DAC suggestions?


Hello!

I’m looking for a new DAC suggestion for my 2.1 office room set up. The room is 12x11 ft with a 10 ft ceiling.  The EverSolo DMP-A8 seems interesting.  Currently, I have the following:

Rotel CD14 (Water 1m RCA cable)

Michi X3 (Audioquest Thunder 2m Power cable)

Rel T/9X (Rocket 88 3m Rel Sub cable)

Sonus Faber Sonetto V Walnut (William Tell Zero 12ft Speaker cable)

iMac, using Roon and Tidal (USB B 1.5m Carbon cable)

I listen to jazz and RnB mostly and prefer a warmer sound. I’m happy with my current setup but feel adding a DAC and digital streamer would be nice versus going through my iMac.  Thank you so much for your time.

wisemenofgotham

Denafrips Venus 15th, brand new $3,495 sold by Audioman58 right here on Agon. With release of the 15th series, the Venus 15th is basically a Terminator 12th from last year.

In that price range, the best DAC I’ve auditioned is the Teac UD-701N - fantastic open sound, lovely build quality and built-in streamer. It also works well with HQPlayer, if you want to go down that route. (It uses the same main board as the $15k Esoteric).

On the source side, I remain very happy with using a Mac Mini as Roon server. I’ve done custom PC builds, and listened to multiple intermediate streamers, but haven’t found anything that makes a significant difference to the sound, in what is a very revealing system.

I have an EverSolo A8. It’s a solid piece of equipment. I e had mine for over a year and it’s been very reliable. The DAC in the A8 is very good, IMO. I listen to similar music as OP and the A8 has been a great digital front end. I use Qobuz and Roon and have  about 2TB of FLAC on my Roon server (Mac Mini). 

I like my Shiit Byfrost. It is 5 years old, and does a great job. It delivers low solid bass, velvet voices, and nice top end. I listen for hours, no fatigue.

HiFi Rose RS151 if you can find one slightly used or an open box to fit your budget. G/L