*DAC


I am down to the last piece of the puzzle. I am very happy with the sound of my system at this point, so I’m not sure if the DAC needs to be improved on. What I am looking for is to hear those background subtleties in the music a little more pronounced. The strum of a guitar, the stroke of the piano keys, the clicks, ticks & tingles that accompany the music. I do here that now, I just wondered if there is a way to elaborate on those background sounds (details) a bit more.

Is it the DAC that will make this happen? If it is, they say my Gustard R26 is as good as a $5K DAC, how far over that $5K do you think I have to go?

Thank you for your help and suggestions and the best to you all over the holiday season and beyond!

PS: I listen mostly to Jazz

128x128navyachts

Showing 1 response by hiphiphan

The Ferrum Wandla (~$3k) with Ferrum's external, hybrid power supply (~$1.2k) is reportedly better than the T+A 200 and substantially less money -- unless you're playing native DSD files, in which case the T+A is better. 

The Weiss DAC 204 ($3.4k) is reportedly very detailed and very good in every other respect.

The Berkeley mid-tier DAC (for $11k new) is reportedly more detailed than the Chord DAVE ($14k) and, according to Robert Harley at the The Absolute Sound, sounds nearly as good as Berkeley's flagship ($28k).

Other component upgrades could bring out more detail, of course -- streamer for example.  And cables!  I bought a used Inakustik Silver cable to connect a reclocker to my Chord DAVE, and it boosted detail more than I could have ever expected.