Absolute top tier DAC for standard res Redbook CD


Hi All.

Putting together a reference level system.
My Source is predominantly standard 16/44 played from a MacMini using iTunes and Amarra. Some of my music is purchased from iTunes and the rest is ripped from standard CD's.
For my tastes in music, my high def catalogues are still limited; so Redbook 16/44 will be my primary source for quite some time.

I'm not spending DCS or MSB money. But $15-20k retail is not out of the question.

Upsampling vs non-upsampling?
USB input vs SPDIF?

All opinions welcome.

And I know I need to hear them, but getting these ultra $$$ DAC's into your house for an audition ain't easy.

Looking for musical, emotional, engaging, accurate , with great dimension. Not looking for analytical and sterile.
mattnshilp

Showing 13 responses by jwm

Charles I agree with you, but let’s put it this way. Say the Bricasti best the MSB, well there has not been any highly rated RTR yet that I have heard to be king. There can only be so many  one can test , but this may possibly show I prefer delta sigma. The point is I listen to and enjoy what sounds good. I’m not trying to bash RTR but so far to me it does not have a good track record.
It’s funny how the reviewer thought the total dac had more detail. I totally found the opposite. Not only more detail but also much more open and much bigger soundstage beyond the speakers for the Bricasti. When I told the total dac owner about not very open, he said, oh you have to try my new 20,000.00 dac seven. Oh my did I laugh to myself. 
In my system I used the same ethernet cables to both dac's playing the same songs using the same computer. No changes were made except for two different dac's.
I’m just saying Ethernet is a whole another ball game at least with the Bricasti. 
Both DACs were auditioned in only one system, my own. The same amp, speaker, preamp, and cables.
Matt you have not heard the best in digital if using usb. I believe your dac uses usb. When you hear digital with Ethernet there is no comparison. The dac at least the Bricasti takes on an analog quality that has to be heard to be believed. 
I feel so confident in this dac that it would be interesting to see if MSB could actually beat it. I would hope so at 100,000.00. It would also have to be hooked up with Ethernet for a fair comparison. 
Gdhal I don’t know that’s why I’d like to hear the MSB in my system. My taste in music is mainly jazz (bebop, west coast, big band). I also love classical and blues (sonny terry and brownie, lightnin hopkins, johnny lee hooker).
George I'm using the Netgear AC-1200 as a local router attached to the Netgear GS105 switch. I'm still having connection issue problems with high res and dsd. Are there better routers out there that may solve my problem. The switch was never set up as a network; I just added it to my router and turned it on.
What about D-Link DGS-108, Linksys LGS105 , or Netgear Nighthawk S8000. Any suggestions
George my problem with the hand shake to the switch is fixed. One of the settings in jriver for the network was set wrong. I bought the EMO  Safe EN-70 Ethernet isolator adaptor. Where do I insert this in the chain? Also what is the in and out as one end is black and the other end is white. Thx Jeff