I posted this experience over on AA. A friend who's been using a new and very popular USB DAC found what looks like a DIY DAC housed in a generic aluminum chassis dated 2005. My friend says the output stage seems way over built.
By comparison this old DAC with one coaxial input sounds noticeably better than the modern design.
Musical Fidelity's V-DAC II might be a perfect example. An asynchronous 24bit 192kHz USB DAC under $500 seems to be the current goal. While the V-DAC II now passes 192kHz through its USB input I still question their definition of asynchronous.
Unfortunately, the ability to make these claims does not automatically mean it's going to actually sound good. As with many of the components we already use the overall circuit design and the analog output stage have a great deal to do with the sound of a DAC. Tonyangel seems to have found out first hand that there's no free lunch.
The one thing I lose sight of is that 99% of my digital listening will be of ripped CD's which are 16-41kHz limited just how important is the future of hi-res downloading to me.
Not exactly in the sub $1K DAC market but some interesting reviews regarding overall sound quality.
nekoaudio.com
http://dhost.info/mhdtlab/
By comparison this old DAC with one coaxial input sounds noticeably better than the modern design.
Musical Fidelity's V-DAC II might be a perfect example. An asynchronous 24bit 192kHz USB DAC under $500 seems to be the current goal. While the V-DAC II now passes 192kHz through its USB input I still question their definition of asynchronous.
Unfortunately, the ability to make these claims does not automatically mean it's going to actually sound good. As with many of the components we already use the overall circuit design and the analog output stage have a great deal to do with the sound of a DAC. Tonyangel seems to have found out first hand that there's no free lunch.
The one thing I lose sight of is that 99% of my digital listening will be of ripped CD's which are 16-41kHz limited just how important is the future of hi-res downloading to me.
Not exactly in the sub $1K DAC market but some interesting reviews regarding overall sound quality.
nekoaudio.com
http://dhost.info/mhdtlab/