Exogal Comet DAC

At that price range, there are lots of options.

BMC Pure Dac
Hugo
Lampi Amber
Hegel HD12
Ayre QBD-9 DSD
The new Marantz for $800 (Gorgeous)
The soon released iFi iDSD Mini

Well with those goals in mind, I'd seriously consider the Comet. I've been accused by many as having some of the most eclectic taste in music and I haven't found a type of music this DAC doesn't handle exceptionally well. I've thrown a wide range of music at it including: Steely Dan, Billy Joel, KMFDM, Yello, Yo-Yo Ma, every form of New Wave and 80's synth pop you can think of. Vocals, acoustic, strings, and my unplugged collection which includes Allanis Morissette, Alice in Chains and Nirvanna. It also does exceptionally well at delivering excellent attack and decay on dynamic music (electronic, metal, industrial etc...). I'm probably most impressed by how nice of a job it does playing various bit and sample rates...from iTunes downloads, to red book, to HD tracks 24/192, it does justice to whatever format I've thrown at it. I consider my impression to be non-bias for two reasons: I don't own the DAC (at least not yet) and therefore have no ownership pride to fuel my comments, and the way of which I was exposed to this DAC made me skeptical before ever hearing it...

I've also red positive press on the Metrum that Alon mentions above, but have no first hand experience with it to use as a comparison. I have heard the Mytek 192 that Alon mentions above and IMHO the Comet leaves it in the dust.

In terms of space, depth etc... I've not heard it's equal at presenting a scary deep background, with correct scale and holographic presentation normally reserved for the $15k and up range. I'm really impressed with how this DAC handles both delicate musical passages and kick you in the face musical scale. I went to the RMAF this year, and am confident in my statement that this DAC could EASILY hold it's own against and DAC in any of the many rooms I auditioned. For sake of reference, my system consists of the following:

Wilson WP7
JL Audio Fathom F113
Shunyata Talos and the Shunyata Alpha power cords (which are amazing)
Marantz AV8801 (which the Comets easily bests as a DAC)
OPPO 105 (which the comet also bests as a DAC by a sizable margin)
BAT VK31SE preamp
Transparant Audio reference speaker cables
Shunyata Cobra balanced interconnects.
Mac Mini for use as a music server

I hope I've been able to assist.

Chris

Coming in late on this thread but I have the latest version of the Comet with the updated power supply. The power update definitely takes this DAC to a higher level. Huge deep, wide sound stage with very clean space between images. Sounds similar to the previous high-end Wadia DACs in more ways than not. Improvements being extended upper registers with more detail and definitely more authority and extension of the bass. So far competese well with other DACs I have auditioned in the $7,000-$10,000 price range. Was looking for an upgrade to replace the Wadia 27ix for CD playback plus current high-rez formats and this unit with the power upgrade has exceeded my expectations. Very much at home in my system which is relatively large in a large dedicated listening room. Minus the power upgrade, the DAC is commendable but not in the same league as with it. This is a must-audition if researching DACs in <$12,000 range and will likely compete successfully with some of those above.

Wscdvm93,

I totally agree regarding the power supply upgrade. In addition to adding more flesh to the low frequencies, I believe the upgraded PSU also further reduced the noise floor, adding even greater levels of "realism" to the music.

Charding, I'm going to check this one out. Sounds like these are the old Wadia guys and that gets my attention as I once owned the 27i and 270SE. Also I like doing business with a local company.