Dac: Does anyhting beat the Schiit Gungnir Multibit (Gumby) in the same price range?

"Have you directly compared the Ares to the well-regarded dacs from Metrum and Schiit? "

Not yet; I've only compared the Ares, Soekris  and Audio-GD to each other, all recent purchases within the last couple months.

Two months ago  I also purchased a Yggy from another popular site and stupidly sent a check. The seller disappeared, I never received the Yggy. Expensive mistake.

At this point I'm trying to discover a "diamond in the rough" at a lower price point, that's why I bought four. When I determine which one sounds best, I'll sell the others to purchase a Yggy again or maybe a Holo Spring for comparison.

Ares has a unique sound, detailed but relaxed. I'm not quite used to it, but I like it.

I'm sure you can google to find others who have compared Ares to other mega expensive dacs.

~Tom

Celo, we each have our own experiences and I'm not trying to discount yours, I've just had a dissimilar experience.

I'm able to  hear differences in similar priced gear. I've owned 6 different DAC's in the sub $1000 range and I've yet to hear two that sound the same -- different sound stage depths, different widths, different abilities to render details or nuances in music, different abilities to  replicate wooden percussion instruments, etc.

Sometimes I find very dramatic differences, i.e. Audio GD vs Denefrips Ares.  I also hear differences in DS vs R2R, preferring R2R by a wide margin. 

I have friends and family (wife has golden ears) that hear the same differences I hear.

My point is that some people do hear differences and price doesn't necessarily matter. Two of  my favorite DACs I own right now happen to be the lowest priced.

PMBOYD,

Soekris dac1101 and Denefrips Ares. Gonna sell the Soekris, however, as I couldn't get it to fully work with my new MicroRendu setup. 

I also have the new Audio-GD S19 that doesn't fit my personal liking; I enjoy hearing inner detail over the warm smoothness of the Audio GD.

As I admitted in an earlier post, I haven't yet had the Gumby, Yggy or Holo to compare in my system. But for the modest price and pure enjoyment I receive, I'm happy for now with Ares. The day will come when I spend more money on a  popular DAC -- probably the Yggy to compare with Ares.

~Tom