sound. I use CDs maybe 5% of the time and Tidal max for the rest.
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If you want to have a clear upgrade, with all aspects improving then you will probably need to spend at least 2x to 3x. Even this still puts you in the budge DAC range. But I would not upgrade until you could jump to something like a Yggdrasil… used would be fine. If you stay in the same price area you will be trading one set of weaknesses for another. |
@soix good questions. Budget is no more than $1500 used. I'm streaming through the mconnect app via tidal and my Oppo.
@ghdprentice thank you for the perspective |
The Schitt Yggi+ Less is More is now my reference DAC in my office system. It is the best sounding DAC I have owned. I tossed the shipping box so I cannot sell it even if I wanted to. Other DACs include (all these DACs are in the price range specified except the X1), - Benchmark DAC3B (still have it) - Gustard X26 Pro (good for the price) - Topping D90 (bought it a few times, ended up disliking it each time) - Audio Mirror Tubadour III (tube) - Matrix Audio I-3 Pro - Lumin X1 (very nice DAC) - Musetec 005 (very nice DAC)
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You seem to like the Schitt gear, so for a warmer sound, why don’t you try running your DAC output through one of their small and simple “tube buffers”. Vali or Valhalla pre’s, obviously, these are made for a different purpose. Worth a try? I have been thinking of doing the same for a HiFi Rose 150b. Save some bucks. Good return policy. |
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