I agree about non-oversampling dacs and suggest that you consider one of the battery-powered Ack dAck models selling in the $300 range on Audiogon. These are the l.0 to l.3 versions (the new model is 2.0) and one could be easily resold at little loss if you don't like it. The last paragraph of Jsala's post applies perfectly to these dacs too. Good luck.
Mid-priced warm sounding DAC?
I've recently decided that a good route for me to take is upgrading my system with a good DAC. My current system is a bit bright sounding, so I'm looking for a good DAC costing up to $600 (used) that will provide a smooth, warm sound to match my currently bright system. I'd also like the DAC to be capable of upsampling, although if necessary I could add an upsampler to the digital chain at a later time. My preference would be to have it built-in, however.
Any suggestions?
Any suggestions?