Need a DAC Recommendation.

Lots of excellent options in that price range.  What sound characteristics are most important to you?  That’ll largely dictate which DAC might be best. 

Get a chord mojo for 500 or so and spend the rest on bourbon or weed

I have the RME adi-2 and MHDT Orchid and enjoy both but very different. I added the Teddy Pardue psu to the RME and added better caps and 6sn7 and 6922 tube adapters to th MHDT.

The RME has nice big bass very transparent without being analytical and a lot of features. The Orchid is more analog not as transparent but very enjoyable. There both great but I tend to listen to the RME more but the Orchid is great with acoustic jazz and blues and images very well.

An Ayre Codex will give the Schiit Yggy a run for the money, plus you can get one for less than $1K.
I owned both, but have moved to the Ayre Qb-9 Twenty.
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@rsa   Really best to choose from Gustard, Denafrips, MHDT or Audio Mirror Tubadour, new or used.

Black Ice Audio Glass FX DAC. It’s on sale for $699 right now over at Underwood HiFi.
Read the reviews.

Wadia di122 over on Ebay for <$1K.  It's a good implementation of Sabre ES9016S.

Mcintosh shelved the line but support is available via 3rd party.

Thanks for all the Input. 
Any thoughts on PS Audio NuWave or Stellar Gain Cell DAC?

Thanks Again!

Used just gets you old tech.
Forget the Schiit if you want to play DSD.

Schiit Gungnir multibit. It is an inexpensive version of the Yggi. Outstanding sound for the money. I bought one during research for a friend.. he got the Yggi… which sometimes you can get an unboxed Yggi at the Schiit sight. The Yggi is a bit more refined… but you get most of the sound with the Gungnir… Go find some reviews on the Gungnir and Yggi… you’ll see how amazing for the money the Schiit stuff is. 

The Gustard X26 Pro is compared to the new Topping D90SE in the Topping review linked below. The Gustard was favored. Try out the Gustard on the 30 day home trial., I sold an almost $3K tube DAC that people here love after I compared it with the Gustard X26 Pro.

The One to Beat: Gustard X26 PRO DAC Review (soundnews.net)

Topping D90SE DAC Review - A New Benchmark (soundnews.net)

Knowing what type of sound you're hoping to achieve would be helpful. These little boxes don't all sound the same.  

The Gustard has a bit more range in sound that a lot of DACs in this price range with NOS/OS mode and 3 custom filters.

BTW - the way DACs are sounding today I am starting to think $1500 is my upper limit for NEW DACs.

+ schiit Yggdrasil GS, bang for buck great deal.

agree the original Zdac was quite good typically under $200 now, , and also for a lower price a new Denafrips Ares ll at a little under $800 - the price on their website is Singapore dollars...

I love my $1100 MHDT Orchid and I had Grannyring update it. It’s now stunning and we’re at the $1500 total or so.

Other DAC choices for me in this range would include Audio G-D, Denafrips, Soekris.

The Parasound Zdac were really amazing.  I believe they are discontinued, but if you can listen to them without preconceptions, you'd be well rewarded and save money for other things. :)

In that price range, look at MHDT Labs lineup.  I have the Orchid. 

I also owned the Mytek Liberty.  It didn't stay in my possession for long, too "digital" / analytical for my tastes.  The Orchid is much closer to the sound of analog.  A friend has the Topping D90 and it sounds great in his system.  The Schiit Bifrost 2 is an affordable option, but it also had a little too much "edge" for me and didn't stay long.  The same friend mentioned previously that has the D90 also had the Bifrost 2 and ended up keeping the D90. 

Knowing what type of sound you're hoping to achieve would be helpful. These little boxes don't all sound the same.  

Right at your budget limit, but study up, as I see R2R as the future for a typical 20th century chip dacs 


   www.underwoodhifi.com/products/audio-gd

I don’t know what the current new sticker price, but look into the Mytek Liberty 

Get the schiit Yggdrasil GS for 1600$ ..  You won’t be disappointed, but thrilled.

The build and sound quality of the D90SE makes it a world-beater DAC!

No need to buy used! The best DAC for under $1K is the new Topping D90SE - $899! Lookout all you four and five-figure DACs!