Best used or new DAC under $3500

Metrum Pavane level 1 used
Metrum Onyx/Jade
Holo Audio Spring Kitsune Tuned Edition
PS Audio DSD used
Playback Designs Merlot used

If you like the PS Audio DSD DAC, then you should DEFINITELY find a used one below $3500, I'm not even sure what's the thread is about at this point. We mentioned plenty of r2r options besides the Yggy below $3500.

Fairly certain I know which dac is the best under $3500.

@gdhal, yes possibly, I’d say it’s the best dac (depending on your taste: r2r/delta-sgma, OS/NOS) within the 2K - 6K range. We all know, money doesn’t equate to quality of course. I also know what you have obviously, due to the other thread and I’m keeping that out of competition as I’ve not heard it, but I would love to hear the Yggy (if anyone in Brooklyn or nearby wants to host, I’ll bring beer :) ) but aside from that, what I’ve heard within this range includes Mytek Brooklyn, T+A DAC8 DSD, and multitudes of affordable to uber dacs at various shows (hard to judge of course given the short duration as well as music selection)

I have had the Perfectwave DAC MK2 for the last few years, prior to that HRT Music Streamer + (surprisingly good for the price!), and the Peachtree Decco as a dac/preamp before that. Of all those, the PWD 2 was really the best when on NativeX mode. Honestly in OS modes, there really wasn’t much difference between this dac and the HRT, granted my speakers at the time weren’t that revealing, still they sounded pretty much the same. On NativeX, yes, PWD 2 pulled ahead, it just sounds very organic and non-fatiguing, enjoyable and engaging in this mode. Once it started having some issues however, I bought a CA Dacmagic Plus as a stop gap to replace it. I was looking to upgrade the PWD2 anyway, but didn’t wanna buy something too quick.

The CA Dacmagic isn't near the quality of the PWD M2, its very high res, but ultimately fatiguing. And while the details are there, the micro details, attack/decay, sustain, separation of instruments within the stage, all of the characters were not really as good. But it's also pretty cheap. For what it is, I think it's a great device that can do it all.

But.

After a lot of research I basically knew I wanted to buy a NOS r2r ladder dac, DSD/MQA weren’t important for me, as my existing, huge digital library mostly consists of flacs: from 16 bits to hi res (24/192). I wanted a true balanced dac with usb and optical inputs and a remote (nice to have). The Yggy intrigued me, but being an OS dac I knew it wouldn’t really be "my thing". I basically settled on either the Metrum Pavane Level 3 or the MSB Analog. When I contacted Metrum, basically they told me: Try the Onyx, you will be surprised.

And oh my god am I surprised! This level of fidelity at this price point is unthinkable to me. When people are changing thousand dollar power cables to "extend sound stage height" (how about raking the speakers back a bit ;) ), or cables to EQ the sound signature...I’m sitting hear grinning from ear to ear at my collection of music.

Kudos to Metrum, they deserve every success they get. I hope they become a huge brand.

I am sorry, I should have been a bit more clear in my post. I am talking about the new DAC from Metrum, called Onyx.  It's made with the same DAC2 modules as the Pavane 3, but instead of 4 modules per channel, it has 2 modules per channel.  And according to pretty much everyone who heard both, they are extremely close in performance.  The Onyx is priced around $2500.

http://www.the-ear.net/review-hardware/metrum-acoustics-onyx-and-jade-digital-analogue-converter

I wanted to try the Venus, but typically people tend to either buy the Pontus or the Terminator. The large capacitor counts (possibility of failure), as well as lack of reviews kinda stopped me. I know there's a very rabid Italian following but I was looking for more consensus.

I'll stand by and say the new Metrum Onyx/Jade are the best DACs within this bracket based on what I heard/tried.