Best Minimalist DAC?

As noted above, I also recommend the Ayre QB-9 USB DAC. I own the Ayre QB-9 and am very impressed with the way it sounds in my system. The new DSD DAC version is much better sounding then my previous Ayre CX-7e CD player. The highs are better and so is the bass.

Overall, the Ayre QB-9 DSD DAC sounds excellent and I highly recommend you audition it. I listen to blues, classical, jazz, folk, country and new age.

I also recommend you run balanced XLR cables from the Ayre QB-9 DAD DAC to your Pass INT30A amplifier.

Please see the review of the Ayre QB-9 DSD DAC in the Computer Audiophile web site below:

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/565-ayre-acoustics-qb-9-dsd-dac-review/

Please let us know what you decide.

UltraFi DAC41 is probably one of the more minimalist DACs in existence. No filters, no power LED, no power switch. The sound is very immediate, if not perhaps containing the tiniest bit of grit. I prefer it over the Questyle CAS192D.

I use a bitfrost with uber analog, A peachtree X1 for usb optical from my Mac Mini server. I use Audvirna software on the Mac Mini to manage it. This is fed to a conrad johnson PV12, pass X150.5 to magnepan 3.6 The sound is great. I put all the music files on an extranl drive to the mac Mini.

Nothing even remotely comes close to the simplicity and performance of the Overdrive SE or SX.

The Overdrive SE has a single output stage that does all tasks, including gain, I/V conversion, analog filtering and drive. No other DAC can claim this, except maybe some NOS DACs. This virtually eliminates the compression you hear with other DACs. It is extremely open and airy.

The digital section is also very minimalist, in order to minimize jitter. As a result it is the most resolving DAC made. Our digital front-ends are unbeaten in the market.

The volume control is not a preamp either. It varies the voltage referenced used for the D/A, so no bit decimation or resolution lost. No varying of any component in the analog output either. It is EXACTLY like running the line out of the DAC directly to the amps because that is what it does, but without the dangers of doing this with software digital volume control.

Just won a shootout with many other top DACs on Audiogon and positive reviews on Dagogo and Audiostream. Sounds like a NOS DAC, but plays 192 and is more resolving.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio

Steve - Many of your posts provide information that is very helpful to other members by generously sharing your expertise. With all due respect however, this post is nothing but an obviously biased and free advertisement for your product. Why don't you just purchase some ads for this purpose? It would be much more effective as well as a more respectable way to operate. Just a suggestion, and I've heard others say the same thing.