I just wanted to share my experience shopping for DACs and Streamers.
What I value -- neutral to warm, transparent sound.
What I dislike -- tipped up analytical sound
So I watched and read a number of reviews in search of upgrading from a 2006 ish Welltronics DAC with a tube output stage. I liked it fine but was confident I was missing out on detail and soundstage and it could not take the latest formats or DSD. Plus it would be fun to explore as part of this hobby which I've been in for 40+ years. The rest of my system is Roon Nucleus, Ether Regen switch/After Dark Clock, Oppo 205, Aesthetics Mimas, Vandersteen Quatro fed by AQ Robinhood biwire. My room is 12x16 with speaker on long end.
First up was the DCS Bartok Apex (combined DAC/Streamer) in excess of 20K. Auditioned at the store and for a weekend at home. In my system, compared to my DAC, nice, slightly better detail, not particularly engaging to me. For the money, definitely not worth it for me. An audiophile acquaintance graciously offered for me to hear the Playback Designs (no built-in streamer) in his home. I brought my DAC over to compare on his system. Similar to the Apex, a bit more detail but I was not blown away. This may be because I'm just not as skilled a listener or I have less acute 60+ hearing as my host who was hearing what he considered big improvements over my DAC. I should also note that my expectations were to really like the Apex and Playback and I thought going in I was going to pull the trigger on one of these. However, I came out pretty neutral with a "they're good, but not outstanding" to me kind of feeling.
Hearing a number of raves about the T+A DAC 200 (around 7k), I got a 60 day trial from Upscale. Wow, what a nice difference! The DAC was giving me more timbre, some snappiness from acoustic and electric guitar while not being bright or edgy. Very neutral. Lots of filter choices to slightly tailor the sound. More air and space on recordings and deeper soundstage. I then read that the separate DSD stage was better than the PCM so streamed some DSD recordings, and those sounded even a bit better than the already great sound.
The Lumin U2 (not the mini around 5K) had nice reviews and could upscale to DSD 256 and output through USB. That would be a nice feature given that the DSD stage in the T+A appears to be somewhat better. Have paired the Lumin with T+A upscaling everything to DSD including my library, Qobuz, and even Spotify. It is very very nice upgrade compared to the Oppo as Roon endpoint with more improvements in space and timber, very natural sounding. I've also fed the T+A with SACDs from the Oppo using HDMI (an optional input for the T+A.) Another very nice upgrade, hearing my SACDs like never before.
DCS, Playback Designs, and T+A all have their specific engineering speak/marketing claims/approach. I think these are all passionate companies that believe in their approach to great sound. At the end of the day, their presentation (and they all present a bit differently) may not be your preferred flavor. My advice is that while differences in these flavors are very subtle, if you expect to be served the same dish every day over the next decade after such a big investment, you better be sure you like the taste! Having extended audition periods at home for gear is a godsend honestly and reduces the stress in making a decision.
I'm very grateful to have sampled these very nice products and to find one that works well for me at an expensive yet very reasonable price. Happy hunting out there to everyone and remember to trust your ears and not price, engineering approach or the look of the gear.
Would love to hear others experiences.
