DAC’s

i have had no experience with emm or meitner dacs but of course they have a strong reputation

if someone had a very nice system and asked me what dac/streamer they should get for $6-7 grand i would recommend any of the following 4, based on my personal experience, and their usage criteria and sonic bent

1) chord m scaler and hugo tt2 -- will need streamer to supply usb output, so might exceed $7 grand a bit, but the sound is simply top notch

2) bricasti m1 se with network card -- superb integrated streamer and dac

3) weiss 501/502 - loaded with useful features to a level not matched by the previous two, wonderful crystal clear sound

4) msb analog dac with power base - older dac, but r2r unit with that special very analog (the unit is very aptly named imo) presentation, a touch less razor sharp a touch less uber-focused sound, but oh so natural sounding

all 4 have the ability to control analog output volume, which i value greatly, the msb even has an analog input, so it is 2 input linestage in addition

i have not tried the holo may many like it, i did try the denafrips terminator i did not feel it is at the same level as the other 4 i mentioned

my 2 cents, hope it is helpful

don't play into the chain-jerk fellas... back on topic...👌🙏

i think these posts provide a useful perspective on dac choice, especially at a high level of cost and performance

what does one want? do we want a dose of vacuum tube magic coming from the dac stage? are we prepared to, and do we welcome tube rolling, dealing with tubes and their attendant benefits and difficulties? or do we want as much straight wire with gain ’neutrality’ from our dac -- or do we want something more reminiscent of high level analog sound -- slightly softer, silkier, more ambient, little more diffuse? of course this leads us into the key aspect of personal taste, system and room synergy...

what about features? do we want dsp to tailor the customize the sound? do we want or need dsp room/bass management from our dac? do we have a great linestage already or do we want to delete that stage? do we have extra analog sources we still want to readily switch in to hear? do we want more boxes and cables, or do we value simplicity (applies very much to running roon, with core, cleansers and so on... lotsa boxes and power supplies, filters) in box count and setup?

additionally, what user interface, what streaming service, what streaming source... all are critical considerations (are we apple ios folks or android...tidal or quboz or...pc streamer or dedicated or integrated... and so on) ... less can be more, or more can be more... each brings its own good and bad... convenience and ease, or ultimate in sound for that last 1-2%, but lots of work, trouble, complexity to achieve it...

@gdnrbob

just so we close the loop for you... click this link to the innuos support page regarding roon...

https://innuos.com/kb/setting-up-roon/

see point #1

😉

@gdnrbob

i think some of the posters, including me, were a little mystified how you said that your system ran roon, and yet you didn’t need a roon core...

now we understand... you have the zen mini and zenith, either of which can serve as the core machine... 👍

@cakyol

In my opinion, you could get a Chord Qutest for about 2k, which is one of the best DACs around, and save about 5k.

Believe me, you will never hear the difference, especially not worth a price differential of 5k, even if you have better hearing than the creature in the movie "A Quiet Place".

the op of this thread has not listed his system nor setup, unless i missed it

for me, since early 2020, i had the mojo, 2qute, qutest, then the hugo tt2... i then added the m scaler to feed the tt2 (this stack remains one among a small handful of dac setups i currently use, as i am very pleased with its sound)

in my stepwise progression, the 2qute and qutest sounded very very similar, but otherwise, there is/was a clearly noticeable change (upgrade) in sound quality each step up the ladder, so to speak - imaging, tonality, timbre, bass solidity, richness (in an analog sense) all improved

so for me personally, i would not simply assume the op will not hear any difference -- we don’t know the quality of the rest of his system

that said, one can reasonably debate whether 5 grand at the margin is more wisely spent to buy a better dac than a qutest, compared to upgrading something else in his setup... we just don’t have the information to know, or have an opinion...

useful reminders and frames of reference here-in... 

hobbies are enjoyed around the world at varying resource levels... key is frame of mind, respect for others choices, not assuming your personal experiences bear all relevant answers and perspectives

op

Sir, I can get one for 7k NIB from a dealer. That is part of why I posted this to begin with, but thank you.

my point in putting that there (although it is deleted now) is to say that if you can buy a new one from a dealer for 7 grand, that it may not be too far off the used market trading price for the unit, and thus, if you are willing to make the effort to resell the unit if you don’t like it as much as you hope, that there would be a small or zero loss money-wise

good luck on your search

@lalitk ​​​​@ghdprentice

even if he is a late comer to high performance streamed music, we shouldn’t be too negative about that per se... if it weren’t for covid in early 2020 shutting me in, i would also not have found the time energy and focus to learn and work on my streaming setup...

that said, folks shouldn’t poo-poo stuff they haven’t personally invested in and tried at length, but old threads can and should be given a pass imo... as enthusiasts should be allowed to change their minds as experience increases (you will find old threads of mine saying the bluesound node delivers as good streaming quality as more capable streamers... i have since learned, tried more, upgraded the feed, and revised that view...)