If you had to have an HDCD DAC which one ?


Over 50% of what I listen to is HDCD encoded with peak limiting so an HDCD DAC is a must. I bought an Audio Alchemy DDE1.2 which is OK but has an opamp output stage. What is a better HDCD Dac with preferrably a discrete output.
regal55
Any Wadia DAC will decode (recognize) HDCD because Wadia DAC's use software to convert digital data to an analog signal, as opposed to the "brick wall" or other Burr-Brown type chip found in most DAC's. And so the software processes any signal it "sees" -- in fact some folks (like me ;--) prefer the result from the Wadia better than an HDCD-capable DAC. (But you won't see "HDCD" on the Wadia display ;--)

The best HDCD enabled DAC is the Mark Levinson IMO, because they use their own custom DAC chip made for them under license from Pacific Microsonics/Microsoft. Plus, it's an excellent DAC.
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No sure isn't. You can find the occasionally on eBay. Make sure you get the Pacific HDCD 2 since it goes to 96k.

Regards,
Bruce