Hi John,
I too am looking for a new DAC and have not auditioned too many yet. I did do a direct compare of the Moon 100D and the Parasound Zdac and found the Zdac to be much better than the Moon 100D. I had both for about a month and at first was having difficulty finding a preference as the ZDAC sounded fuller and had stronger bass but I thought at times got congested sounding on more complex or dynamic passages. The 100D was not as full sounding but had a nice delicate approach that did not get as congested sounding during those complex passages. However, by the end of the month (both run 24/7 to fully burn in) I much preferred the Zdac. The congestion seemed to go away and what I was left with was a more harmonically rich sound than the Moon gave. The bass gave a solid foundation and the individual instruments seemed more palpable. I read one review that nailed the difference - saying image density was improved with the Zdac and more harmonically rich. For the money it is a steal. However, I ultimately returned both, due to uncertainty with my job. Now I am in the hunt again and considering the Nuwave, Rega, Gungnir, Wadia 121 or a Bryston - I am open to used to save money but at this point I am not at all sure what direction to go. I wonder too if they would really provide an upgrade to the Zdac - after all I don't want to spend money that is not necessary to spend. The only reason I have not repurchased the Zdac is my speakers and tube integrated amp are already very slightly laid back in character and the Zdac was very musical but slightly laid back as well - I felt like I might like a more forward or detailed sound to balance things out. My fill in is a Dragonfly - which was well bested by both of the other two but there was something about the tonal balance that I tend to like better - not saying the dragonfly is better - but it made me think there is still something missing from the two I auditioned. By the way I previously owned a VDAC II and both the Moon and Zdac were an improvement as VDAC just didn't speak to me and was not involving like the other two. In my younger years I had a higher end all krell system but these days am on a much tighter budget so I am still picky and trying to find the best balance for the dollar making things harder.
Lou
I too am looking for a new DAC and have not auditioned too many yet. I did do a direct compare of the Moon 100D and the Parasound Zdac and found the Zdac to be much better than the Moon 100D. I had both for about a month and at first was having difficulty finding a preference as the ZDAC sounded fuller and had stronger bass but I thought at times got congested sounding on more complex or dynamic passages. The 100D was not as full sounding but had a nice delicate approach that did not get as congested sounding during those complex passages. However, by the end of the month (both run 24/7 to fully burn in) I much preferred the Zdac. The congestion seemed to go away and what I was left with was a more harmonically rich sound than the Moon gave. The bass gave a solid foundation and the individual instruments seemed more palpable. I read one review that nailed the difference - saying image density was improved with the Zdac and more harmonically rich. For the money it is a steal. However, I ultimately returned both, due to uncertainty with my job. Now I am in the hunt again and considering the Nuwave, Rega, Gungnir, Wadia 121 or a Bryston - I am open to used to save money but at this point I am not at all sure what direction to go. I wonder too if they would really provide an upgrade to the Zdac - after all I don't want to spend money that is not necessary to spend. The only reason I have not repurchased the Zdac is my speakers and tube integrated amp are already very slightly laid back in character and the Zdac was very musical but slightly laid back as well - I felt like I might like a more forward or detailed sound to balance things out. My fill in is a Dragonfly - which was well bested by both of the other two but there was something about the tonal balance that I tend to like better - not saying the dragonfly is better - but it made me think there is still something missing from the two I auditioned. By the way I previously owned a VDAC II and both the Moon and Zdac were an improvement as VDAC just didn't speak to me and was not involving like the other two. In my younger years I had a higher end all krell system but these days am on a much tighter budget so I am still picky and trying to find the best balance for the dollar making things harder.
Lou