Budget DAC

HRT MusicStreamer II+ is very very good, IMO and the new price will leave you $150 for new music! If you can get by w only (asynch) USB.

I second Swampwalker's recommendation. I'm blown away by the performance of the basic non + unit in my office system.
I would also check out CEntrance dacport, which is a similar product.

Not out yet, but the Schiit Bitfrost specs certainly got my attention. Not to mention upgradeability down the road.

Thanks for the quick responses. I am hoping to be able to purchase a DAC with the ability to convert to 192-kHz 24-bit digital-to-analog. The Music Fidelity VDAC maybe an option for me. Thanks again!

The Hegel HD2 is reviewed by goodsound.com.
I am a new owner of the $350 dac and find it a great value.

That Schitt Bitfrost looks like a solid candidate. A few preowned DACs also may fit the bill.

Musiland

Every recommendation here is very good...
At $150.00 you can't beat the Musiland Monitor 02US, it also will do all sample rates 16/44, 24/48 through 24/192 through all inputs spdif, toslink and even USB, it is surprisingly musical.
The HRT sounds very good also, but is USB only and samples up to 24/96, but the easiest to use of the bunch as it is powered off of the usb. I have not heard the Hegel, but has a great reputation. The Schiit starts shipping in a couple of weeks, of course no one know how good it will be, but my buck would gamble that it will be excellent. Both these boys have a great reputation and have built some great gear.

No brainer: PS Audio DLIII used. You can have it upgraded later, or sell at a minimal loss.

I'm with Jax2 on this. You can do a lot of research or get the PS Audio DLIII and be done with it.
That's what I did anyway. It was my second choice, but I got tired of waiting for my first choice. Very happy with the PS Audio and I don't even recall what my first choice was.

How about a Grant Fidelity DAC-09 with an upgraded GE 5670 NOS tube? I have this combo now in a secondary system and it is a quite nice sounding addition. New this would be under $250. Since the newer DAC-11 will be coming out soon you will probably find a bunch of DAC-09s hitting the secondary market. You could have a nice sounding DAC for under $200.

Kingrex

Thanks for the response. I am on hold until I see a review of the Schitt Bitfrost. To connect other than USB, what sound cards are you using in your computers? I am in the process of buying another and looked at Asus Xonar essence?

In your price range the Matrix Mini have all the functions you need. There's one at ebay for around $350 bucks.

Audio gd nfb2 is pretty hard to beat for $480.

Musiland seems like a nice choice.