Help choosing a DAC

I have listen to so many different DAC’s my head hurts. 90 % of them are all linked by me in same class. OK but have different underlying sound problems. Not real sounding & colored or just plain dull and lifeless. Tube or SS makes no difference they try but fall short. Then one day I came across Playback Design DAC’s. Wow , that sounds more like my real instruments live!  Amazing the difference , even my non musical friends can hear the definition and detail like playing live in room.  Playback Design for the TRUE representative of live and organic music. 

OP,

The Pontus II is a very musical, involving, and just plain fun DAC that makes you want to listen to music. It is NOT the end game in detail, but it is so enjoyable to listen to.

I will say that adding a Denarips Iris DDC before the Pontus II and using I2S to the Pontus did bring out more of everything (including detail) without taking any of the goodness away. I do and could live with that combo for a long time. Eventually I'll upgrade to a T+A 200, or Denafrips Terminator II or Plus....when I get a better streamer.

@shrapnel 

A little over your budget, but something to consider:

Mojo Audio has a used base-model "Mystique EVO" DAC for sale for $2999.  Made in the USA, R2R dac.  (I own the B4B model)

I would look at that, the Pontus 2, and the Weis 204/205.

+1 @jjss49

Buy used. Re-sell at nearly the same price. You have to bear a bit of risk and hassle buying and selling but otherwise, you’re going to take a lot of $$ hits as you try out DAC’s until you’re satisfied.

About TMR, they will check out the gear before you buy it and will stand behind it working for a brief period. But their prices are a little higher than the other used market (generally) and they have this policy:

"Any returns initiated outside of product defects, the customer is responsible for all Shipping and Handling costs, and there will be a 5% restocking fee taken from the refunded amount."

In other words, TMR offers value-added for those who want more guarantees about the gear’s condition and return-ability. This is a big plus for some folks. But that 5% restocking fee, while maybe acceptable for lower priced items, gets unacceptably high for me once I start considering much more expensive items.

If you bought, say, a Denafrips Pontus II from TMR @$1599 and kept it, shipping would cost you $55 and you’d have spent $1650 plus tax, more or less. If returned  to TMR, you’d pay $55 shipping each way ($110) and about an $80 restocking fee. Almost $200 to try out a DAC for a month.

Alternatively, you could buy that same DAC from a private seller (check their ratings), and pay (in this case), $1299 plus shipping. If shipping was the same, you’d be out $1350 for the same DAC, but without an option to return it.