$1300-1500 DAC

Second the MHDT Orchid. 2 months in w/my new one, it's a love affair...

Used Schiit Yggdrasil. Hands down.

Thank you vougeot for your kind words.

I think most of us here learn a LOT from each other. There are also other forums with nice people helping and advising like head-fi. 

One of the things I've learned, and I'm only been a few years on this "hobbie", is that you don't have to spend multithousand dollars to get a sound that can compete with almost every system out there, you just have to spend it right. Of course it cant be done with a cheap system, but you don't have to spend tens of thousands of dollars. 

Jim Smith, the author of the book "Get Better Sound", once said something like this: "if you have a nice system and you hear better sound at a dealer's shop or at a show, you have work to do at home improving your system's voicing and installation" and I couldn't agree more. By the way, I totally recomend his book and his articles about subwoofers installation.

Andrew, if you want a top dac then just hold out a bit more, or find a second hand example of this: Matrix Audio  X-Sabre.  I was previously using a top W4S dac and also the Oppo 205, but the Matrix Audio is better than both.  
Another dac that I would love to try is the Gieseler Audio Groß.  They are based on the AKM4497EQ chip.  

@vogueot i too learned a ton in this thread. The orchid DAC looked amazing to me. But I got a great deal on the Gumby and it sounds great. I have fully balanced tube preamp so I like that the Gungnir is also fully balance, and some of the cold exactness of a Multibit DAC is rounded and warmed buy the tubes. 
Dacs and tubes can be very synergistic 

Hi Guys. I am gonna take this opportunity and get some info on MHDT vs dacs below $3k new or used. In terms of analog and tubey with a slightly soft treble sound character, which is would be more like what I am seeking. MHDT Orchid, Canary vs eg Metrum or Border Patrol? How about entry level Audionotes? Any input on sound quality would be most appreciated.

Sorry andrewkelley for the hijack, hope you are ok with it.

Thanks.

The MHDT Orchid is very natural and unforced sounding. Nice detail and warmth at the same time.   No tube softness.  It is an easy best buy at anywhere near its price.   Upgrade the output caps to Jupiter or Miflex copper foils and get the WE tube.  No reason to spend more for great sound. This dac gives you dynamics, big stage size,  detail, deep bass, smooth highs and fully fleshed out mids.

 

TEAC NT-505
there shall be only one....

I have the Audio Mirror Tubadour III SE and love it.  In an ideal world I would have done a shootout between it, the Orchid, and Jolida's Black Glass FX Tube DAC DSD. 

The AM has been loved by everyone who tried it here... https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/another-new-dac-audio-mirror 

The Orchid became Terry London's (teajay) reference piece after he reviewed it...  https://6moons.com/audioreview_articles/mhdtlab/

And the Jolida/Black Glass is a crazy good value at $649 (check the dealer ads on USAMart), and won a recent audio club DAC shootout vs some much more expensive equipment...  https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/dac-it-out-shootout-august-24th-saturday-11-3pm-scottsdale-az

I chose the Tubadour because it had an I2S input and I view that as the single best way to get music into a DAC.  Bought a Magna Mano streamer to accomplish that goal and love the combination.

P.S.  I really wish I could test these vs. two big boys (the Chord Dave, and Bricasti M3).  If anyone's in the front range area and would like to compare DACs, I'd love to...

Lks DAC da004

rme-adi dac2+++

have this in my system with node2i streamer and sounds great, night and day difference between node2i dac and ADI2.

You can get a used Ayre Codex for around $1100.

One more for the RME ADI-2 DAC.