DAC for all tube 2 channel set up?

OK I’ll lplay the advocate here.

As good as perhaps the aforementioned DAC s are, and I’ve no reason to doubt it, I’ve found there is sufficient info which tells me a system is comprised of the whole of things.

To that end, and owning a tube power train, sometimes a mix of SS & tubes are the need. Sometimes not. Too much of a good thing, and all that business. Dig?

The DACs I tried either complemented the system or detracted from it. I tried an Apogee, Bel Canto DAC 3, and the DA10 from Lavry Eng. All very nice and quite good sounding though each had it’s own voice of course. For my system needs the Bel Canto D3 won out. It gained me better imaging, extension, astonishing bass, and added the feeling of more speed to my all tube pre & amps. It was what the rig needed. The same choice might not have been made had my system been otherwise. It may well have been the Lavry for example.

Soooo, if you’re looking for system improvement, there’s that to think about.

As Memberman says What are you wanting to achieve?

My system is nothing like a SET sound, nor is it like anything nearing SS, yet it has those qualities which enable it to be very comfortable with any genre.

had I been solely into classical music given my equip, the Apogee may have been the pick. Only into Vocalists? Then the Lavry was a sure bet... further, if my rig was on the edgy side or a bit bright sounding, the DA10 would be a safe and appropriate pick.

The DAC3 wasn't nearly as musical as the other two contestants. it did however bring the items I listed above and all were apparent needs ONCE I heard it in my system... prior to? I was pretty OK with what was going on and was seeking just a good DAC with USB.

Funny thing now is I use the USB incidentally and not as my main pc source interface, and could well live without it after all that. lol.

Sam Ash has a return policy, that's where I found the Apogee USB DAC for about $900 +, back then.

Lavry used to have a trial period on their DACs too. Benchmark and perhaps others like PS Audio do too.

the MHDT DACs seem to have no trouble selling around here either... provided you get one and it's not to your liking.

so there's that.

None of which, IMO will ingender bass like the DAC 3 will, though... and it's remote with volume control & source selection. the dejitterizing aspect is killer. it does convey ALL the info on the disc, but not in any untoward fashion. If there is any knock on it I can thinnk of it can sound dry.... if not set properly into a particular system. it will only provide at best, via all but the USB interface (16/44.1K), 24/96 PCM sampling.

other DACs will upsample or over sample as the case may be.

as to upsampling the resulrs IMO the sound gets rounder and positioned further away from your chair.

For around $1500 $1600 or so these days, given it'll act as a preamp too (just in case), and has USB & dejitterizing of the input signal via BNC, AES, & SPDIF, and can be run xlr or rca, at the same time, it does present a value and a lot of flexibility.

There are others in the $1K or so neighborhood you might prefer.

Good luck.

....and do take notes during your trials if you proceed that way.

My last thought is this... 24/96 is a very good rate overall. it's not the tip top though. Higher sampling rates and word lengths seem to me to give more resolution in an easier softer way. There too is more and more of the high res files being made available now... and quite soon, even more so. So if you think ahead somewhat, a DAC capable of doing 24/192, or even DSD as well as the norm PCM, could gain you some versatility down the road.

The diffs however from 24/96 & up, are closer than one might think, and the rig will yield more or less those diffs depending... albeit it's not night and day sorts, but mere flexibility.

HAVING HEARD THE OVERSAMPLING ASPECT ON A COUPLE DACs, I'm not a fan of it but it could just be the DACs in that price range. I think you could go either way SS or tube DAC and be pretty OK with things... I'd start cheap and move up a few steps and see what's what for muyself. I prefer a hands free operation myself. Plug and play... with a DAC.

Good luck... let us know what you do ultimately or along the way.