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.

Maybe your speakers have a bloated, ill-defined midrange, needing something brighter and etched to give clarity. Voices are incredibly detailed and lifelike on the TriV DAC. See my review of the TriV DAC.