DAC recommendation in 5 to 10K range

Terminator 2 or Terminator Plus??

Just a thought.

I picked up a used MSB Analog DAC a year ago for under $5k and have not given DACs another thought. The first thing I played through it was Solitude by Francien Van Tuinen. My wife actually cried. That was a first.

MSB Discrete.

Try the Wyred4sound 10th anniversary dac, one of the most analog sounding dacs on the market at any price.

I have very good inputs from people regarding the higher price MSB DACs, but will look into MSB Discrete DAC as an option.  Thank you for the suggestion.

Not having too much inputs about Wyred4sound 10th anniversary DAC, certainly is an option.  Thank you.

don't listen to audio Troy they're just a bunch of product pushers of their own.

Try the Wyred4sound 10th anniversary dac, one of the most analog sounding dacs on the market at any price. one of the reviewers put it up against his VPI turntable with a $5,000 Japanese cartridge and he said it was every bit as analog sounding it's not cheap though it's $4,500 US and I bought one and I can totally agree with the reviewer it's the most analog sounding dac that I've heard in my system, I put it up against the $15,000 Sim audio DAC and the 10th anniversary dac was far superior, I have no doubt that this will be as good or better than the DCS as well.

Another option you can consider is to add Gaia DCC to your Dac.

It will make focus sharp and treble more clean.

Thomas

MSB Discrete.  I did not care too much for the tone of the Lumin X1, though soundstage was humongous.  MSB is so fluid and musical but very resolving.  Very easy to get lost in the music, as they say.

++Holo May. I have auditioned many DACs and is why I own a May. This includes offerings five times its price point. It is the best bargain in my journey thus far. The only knock is that is gets hot, class A hot. 

Used DCS Bartok…? I had one and..well…kinda gorgeous! Might be at the top of your budget but I loved it….! DCS just released an firmware upgrade that I could hear. Lovely piece.

Lampizator, Aesthetix and Brinkmann….. 3 significant genius dudes…..

Lampizator Baltic 3 is very good in a different way than my Lumin P1, which is the new little brother to the X1.

For just under 10k you can get a preowned Chord Dave.  awesome.

I have had the Lumin u1 mini, A1, D2, and X1.  If you can find a used Lumin X-1 for under $9k end of the story.  IMO, is the best DAC/Streamer under $19k on the market.  I now have a Lampizator Pacific which costs twice as much as the X1.  To be honest there was not that much difference in SQ. 

I have heard good things about X1, and will see about finding a way to audition.

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I have had the Lumin u1 mini, A1, D2, and X1.  If you can find a used Lumin X-1 for under $9k end of the story.  IMO, is the best DAC/Streamer under $19k on the market.  I now have a Lampizator Pacific which costs twice as much as the X1.  To be honest there was not that much difference in SQ.  

The Lumin App is really user-friendly and you do not need Roon.  It is a great DAC.

I can highly recommend an Audio Research DAC 9.

Thank you, I will check into this DAC.

Of course there are tube DACs too that probably lean more your way, but not sure if you’re open to going that direction.

In fact, I do, Lampizator is on my short list to try and possible Aqua.

Have you tried changing filters or convolution with hqPlayer?  I have a Totaldac d1core that I love.  hqPlayer with convolution help to make up for room issues.  I used REW and rePhase with a umik mic.  Definitely not easy, there is a learning curve, but worth the effort.

Yes on filters and modulators, but just now working on learning to use the convolution.  I plan to place an order for an UMIK-1 soon to start playing with REW, so hopefully I can have the same positive result you indicated.  Do you have any reading materials to suggest?

Chord Hugo TT2 is a good one in that range. Great headphone amp too. Might be able to score with m scaler for around $10k but I think Chord might have just bumped prices up.

I can highly recommend an Audio Research DAC 9. I have been a Audio Research fan for preamps and phonostages for decades. As my purchase ability increased I got better versions. But I never thought of them as a digital company although their DACs were top rated.

My dealer brought over a REF 160s amp for me to try (I was in the amp market)… he also brought over ARC DAC without me asking. I had an $18K DAC… and was not in the market. After demoing the amp… I realized, that although I really did not want to, out of respect for him… I needed to haul out the ARC DAC and try it. Literally, in less than 30 seconds I was typing a message to him to order me one. Never have I had an easier decision. Even though I had no idea where I was going to get the money… I am retired.

The ARC DAC is incredibly natural sounding and highly detailed. It puts out music… the sound that creates an emotional connection. It’s great having all these DACs that are highly detailed and “natural”… but this one connects directly with the heart.

My dealer brought over a Berkeley Alpfa Reference DAC ($22K)… I prepared myself to just say yes and later figure out where to get the money. Surprisingly after a couple weeks of comparing them, I actually preferred the ARC… although they were so similar that I doubt most folks could tell the difference in a couple days of comparing. The ARC was subtly more natural sounding and very similar in detail.

Given what you’re looking for I’d take a serious look at a Mojo Mystique DAC. It’s also an R2R DAC but possibly with a more organic kinda sound you might really like. Here’s a relatively recent review of one of their most recent models, but you can read others on past models to get a better idea of the overall sound characteristics of these DACs.

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/superioraudio/equipment/0221/Mojo_Mystique_EVO_B4B_21_DAC_Review.htm

Audio Note may be another make that might appeal to you as well.  Of course there are tube DACs too that probably lean more your way, but not sure if you’re open to going that direction.  My bias is to use tubes further down the chain if desired, but that’s just me.  Just another couple options FWIW, and best of luck.

This is an interesting direction I have been thinking for a short while by getting a network capable DAC instead, and I may head in this way at some point.  Do you have any experience with this DAC having ethernet input from router/switch instead of server?

I have a MA3.  Music is on a NAS or Tidal, inexpensive switch (I think MA3 forces ethernet to 100mbps for lower receiver noise).  Check emmlabs.com for a list of reviews under "news".

Have you tried changing filters or convolution with hqPlayer?  I have a Totaldac d1core that I love.  hqPlayer with convolution help to make up for room issues.  I used REW and rePhase with a umik mic.  Definitely not easy, there is a learning curve, but worth the effort.

If you can audition a Meitner MA3 try ethernet from the server to the MA3.  Let the MA3 resample to DSD1024 before converting to analog.

This is an interesting direction I have been thinking for a short while by getting a network capable DAC instead, and I may head in this way at some point.  Do you have any experience with this DAC having ethernet input from router/switch instead of server?

If you can audition a Meitner MA3 try ethernet from the server to the MA3.  Let the MA3 resample to DSD1024 before converting to analog.

May I ask what you are feeding your terminator?

I have a fanless server sending USB signal to the Terminator. The server is using i9-12900K CPU, and running Audiolinux as OS, HQPlayer as music player, using Taiko DC-ATX and an ULPS (Unregulated Linear Power Supply) as power source, signal output through JCAT XE USB card that is powered by Sean Jacob’s DC4 power supply, the output signal goes into Opto USB transmitter and then to Opto USB receiver, then going into Innous Phoenix reclocker before going into the Terminator, and the USB cable is Sablon 2020.

May I ask what you are feeding your terminator? 

Personally, I have found the source to be as important as the DAC. Now, if you don’t care for the tonality of your existing unit, that is not likely to change with a better source, but some of the other elements could very well.  Then again, you might have this well sorted out already.  As the Terminator is well regarded, and I have never heard it suggested that it’s deficient in any way,  it may be that you just want a different flavor. Or it may be that you’ll benefit from feeding it a better source.

Of course, that does lead down a rabbit hole of sorts and you might end up searching for both devices and cabling, etc.  For example - I had a nice DAC but upgraded from a souped up and optimized Mac mini to a dedicated streamer which yielded a nice improvement.  I then went to a higher end streamer which again yielded nice benefits. That lead me to upgrade my DAC significantly, which didn’t yield as much improvement as I expected.  At least not until I upgraded the USB cable.  Then I changed the connection type (USB to stock Lightning Link “LL”).  Then I upgraded the LL cable and incorporated some network filtering.  All those changes yielded as much or more improvement than the original DAC upgrade. I’ve recently also added an upsampling processor so I’m still down my own rabbit hole but am ready to climb out.  Attention to source and these small details has yielded a digital front end that is fully competitive with some state of the art systems in direct comparison.

If you still want some DACs to consider in that price range that are different than your Denafrips, I can suggest you consider auditioning the Simaudio 680, and the Auralic Vega G2.1.  

Good luck,

see the long Verdantaudio DAC thread here

The Holo Audio May KTE is in your price range.  I really like mine—very accurate and detailed while being incredibly musical.  You can find lots of reviews/accolades here and on other sites.

If you can wait, a used Brinkmann Nyquist 2 would be me recommendation.

My first impression was that it sounded like vinyl. 

Bob