Three weeks have passed since first listening with the Audio Mirror D-1 NOS DAC. This DAC uses four NOS DAC chips in parrellel per channel. During these few weeks, the sound has grown warmer and sweeter as can be expected with burn-in. It is a very attractive in appearance: gold body, spiked feet, a small (and not too bright) LED light of dark turqoise blue. Designed by a engineer who builds tube pre/power amps, this DAC sounds warm and open in the midrange, yet the bass has weight and power and clarity that work well with a solid state amp (I use a Gainclone). It has great image presence, with depth and width and heigth: and sometimes an image in front of the speakers, a sense of which I never had heard before. Actually, and surprising to myself,I not yet detected any sins of commission, nothing it does wrongly or weakly--so rarely have I ever found a piece of audio gear to be so completely satisfying, so right. Presently, this DAC, at half a grand, seems to be a bargain. Liking this DAC so much, I bought a second one.
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?