Best used or new DAC under $3500

I was like you and sick of Sabre DACs. Give the Metrum DACs a shot. I've owned probably 20 DACs in the last 3 years and the Metrum Pavane and Metrum Onyx (what I have now) are by far my favorite. Musical and resolving with loads of tonal textures. They're NOS R2R DACs done right.

My Modwright Oppo Sonica sounds wonderful.

I know u said no Sabre DACs but the only people that do them right is resonesssenc Mirus pro.  His brother is the inventor of the Sabre dac chip. They invented it they use it the best.  

(Not the OP but thought I would chime in)
I use my AN 3.1 balanced for master quality Tidal and it sounds much better than any of the red book cds I play. With this DAC, supposedly everything gets squashed down to 16/44.1, but it will still play 24/88.2 DSD out from my Oppo. I am not sure why that is. 

OP; out of curiosity, will you be using this DAC mostly for playing Redbook PCM content or streaming using a NAS or one of the popular music streaming services? Ruling out the delta sigma chip like Sabre, etc., implies your main application is PCM- based content. Is that a correct assessment?

Jozurr,
I have compared my AN 3.1 balanced to my Oppo BDP105D modded by EVS. The mods made a huge improvement over the stock unit but, in the end, the AN just had a more real, “being there” sound, at least to me. I would listen to the AN if possible. 
I heard the AN 5  $50k! with AN speakers and top of the line Atmo Sphere amp and pre at an audio show which blew my mind.  It was just right for the smallish hotel rooms that are typically used by most presenter and this was awesome.  I found a 3.1 balanced and will not
be selling it, maybe ever. 

I don't believe that most posters are stating their recommendation is"best" but rather they're amongst the field of worthy high quality choices. 
Charles 

The best DAC under $3500 is the one that sounds best in one’s audio system/room. There is no such thing as an outright “best” DAC on it’s own. As this thread gets longer, the list of “best” DACs suggestions will continue to lengthen.

I have had many Dacs and CD players over the years and currently own a Digital Amplifier Company (DAC) HS DAC. It plays very close to the way tricked out ANK 2.1b Sig Dac I once owned. With the cost of the kit and all of the BG caps, AN Silver coupling caps, AN Tantalum resistors, NOS tubes, AN IV transformers...I had north of 4k into it. The HS DAC DAC is very close at 1/4 the cost.

http://www.cherryamp.com/dac-dac-d-to-a-convertor

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.

jozurr well said only you can say what you like and why, trust those ears. And another nice looking DAC popped up in the listings last night.......

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/da-converters-abbingdon-music-research-dp-777-2018-01-05-digital

Looks like a pretty fantastic deal and only half your budget. No affiliation and I am a bit confused at the lack of willingness of some to buy used, and highly depreciated, DACs.

You owe it to yourself to look into the Mytek Manhattan series one used(around 3k). Feature set, build quality and sound are competitive with units much more expensive. It would not be out of place in a very high end system. I don’t own one but have had much exposure to it. The company has a few bugs but the product is special. 

Hi jozurr,
+1 your comments. Continue to trust what "you" hear,  just because someone raves about a certain DAC/component doesn’t mean you’ll have the same result or opinion regarding it. As this thread is demonstrating there are many excellent options available for consideration. The Yiggy or Ayre may very well appeal to other listeners yet fail to impress you. There’s nothing unusual about that at all. Again just trust your own ears and judgement.
Charles

Of course, if I don’t like the Yggy or Ayre, the problem is with my system and not that I've heard better DACs. I’ve enjoyed the Dave, and the PS Audio DirectStream much more than the Yggy and the QBD-9 DSD (Yes I know they’re expensive too). I was more curious about alternatives in that price range.

Yo, Zoophaugus,

What's the BEST DAC under $3500 Hmmm?

It's the Schiit Yggdrasil.  Why attack those who share that opinion?
Why not just promote the one you like instead?

The poster's problem is he doesn't like the (known good) DACs he has tried in his system.  I think the issue is with one or more of his other components and not the DAC at all.

http://www.teac.com/product/ud-503/

Teac UD-503 or if you want wireless capability Teac NT-503, both use  VERITA AK4490 DACs, check them out, you will be happy you did.

Denafrips or T&A

It’s simply amazing how the thread starter states he’s had an yggdrasil and is not interested in one and the fan boys come here from headfi pushing it...

I too own an yggdrasil and am very happy with it... But it’s nice to hear about alternative options and what people think about them...

Just give it up guys.. Seriously...
It’s like your Bible thumpers pushing the lord onto people....

Yggy is a damn good dac but  not the holy grail of DACs...

Yggdrasil is old news

But their upgraded analog board is new news.

Yggdrasil is old news, it does not support usb mounted file play back nor dsd. This is old bb product, beafed up at analogue output but less rhan a true vacume tube iv / buffer stage.
My old bb 1704 based moded sonic frontier family dac even sounds better for playing red book cds. I just cant understand why people buying thus ygg hype. Go figure gold ears.

@jozurr OP, I’d have a very, very difficult time parting with the Chord Dave, and you say: "I LOVE it."

Is there any other way you can save some ’dough’ as you put it, and keep the DAVE?

Denafrips has not been mentioned yet. There are new models that would meet your target budget amount. The Denafrips Venus is listed at SGD $3,850 or ~ US $2,900 new.

Also not mentioned (I think) is the Soekris DAC1541.

The problem is your decision here... " 1) Yggdrasil: Sold it as the staging was too narrow/flat and it seemed a little lifeless".

If you had this impression of the best DAC under $3500, then your other components are junk.  At which point you should have sold them and kept the Yggy!

Give Holo Audio Spring Dac a look. Ive owend one for well over a year and am very satisfied.

Without actually HEARING each of the three in a high-resolution system in a room whose acoustics we ourselves are familiar with, we are merely guessing which one is "better."
I owned a Benchmark many years ago, but certainly not within the past 10 years. Based on THAT incarnation, I wouldn’t buy one today. However, I’ve heard it has improved. Many people swear by it, even some eminent reviewers. (I mean, why introduce ever-newer incarnations if they do not address the less appealing aspects of the older models)?
I’m happy with the Yggdrasil. On my GOOD cds, it reminds me of the sound of music in the halls I hear symphonic music in (as I’ve said many times before). That said, any system is only as good as its weakest link. 

I had the opportunity to hear the Auralic Vega DAC in a friend’s system that I’m extremely familiar with. I thought it was a pretty good sounding DAC but bettered by the Modwright Oppo and the Yamamoto YDA-01A DAC in comparison. I liked the Holo Audio level 3 DAC a bit more as well. I will be the first to acknowledge that these are simply my personal listening impressions.

I’ve heard the Reimyo DAC and Border Patrol DAC as well but in entirely different systems. This makes extrapolation difficult but my gut feeling is that I’d prefer both of these to the Auralic Vega. Subjective? Absolutely. Someone else could have the opposite listening impression .
Charles

"genez48 posts01-19-2018 10:37pmJozurr? When was the time you heard the Yggdrasil?
This is brand new news....    http://www.schiit.com/about/news/yggdrasil-refined "


The guy specifically said he is not interested in an yggdrasil... 
Why must you bother? 

Go back to that soap opera of a thread at headfi you so love posting on... 

The world does not revolve around schiit... 

Nothing personal... Just saying... 

Re: Sabre DACs, I haven't auditioned any in home. However I have heard the Auralic DACs in a few different systems and they all had a "HiFi" sound to them that I do not find natural or enjoyable. I can't say for sure it was the Auralic but my gut tells me it had at least a little to do with it, so I think I understand where the OP is coming from.

Charles thanks and I almost bought that Reimyo before I put the bid in on my current AN DAC. The K2 remasters are amongst my all time favorite jazz re-issues.  The first time I read a review, of the initial  Reimyo CD player, I was deep in audio lust. Then I saw the DAC, I am sure it sounds fantastic. And agreed so many good DACs and one of the great things about evolving digital technology so many great used DACs!

I'm not sure what you have against the Sabre chip, because the Auralic Vega is as good as any and better than most of the units listed. It is available at Audio Advisor now for under $ 2,300.00.

Hi Jond,
Nice finding those 2 DACs.  The Reimyo is considered one of the finest sounding DACs made, a classic. Excellent price as well. There are some  truly  fabulous DACs mentioned in this thread. 
Charles 

I've been impressed with the Hegel DACs....

+1 on the Lampizator Atlantic

I've had mine for about a year and agree with Shedder's description. A wonderful, very musical DAC. 

Browsing the listings a few things jump out at me....

This is a DAC I've always lusted after I do love Japanese sound..

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/da-converters-free-shipping-230v-50-60hz-2018-01-01-digital

This seems well regarded and uses the PCM-1704 chip

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/da-converters-lessloss-dac-2004-mk-ii-dac-d-a-converter-dac2004mki...

I certainly second the recommendations of either Border Patrol or a used Audio Note DAC if you can find one in your price range. Good luck!

Shredder,
Agree with you, yes many very good options presented on this thread.
The Lampizator Atlantic you own is reputed to sound fantastic.  Its use of DHT tubes is very intriguing.  It is priced (new retail) above the stated budget but stoically could be something very special. 
Charles 

I let go aOPPO 205 after listning to the Hegel 160 Integrated with a DAC. 

Try a Mojo. Not much to loose.  

Lots of great choices at that price point, including many mentioned here (I have a slight bit of experience with the Holo and Border Patrol and was impressed). I recently purchased a Lampizator Atlantic and love it. Excellent clarity, natural sounding, serious holographic imaging, rich tone. Base unit lists slightly above your price point, but I will bet you could talk Lampi down a bit or find one used.

Curious on which of the three Dacs listed below are better since Benchmark utilizing something no other Dac use, inter-sampling

Supposedly the Yggdrasil also uses something no other DAC uses: 

Yggdrasil is the *world’s only closed-form multibit DAC*, delivering 21 bits of resolution with no guessing anywhere in the digital or analog path. We’ve thrown out delta-sigma D/As and traditional digital filters to preserve the original samples all the way through from input to output

Metrum pavane

If you know you like Chord, why not the new Quetest?

If you can snag an Aqua La Scala with the Optologic upgrade you'll be in tall cotton.

Hello, I have a chord qbd76hdsd that I purchased earlier this year because I didn't want to point up for a Dave. It's a great unit. PM if you're interested as I was looking to sell and possibly move up to a Dave. Says nothing negative about the qbd, I just love trying new gear

I have spent a bunch of time with the PS Audio DirectStream Junior (DSJ) and have a review coming out soon. The only other DAC in this discussion that I’ve heard is the Chord Dave. With the latest software update (Redcloud), I believe the DSJ comes pretty close to the Dave. It is not as quiet and clean but at least via its Bridge II network interface, it is extremely natural, direct-sounding (free of digital haze) and musically satisfying. My previous reference DAC was the PCM1704-based Monarchy NM24 with tube output and upgraded caps and I/V resistor. The DSJ exceeds it in most every parameter except lower midrange richness, which is close but it’s hard to beat tubes. You can find some comments on the sound after the software update on my blog, http://taww.co.

Try the Mojo Dac

That Audio Note 3 is definitely on my radar but was curious on those Dacs based upon excellent reviews and lots of buz...

What other Dacs have you compared to your AN3? Just found this from a quick search on Audiogon:

http://dastereo.ru/t/holo-audio-spring-dac-r2r-dsd512/2075/1341?u=dmitre

Thanks,
Wig

A used Audio Note 3 series tube DACs  may be a good choice for you, and obtainable for your $3k budget. It has up to 96/192 rate and, to my ear, just sounds right.  

Curious on which of the three Dacs listed below are better since Benchmark utilizing something no other Dac use, inter-sampling:

- Yiggy
- Holo Springs
- Benchmark Dac3

Wig

Audio Research DAC8(released 2010) is a great sounding DAC. It’s good for 24/192. They don’t come up for sale often though. I own one and just ordered a second I lucked into from TMR Audio. The USB does not work well unless you have a 2012 Mac Mini(or older) with the correct driver AND OS X 10.9. And forget using it with Windows! I now use Bluesound Node 2s via coax and the sound is amazing. Expect to pay 1800-2400 if you can find one.
https://www.whathifi.com/audio-research/dac8/review

If you can find a PS Audio Direct Stream DAC for under 3K it is certainly good enough to present an amazing hologram with the right system and set up. I love mine....the PS Audio Perfect DAC II was also very musically pleasing (under 1500 used)....The Ayre Codex is also in the league but offers minimalist connections as does the QB 9 DSD...both Ayres can be found used under 1500. Benchmarks latest has been highly regarded as well.