Bel Canto DAC 3 vs. 3.5

Depends on the sound you are looking for. I had the Dac3 and 2.5. They are very similar but I slightly preferred the 3, which I found to be a little warmer. They are very clean and detailed sounding Dacs while not bright or edgy but maybe lacking soul and body for some. At the price you should consider the Metrum Octave or at least look into it. Really organic NOS sound but very detailed and transparent and precise as well. No fuzziness here. Design is minimalist and cannot do 192khz however. That is one thing Bel Canto does very well - feature rich.

I've owned the c5i as well and found the dac section very mediocre. I thought the pre and power amp sections outclassed it, which compelled my sale. If you want warm and lush consider the MHDT Havana. It sounds great with just a good tube but there are a few simple mods that really boost it.

On a different note, $1200 is not exactly a killer deal for a DAC3. I bought mine for $800 and have seen them in that range before. I would not pay more than a $1000.

You might get away with $800 but I think it's pretty rare, though maybe not so much these days with so much newer competition in the price range. I think closer to $1k sounds about right.

It is an excellent DAC, though. I enjoyed mine very much and spent a whole lot more to replace it with a Berkeley Alpha DAC (Series 1, then Series 2)... but now I've "stepped back" to the Metrum Octave and it comes very close to the BADA Series 2, even besting it in some key areas of musicality.

There are many good options to consider at that price -- a used Calyx 24/192, Audio-Gd, Eastern Electic, etc, etc. -- and unfortunately no easy answers as to which you will prefer.