"Best" DAC for a grand or less

Chicago, the Benchmark DAC1 is the best...if you like bland and thin sound.

To the OP, check out W4S and Burson's new DAC, both sound very good for the $.

the paradisea is another. any others ?
Mrtennis

Glad to see this one being listed. I do hope MHDT lab still produces outstanding product at affordable prices, I understand they came out with newer models. Great sense of musicality is their strength which hardly can be matched regardless of price.

I recently purchased a Havana NOS DAC and am thrilled with it. It has a tube buffer but unlike the Paradesea which uses an op amp in the output it is eliminated in the Havana, this has got to make some difference in the sound between the two IMHO. The best under 1K? I'm not going there since I haven't heard many of the current ones in this price range but it should be a safe bet if you are looking for natural timbers, excellent resolution and non fatiguing sound at an affordable price. It really draws you into the music, amazing. It is a huge improvement over the Bel Canto 1.1 it replaced.

BTW, the sound is both fuller with an improvement in bass without any undue emphasis.

"The question is whether you want "accuracy" or some other sound output. If you like sound coloration, that's all well and good. I'm sure there are numerous tube DACs, for example, that offer that. Extreme accuracy may come off as "brittle" or "sharp-edged." But it's simply a mirror of the recording, rather than an interpretation."

I'm not too sure about that chicagojtw. You have me curious though, do you always look at measurements when considering audio purchases or do you look at measurements and use your ears?

Julian Hirsch used the same basis in his useless reviews of audio components. Basically all he did was measurements and came to a preconceived conclusion that if the measurements were the same it sounded the same. It seems he clearly couldn't differentiate between the sound of components he reviewed or did his measurements sway him away from critical listening?

You don't really believe that brittle and sharp edge sound could possibly relate to design issues?

Tubegroover--

The question posed was, What are the good DACs for under $1,000? I think when it comes to digital sound, what you want, first and foremost is accuracy. To a great extent, this would go for all source equipment.

If you want to color the sound of your source equipment with your preamp or amp, fine. But why not start with an accurate representation of the signal first? This approach will also yield a more controllable, consistent output across all your sources.

My philosophy, since you asked, is simple. Generally what I do is buy used equipment on the basis of specs and, to a lesser extent, reviews. I buy online, listen at home and if I'm not satisfied, I sell the equipment. YMMV.

Also, I am certainly not opposed to colored sound if that's what you like. The problem with the marketing of all high-end audio is that creating distinctions between various gear requires either added color, deviations from response curves, distortion or noise variation. If you start with clear and accurate you will always know what you are getting.