Musical Fidelity X-DAC v3 Vs Tri Vista 21 DAC

I have never heard the XDAC, but I own the Tri-Vista 21. I think you'd do well auditioning it just to see for yourself. I had just replaced my Theta Gen. III with a conrad-johnson DA/3, when I ordered the Tri-VIsta blindly after reading the Stereophile review. While I was waiting for it to arrive, I took my c-j DAC in to my dealer and listened to it against the Tri-Vista SACD player. In CD mode (which is all I have) I wouldn't have traded the c-j in on it, but right out of the box the Tri-Vista 21 completely blew the c-j out of the water. If the XDAC is better than the Tri_Vista 21, you've found a gem.

Thanks for your experience. I am using the new x-ray, psu and xdac and x10. All 3 improve the sound quality significantly. However i am returning the xdac because ocassionly there is a 1 sec sound loss as if its lost contact with the transport. I have decided to buy the tri-vista dac this weekend (without listening to it)and i will post my findings. Ill be very surprised (and upset) if the new xdac sounds superior.

Got the Tri-vista and yeah it is better, but not by much. The bass has greater extension and is slightly tighter but i would say that it loses out to the XDAC in terms of vocal clarity. Switching between the two, the Tri-vista seems somewhat veiled in this regard. Unfortunatley I feel my current speakers hamper my overall review (Castle Severn II). In conclusion both are excellent products but at the XDAC's price this could be the bargain of the year.