Best USB DAC under $1000

I have the MHDT Paradisea + and the Cambridge DAC magic. They are both great sounding DACs. I think the Paradisea + is a bit better but it has a tube if that bugs you. I leave mine on all the time and the tube is supposed to last 8000 hours. The DAC magic is not quite as transparent but still sounds great and offers 3 inputs switchable from the front.

Compared to CD players and some very expensive ones at that both these DACs are as good as sounding as anything I've heard. I'd be interested to listen to a few more in this price range.

For what it's worth I think both these sounded better than the Wavelength Cosencant which is pretty good but no way worth that kind of money and I also had the Ultra Fi musicstream which was horrible in my opinion as well as had the worst customer service and experience I've ever had in hifi.

Some interesting ideas here, thanks. The Havana sounds very interesting...the tubes don't bother me in the least. However, does the Havana only have a 16bit DAC?
Has anyone put the Cambridge DAC magic against the 840C?
Anyone play with the PS Audio?
Thanks again!

Yes, the Havana is an NOS DAC (it does not upsample or oversample). Lavry would be another candidate as well.

Another option is the Super Pro 707 DAC. I would recommend doing the modification to it to to bypass all passive components that act like filters and buffers by coming directly off the DAC chip.

This little DAC (the size of a cigarette pack) with the modification is outstanding.

cayin, better sound, value.