Analyzing DACs

"I’d rather trust ASR’s rankings than the subjective blather here." Would you? So you are quite happy for the ASR minion leader to recommend a brand of DAC where the quality control is really quite poor? Perhaps it also has something to do with cheap components? Look at how many ASR members complain about a particular brand of DAC that measures superbly but stops working or does not work correctly. There are even threads there on this topic.

However you have been told this before but tend to ignore it.

I'd rather trust ASR's rankings than the subjective blather here.

Audio Science Review (ASR) has tested and measured over a hundred DAC's. 

A preamp allows selecting analog sources. A good one is neutral - it imparts no "sound."

@tee_dee 

As you are new to the hobby it is a great idea to start a thread like this. I would recommend 15% to 20% of your budget on a DAC and 20% to 30% of your budget on a separate and dedicated preamp. A good preamp will last for decades but Moore's law rules dacs. A $5000 DAC 5 years ago can get blown out of the water by a $500 dac today. 

What’s the rest of your system and how much do you want to spend on a DAC?

I can endorse he preamp in the DAVE DAC.

Many people need more inputs that most DACs have, especially a phono.  If you are all digital, a DAC will work.

Finally, some think a preamp adds to sound quality.  I take a different approach, the sound quality is all in the recording and everything that touches it can only take away.  Find the components that degrade the sound the least.  If you don't have a preamp, it cannot degrade the sound.

Jerry

hard to find a good DAC where the preamp section sounds as good as a separate dedicated preamp...though certainly not all agree...even very scientific Benchmark sells a separate pre that is way better then their DAC's internal volume control...