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dac advice

HI my system is Rogue Tempest, appletv for my music it is in lossless,AIFF if I remember,and a pair of Mark&Daniel's Mini's, looking for a dac used or new $500 to $800 approx,considering psaudio dac iii, also easten electric dac,peachtree dac-it,has anyone heard these and what else would you suggest,I am looking for musicallity,smooth analog sound is most important to me, thanks for any imput, Nick
happynick
kbarkamian
647 posts
 
I use a Rega DAC with my Apple TV (Apple Lossless files). Smooth, warm, and very turntable like in it's sound. Not artificially though.

With the ATV, get a glass toslink cable, as I found that makes a big difference. I use a Sonicwave glass cable from Amazon for about $25. Far better than any audiophile non-glass cable I've tried. I also use an Audioquest C-7 power cable with the ATV (the $75 or so one). Also made a good difference, contrary to what I thought it would/should do.

The Rega DAC is going for around $800 or so here.
meiwan
399 posts
 
I own the EE minimax and highly recommend it.
nonoise's avatar
nonoise
11,226 posts
 
I like the Centrance DACmini. It goes for $795 (new) and has a nice headphone amp as well. I haven't hear the others you mentioned.
The one word I would use to describe it is--clarity. It sounded great and when I got a media app (BitPerfect) it really came to life. Remember, its the way it works in your system that makes or breaks the deal. Having a tube amp would be a big plus as the DACmini is quite adept at pulling out all the details.

Good luck in your search
rbstehno
1,552 posts
 
save your money and get a good dac like the wyred 4 sound dac 2. it blows the other dacs away mentioned above. if you want to get better, you will need to jump up to $5000 or more. i used to own dacs from audio research, music hall, manley, and others and the w4s dac 2 is far better. you have your choice of an async usb 24/192 input as well as your coax and toslink. this dac can also serve as your preamp if you only have digital sources.
nonoise's avatar
nonoise
11,226 posts
 
Again, if you want to stay within you budget, check out the DACmini.
Centrance licenses out their tech to the likes of Benchmark, Apogee, Lavry and lots more who wish to remain nameless. They are a 3rd party design firm for most of the chips out there. They also consult to Apple and some PC makes. Top recording engineers use their products as well as other artists. Their latest DAC chipset is one of the best designs out there right now. Don't let the size fool you: it's all in the implementation.
Checkout the reviews at 6moons, Enjoy the Music and PFO. You get a lot for the money.
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