The only two DACS I’ve directly compared in my system are the PS Audio Direct stream Mark II & the Bricasti M1 Series II. It wasn’t close as the Bricasti was better in every way from build quality to sound quality. The Bricasti is built very well in n MA & sounds excellent w/ a dead silent, jet black background & very detailed & dynamic with no listening fatigue. I found the PS to be thin sounding in comparison & often noisy on some cuts. You may be able to find the Bricasti used for about .$9K but I suspect it’s the next level from most anything new near that price. Highly recommend!
DAC for Aurender N200
For past 2 years I have been running Aurender N200 into Musical Fidelity M6s DAC. The DAC is built like a tank and very versatile, but I must connect via coax since Aurender clock is superior to DAC clock.
Well, I am ready to upgrade DAC for SQ reasons and presently inclining to PSAudio MkII for US mfr, good reviews, good service, current bargain price.
Q1: What DAC (<$8k) would you consider an optimal match for the N200?
Q2: N200 has very few outputs compared with other streamers in its price class.
I know Aurender has always inclined to USB. All else being equal, is USB the best output?