Best digital converter $5k under


I have gone on a hunt listening to different setups and by far
The most balanced and , Hi tech,parts build is the Auralic Vega dac
It does everything including DSD,since i had the Bryston dac-1 i listened
To the new dac -2 my friends own both dacs Including the Berkeleydac-2
This dac was developed from several Swiss firms and Taiwan,Hong kong.
The clock is the lowest jitter I have ever seen listed under$10k
It is as good or better sounding then anything Under $8k IMO. It has a very natural warm balance, superb imaging and micro dynamics and excellent sound staging.even my vinyl friends were very impressed and for under $3500 it is a no brainer.my friend bought it after seeing a review in Computer Audiophile. I am for sure buying one this fall.do your homework
And build quality is as good or better then Anything out there even in the $10k range,that is saying a lot !!
128x128audioman58
MrTennis, you are correct BUT its impossible to know the objective best until we have measurements for EVERYTHING, and we are far away from that point. The current best measuring tool is the ear!
I went through many DACs under $4000. Auralic Vega, Lynx Hilo, yulong DA-8, Benchmark DAC2, NAD M51, Schiit Gungnir, and Chord QuteHD.

Finally settled on exaSound e20 mkIII .082ps clock upgrade with TeddyPardo 12/2 power supply. (total cost was about CDN$3500)

Not planning to upgrade my DAC anytime soon.
For my taste I finally broke town and bought the Luxman DA-06dac
I could not be happier.to improve it even more so change the stock fuses,
And the New Wireworlds series 7 Silver Electra PC is excellent the closest competition was the MSB analog dac,for my taste with the added extra$3k power supply the MasB was a bit better detailed, but with stock power supply I liked the fuller Bass,
And layering of the Luxman better.my YG Carmel's are very neutral
And this is where the luxman shines ,very natural full sound with a very expansive soundstage ,excellent detail, and depth of soundstage .
I got a very fair deal after speaking with Paul at a Goodwins hiend.
Hi Tgx78, how do you rate the Yulong Da8 compared the other DACs you went through?