DAC upgrade

Congrats on the new DAC, it’s a very fine unit.

Pontus 12th Anniversary here. My 2nd choice is Benchmark DAC3. These are both outstanding units. The Denafrips is really natural sounding. The Benchmark is very detailed.

clhs04 +1

Bluesound originated in 2013, so they have been in the streaming business for over a decade now. They spent a lot of time improving the OS and have a stellar customer service network. They are in it for the long haul and I have had many questions answered by their IT guys and many user errors resolved. The newest Node X is a stellar product at the $800 mark. Some have knocked MQA but some of the best recordings I have have heard on my stereo have been FLAC or MQA. I think we all know the companies that are producing better sounding products. Most are selling at double, triple and up to $12k. But will they keep doing so in a decade and servicing those products? To what extent have they built up customer service? How good is the OS or GUI?

For what Bluesound has achieved, they are a stellar choice IMHO.

The Bluesound Node sometimes takes a beating here as there are better performing streamers costing double, triple the price and more. I have the Node X paired with a Pontus 12 Anniversary and I really like the sound. Natural, organic with an ease of instruments that each have their own signature sound (like the actual instrument) and tremendous soundstage. I have a Teddy Pardo power supply for the Node. With some other DACs I heard an occasional blurring with mid to high frequencies and at times shrill sounding. I even questioned my speaker’s performance in the high to mid freqs. Once the Pontus was inserted that all went away. But I think the Chord would also be a good choice. I heard one once and sounded very articulate and open. I don’t think you could go wrong with either choice.