Looking for a new DAC

I'll be upgrading my DAC this year too, and I would suggest adding the Denafrips Terminator 15th to your list. Initial reviews have been really strong for all of the new 15th Denafrips DACs

I'm so far hearing the Terminator 15th is fine without a DDC, as it already comes with extremely capable Dual OCXO (oven controlled crystal oscillators). Denafrips DACs lower down the line that have lesser clocks (Ares, Pontus, and Venus) do benefit from a good DDC, and part of that is adding I2S input too

I will never purchase another piece of Denafrips gear. In December I purchased a Hermes 12th DDC. It will not play 24/192 files.  I have gone round and round trying to get them to send me an RMA to a service center for repair,  and they absolutely refuse.  They keep telling me that I have to upgrade the firmware,  but the process for doing so is complicated (their software to accomplish it is an "unsigned driver", so Windows does not want to run it) and if done incorrectly the unit will be "bricked". The seller has been unhelpful (although supposedly an authorized dealer,  according to Denafrips website),  and the support from the factory ridiculously unhelpful.  So I have a $1200 piece of gear sitting on a shelf doing nothing.  So my advice is to stay as far as possible from purchasing any Denafrips product!!!

Also have the innuos Halo May Kte combo. It's amazing. I had it narrowed down between Denafrips and Halo May Kte. It's not a matter of which is better but personal preference. However between these two who h have been compared extensively by every youterber overall they are very similar. If you end up considering one of these should check out anadialog yt comparison he has a gift in describing sounds signatures and does excellent in depth reviews. Best of luck

Schiit Gungnir 2 could add some meat to the Magnepan. It’s a nice dac.

The Aurender is not a upgrade to the Wiim Ultra if you are using the latter correctly, i.e. using its USB output (async) for transport. The Wiim also has all kinds of useful features that should make Aurender’s daddy feel guilty about his prices.

or,,,,,you could go all in..since your magnepan can be a end game kind of speaker for the magnepan connoisseur.

In the latter case, the Michi P5 + S5 from Rotel would be a good match. Michi stuff is the late Ken Ishiwata’s work and can be end game, ultra high-end type of sound for a bargain price (’bargain price’ --> relatively speaking).

https://www.dedicatedaudio.com/collections/michi?srsltid=AfmBOoprIa5MzdmhX8BGPLCnJX0AdFYrLqHhoIKTXmXxkusCBs_7R4N_

Current system

Modwright KWH 225i integrated

Magnepan 3.7i speakers

Rotel RCD-1572 cd player

Will not be upgrading these anytime soon

 

Need upgrading

Schiit Modius dac

WiiM Ultra streamer (considering the Aurender N200)

Looking for a dac that will complement the Modwright and Magnepans.

I remember when I upgraded the the cd player to the Rotel RCD-1572, I could hear a massive improvement in sound instantly. If was like more of the layers of the onion were peeled back exposing sounds in the recording I had never heard before.