Looking for a DAC for the Squeezebox Touch

Juggernaut850: Can you tell me why you preferred the W4S DAC2 over the Rega?

Hi Ronrags,

I had the Rega for a week in my system courtesy of my very local kind B&M store.

It sounded great, to my ears it made music. Really easy sound nothing objectionable and it was a step in the direction I wanted to go from using the Havana unit (which I also enjoyed and had for over a year).

I would have happily purchased the Rega though I waited for the DAC2 to come in to the store for comparison and wanted to at least try it out to see if I would prefer it.

We compared both the Rega and DAC2 (in store) with a few other interested shoppers and everyone agreed the DAC2 was better for their own reasons; for me it was that the DAC2 provided more detail and bass authority without getting edgy at all. Just what I wanted in my system.

So that was it for me and it was confirmed in my own system at home later in the day, and I have no regrets.

I don't think you can make a bad decision here, both are great units and both made a significant upgrade in my system.

Juggernaut850, was there a significant improvement in sound from the Rega Dac and the internal DAC in the Squeezebox Touch? Coming from no external DAC at all right now in my B&W 802DI system I am wondering if the $995 upgrade to the Rega DAC is significant enough to justify the cost.....

Thanks for the response. I guess it is a matter of taste and preferences.

Spacemanrick: Yes, for sure it was a significant improvement. I am surprised at how much the DAC's changed the sound of my system. As for the value question, tough one. $1K is a lot and can go a long way towards other toys like amps / preamps so I can't really answer this one. (For me the DAC2 was worth it even though it meant my wife got a fancy purse to "even" things up)

Any chance you have a local store that would let you demo it before committing to buy?

Gotta keep the local guys around as much as possible....