Better music--classic DAC's or new Channel Islands

Hi there,

I was in your delima for a short while, I had the Theta Gen Va and the Micromega DAC (1bit) unit and its warm and enjoyable and expensive as well but, a new well made dac (digital done correctly) will outperform it, I sold my Theta and bought a CI Audio Dac.

Its resolution is better and and its a warm sounding DAC compared to the Meridian DAC for example(older dac) and its much more musical I believe!
Thats my opinion of course! Good luck.
I do like my Goldmund DAC still and I am keeping that with me!

I agree with Joe_b. If your looking at Theta, A Pro Basic III is considerably better than the Pro Prime.

I own two older (1996), "classic" one bit dacs. I have tried a few of the 24 bit dacs (MSB, Bel Canto, Art DIO). I have not heard the Channel Island dac. All of the newer dacs I have heard offer more detail and an airier sound. None of them were as enjoyable to listen to over the long haul. This is a case of whether you want the most detail or do you want your detail to sound like music. Also, this is not an indictment of newer dacs, as I am sure if I wanted to spend 2K or more, I could find something decent.
If you're interested in Theta and you want a refined sound, I would suggest you consider a Gen Va or Pro Basic III.

I owned a Muse 2 for some time. I thought it did great on vocals.