if you don't need the USB input, you might consider going with an 840C CD player. it has coax and fiber digital inputs so can be used as a standalone DAC. though by not a large margin, it seems roundly preferred over the DACMAGIC - it has double the upsampling and some other improvements that i can't remember right now. plus you get a sweet CDP to boot! they've been selling around the $1k mark used, so definitely within your budget.
logical steps up from DacMagic?
As Shazam wisely pointed out in an earlier post, I've got myself in a situation where the weakest link in my 'baby' system is my DAC:
Cullen-modified Sonos 90 >
Anti-cable coax IC >
Cambridge DACmagic DAC >
Nordost Red Dawn IC >
Jolida JD 302BRC >
Rega R5 speakers w/ Rega SC42 cables
So far, on my list to consider are:
- Bel Canto DAC2 (used, obviously)
- Benchmark DAC1 (used, non-USB version)
- Jolida's yet-to-be released tube DAC (I'm assuming a lot here)
A big part of me wants a Bel Canto DAC3, but I'm certain that would trigger a domino effect requiring the replacement of absolutely everything except possibly an IC or two. ;-) For that reason, I'd like to keep this upgrade to <$1500.
This in mind, are there other DACs that I should be trolling these pages for?
Cullen-modified Sonos 90 >
Anti-cable coax IC >
Cambridge DACmagic DAC >
Nordost Red Dawn IC >
Jolida JD 302BRC >
Rega R5 speakers w/ Rega SC42 cables
So far, on my list to consider are:
- Bel Canto DAC2 (used, obviously)
- Benchmark DAC1 (used, non-USB version)
- Jolida's yet-to-be released tube DAC (I'm assuming a lot here)
A big part of me wants a Bel Canto DAC3, but I'm certain that would trigger a domino effect requiring the replacement of absolutely everything except possibly an IC or two. ;-) For that reason, I'd like to keep this upgrade to <$1500.
This in mind, are there other DACs that I should be trolling these pages for?
- ...
- 25 posts total
- 25 posts total