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Worlds best DAC

Went to CES this year to work on my transition to high Rez digital. I've heard many of the highly regarded players in my room or in others systems in the past. I'm actually very happy with my current cd based sound. As I listened to various DACS playing CD then high Rez, I was not bowled over. High rez was better, but only slightly so. The best (and most different) sound I heard happened to have one similarity. They were 2 non oversampling DACS with tube analog stages(Zanden and Ypsilon). These were without question the most natural sounding digital systems I heard at the show. They made CDsound miles ahead of high Rez. What gives?

PS: I understand the limitations of show auditions.
bflowers
mover
10 posts
 
I currently own a CH Precision C1 dac with a Trinity preamp so definitely curious about
the Trinity dac but very content with the C1 for now. I chose it over MSB, Totaldac, dcs
as well as others. My dealer gets in the Trinity dac in two weeks so I'll keep you
updated. Marshall Nack is correct though about the pre - it's unprecedented...
4orreal
91 posts
 
Bhobba,
You are right. But would would you have bought that amp based on reviewes/raves? You bought it because you had the chance to hear it. I think irrespective of the reviews/raves, one owes it to aution/hear it for themselves before pulling the trigger. However, that is not always possible, so one will have to rely on reviews/user opinions and take a chance.
wisnon
700 posts
 
Damn right Bill!
rx8man's avatar
rx8man
1,475 posts
 
Bhobba, have you or any of your gang compared a Killer Dac to a Lampizator Level 5?
fmj
11 posts
 
I'm not too interested in DACs really, as i'm completely addicted to vinyl. Using a nagra cd player for redbook playback when the CDs come out.
Mrtennis, agree that there is no such thing as "best" anything. It's rhetorical and subjective. That said, after hearing a trinity phono at RMAF, i ended up buying one and it is creating the "best" sound I have ever heard from My records on My system. Trinity has developed some serious cred very quickly by those who have heard their units in their systems. In this case, it seems to be the reviewers that are catching up to users. While I also agree with the notion that reviews are to be taken with a grain of salt, I have found that reviews are really more for information about a product's tech and operational functionality. The description of the sound of a product is the part that I don't value too heavily from reviews as the sound quality is best left for users to hear for themselves.
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