Luxman D03X vs D10X

I tried the Chord M Scaller going into the D10x. I was disappointed. I preferred what I was getting from my Singxer SU-6 reclocker. The Chord was a tad warmer, resolution and sound stage was the same between the 2. Tonal density and liquidity is where the Singxer outclassed the Chord. I'm returning the Mscaller tomorrow. I will note that I used a $5 adapter on the BNC output of the mscaller to convert it to an RCA connection in order to use my existing coaxial cable. I don't think the adapter would make a huge difference but who knows.

I have the D10x as well. It’s a very good DAC but It’s USB input is not very good. It is a DAC that really benefits from a reclocker or upscaller. Feeding that DAC directly through USB input does not do it justice in my opinion. While the coaxial sounds better, you cannot stream more than 192kHz sample rate and DSD is not supported. Other than weak USB implementation, D10x sounds as good as some $20K DACs I have heard.

@rman9 Don't let my comment dissuade you; you just need to add a reclocker to your budget, I use a Chinese one (Singxer Su-6) that is actually very good (reference level good) and you can get it new for $600. Alternatively if you have a high quality streamer with coaxial out, you can just use that with the limitations I mentioned. I recently bought a Chord M Scaller to see how that will work with the Luxman (I will report back on performance after I get it).

Another downside that I forgot to mention is that the Luxman doesn't not support Blu Ray or DVD Audio; something I really didn't care about, but in retrospect wish it has that functionality. There are many great studio and concert albums that were released in bluray/dvd that I can't play on the Luxman but can play on a $200 dvd player.