2. digital
  3. 190516-181705

dac recommendations for turntable listener?

hi everyone, kindly asking for your dac suggestions. im almost 100% a turntable listener, but recently picked up a DirectStream Dac for those times I cant find the vinyl, its too expensive, or it simply doesn't exist. im looking for suggestions as im not happy with the DirectStream dac, its just not to my liking. its too sharp up top, too thin in the lower midrange, other than that everything else is pretty great. id like to get, if possible, a dac that sounds more like my turntable. I feel like I would get mostly there if the midrange was fuller, and the top end was softer. 

my current system is marantz tt15 , dynavector 20x2, icon audio ps3 mk ii, primaluna prologue premium, and elysian 4 speakers. 

the current dacs I was looking to switch to were lab 12 dac, primaluna evo 100 dac, lampizators entry model, or Merason DAC 1. does anyone have experience with these and can recommend them? 

thanks a lot! 

Anthony 

palutena

Showing 2 responses by sls883

sls883
692 posts
 

I recently upgraded my streamer to a Innuos Zen Mk3. I'm using it with a Gustard R26 r2r dac. I'm quite happy with it. I think the Gustard is excellent for the money.

My vinyl playback is decent, but not crazy expensive. Marantz TT-15S1 turntable, Hana ML moving coil cartridge, and Sutherland TZ Vibe phono stage. It sounds really good, but I mostly stream now. 

I had been playing cds and SACD through my Denon DCD-1700NE, but now that I have the Innuos streamer, I'm not using it much. 

sls883
692 posts
 

@reimarc

I have a Gustard R26 dac.  I've thought about upgrading, but I think it would take an upgrade like you made to make it worthwhile. 

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