I had an original Bifrost that I used with a Chromecast plugged into my Oppo 105 just to get introduced and familiar with streaming, mainly Spotify. This would be feeding my Rogue Athena, Cary cad-200 and a pair of Totem Forests.It was def smoother than the dac in the 105. Knowing I was about to begin a long journey, eventually upgraded to a Bluesound node 2i, which allowed me to then start with Qobuz. I finally picked up a Yggdrasil and feel like it could really stay for awhile. The definition and quality improvement has really been amazing. I must also give credit to the Forests, as they have revealed every change I have made, thankfully for the better, including cable changes.
Need help choosing a new DAC
With so many options for DACs these days, I'm having a hard time deciding on a new DAC. Currently considering a MHDT Orchid or Pagoda, Denafrips Pontus II, Benchmark DAC3, Schitt Yggdrasil, or Audio Mirror Tubadour III SE. I don't need any options such as volume control, BT, or MQA. I also prefer musicality over measurements. I'm currently using a SMSL SU-9, which will be moved over to my office system. I'm tired of moving it back and forth between systems. My bank account prefers the cost of the Orchid since the other options cost up to twice as much, but I can go as high as $2500. I mostly steam Qobuz thru a Raspberry Pi 4, but also use a Cambridge Audio CXC v2 CD transport on occasion. My preamp is a Don Sachs DS2 tube preamp going into a D-Sonic m3a-1200s amp feeding "Gunned" MMGs. I mostly listen to the Grateful Dead, rock, jazz, and acoustic music. Which DAC should I get and are the any others I should look at?