dac recommendations for turntable listener?

@audphile1 @soix im currently using the ac5 power cord, I have swapped with the generic power cord and admittedly I don't hear much of a difference, I think the ac5 is airier, even though its subtle im pretty confident I would pass a blind test. 

currently using skw optical cable and bluejeans rca's to the integrated. 

I have a pair of occ neotech rca's on the way hopefully they arrive next week. and looking into getting a good usb or coax to go from node to dsd. 

@audphile1 mostly laptop for streaming Qobuz, I tried Qobuz via Airplay just to test the optical with something other than cd player, and I actually preferred the sound this way. however its still night and day different compared to my turntable set up, I don't think ill be able to achieve the sound im looking for in my room by changing things like cables and transports/streamers. 

its certainly interesting you've had a very different experience than me, maybe due to differences in room, or perhaps personal tastes. I feel like your analogue setup of that caliber would blow away this dac in almost every way. 

also the merason does have usb to my knowledge and can play up to 192 👍🏼

@audphile1 that's very interesting, the only other external dac ive ever had is the denafrips aeries ii, I thought it was nice sounding and relaxed, but still lacked midrange body compared to my entry level turntable at the time with a 2m blue cartridge. the ps dsd is very shouty in comparison to the denfrips and my turntables, it doesn't have that effortless sound to my ears. the high frequencies are very sharp and I cant listen for more than an hour at a time. I feel like I always have to turn it up in order to get that lower midrange presence, and then the highs are too loud by that time. there is also a lot of sibilance with female vocals, going from sunlight to the one before it reduced this sibilance a tiny amount, and also going from usb input to optical also helped a tiny bit too, but its still there. my turntable throws a huge soundstage not only is it 3d but the images within that soundstage are 3d, this is where the dsd sounds flat in comparison (even though its soundstage is deeper than my turntable, the images themselves are very 2d). the turntable is also very effortless like music just flows out of the speakers (its really a hard thing for my to describe so please bare with me) and all the details are there they're just very smooth. the dsd is lacking that body and weight. 

im streaming from Qobuz mostly, and regular cds, as well as some local dsd files. rcd's are bluejeans or silver serpant, and power cord is ps audio ac5. I will look into the bryston.

@audiotroy thank you for that suggestion I will look into it! 

id also like to add that there's no subwoofer in the bedroom and the bass is bigger fuller more sustained more decay. these diy heresy/forte speakers I originally had in my main room but purchased elysian 4's as the diy speakers were very very thin sounding in that room. now im questioning my elysian purchase as even though they sound fuller in my main room than my diy speakers (and better in almost every other area) , I feel I might not have needed them had the room been better. im very confused overall , bare with me lol 

guys I think I found out what my issue is!... for the heck of it I moved the dsd to my bedroom setup, which consists of heresy iii/forte iii diy speaker and a sabaj class d $100 amp, this set up was strictly used for watching movies. I think the room is the issue. the main listening room is a big L shaped room. 14 ft by 22 feet in the bottom section of the "L" where I listen, the other section of the L is 13ft by 30ft. my bedroom is 13 by 16ft. 

the bedroom sounds 10x better. I knew the room was important, and mine had suckouts in the bottom frequencies but I didn't know it made THIS much of a difference. all that fullness with the dsd is there! im listening at 80db instead of typical 90db, as I don't have to turn it up to feel loud, I think the better balance is helping out with the over sharpness/fatigue I was getting in the other room. 

the turntable in my main room I would say is barely passable when it comes to being enough fullness in the lower midrange/bass, but my worry now is If I move it to this room its going to be way too mushy/syrupy and full, as the dac sounded anorexic in the main room but sounds amazing in my bedroom. 

this has made me rethink of everything , completely eye opening experience. I may move my room, or try to close off the "L" shaped room somehow so that the listening area is a rectanglular room. 

@audphile1 I have a bluesound node coming in the mail tomorrow I figure that’s a good inexpensive place to start. I turned this bedroom system up to 90db just to have a comparison with what I wa listening to in the main room, still a tinyyyy but sharp to my ears, but this is going through the diy horn speakers, and not my primaluna tube amp, and no room treatment, but the point is it’s at a level now where I can definitely see streamers/cables making a difference and getting me to where I want to be. I definitely don’t need to turn it up to 90db as 80 in this room feels louder bigger and fuller than 90 in my main room. I’ll report back once I listen to the streamer! 

thanks for all the recommendations everyone! I plugged in the node to my system and I cant believe the difference it made. everything is a lot smoother, a lot fuller, more weight, more scale, and more effortless sounding. pretty much identical to my turntable in those regards, except the turntable is a little smoother in the upper midrange (the ps audio is still a tad bit sharp here with female vocals) , and still gives a better illusion of the musicians being in the room, I think this is due to the images being more 3d. the dac is better at soundstage depth, and imaging (placement within the stage especial form left to right) 

im very happy that the dac is way more musical now and far less analytical and 2d sounding. 

I demo'd the Merason dac1 today along with the dsd on bowers and Wilkins 800 d3, it was a tiny bit better than the ps audio in most of the categories (soundstage depth, midrange and treble air, vocal presence, bass and midrange fullness, and especially tone of the instrments). it really felt like in another league. however I don't think im going to upgrade or change at this time as im pretty happy with how the ps audio sounds now other than the tiny bit of upper midrange sharpness that still remains.

next step is figuring out how to make my main room sound as good as my bedroom.

thanks again everyone for the suggestions! 

@audphile1 speaker cables are diy canare 4s11, and im thinking of purchasing a pair of occ cables I think the brand is 1877phono zavfino. the speakers are elysian 4, horns are retired and just used in bedroom for tv/movies. 

I let you know once the occ neotech cables arrive, then I will try to get a good coax/usb cable. 

thanks again for all the suggestions. still blows my mind that the entry level streamer made such a huge difference