DAC recommendation for an entry level system

For USB only I recommend the HRT Musicstreamer II+. I use this in my tubed system and it sounds wonderful.

Thanks for the recommendations. Ideally I would like a DAC that has Coaxial, Toslink and USB inputs. I'm considering the new Musical Fidelity V-90 DAC and also the Cambridge Audio DACMagic 100. The Maverick TubeMagic 2 DAC.

Audio GD has a number of options that would fit the bill.

I head the Dac Magic with a Krell integrated and some Soinics speakers...really liked it. I've owned a PS Audio DLIII for many years and got a lot of enjoyment from it. Great build quality.

There is a lot to consider in the entry level market. Wyred 4 Sound uDAC, having one each of the inputs that you mentioned. There is also the Schiit Bifrost. The PS Audio DLIII is very nice, but if memory serves, it's a bit old and is limited by what it can handle 16/44.1 being the max.

I believe that the absolute best bang for the buck is the Emotiva. I have an XDA-1 that I've been using for a while now. It sounds pretty darned good and makes a good backbone for a digital system. It has two each of coax and toslink inputs, as well as USB and AES inputs.

The XDA-1 isn't available new, but they do have the XDA-2, which is pretty much the same thing, with some tweaks and analogue volume control (in case you want to use it as a pre amp too).

The XDA isn't the best sounding DAC out there, but it does sound good and gets you up and running with all of your gear. They're on sale right now for $340, I believe.

Once you have that, you can add more limited DACs that might sound better later.

My whole system is digital. I don't even use a CD player any longer. I'm running a Sonos, Squeezebox Touch, AppleTV and Blu Ray player, so it made sense for me.

Now I'm considering getting something "better" for my Touch, since that is my primary audio device.