New DAC suggestions


Thinking about upgrading my dCS Delius/Purcell in my headphone system.  Bought it in 2001.   Have loved the sound but the Purcell can't handle input above 24/96 which it upsamples to 192.   No DSD.  I auditioned a Chord Qutest since I have a Mojo2 for portable use that I like.   Highs sounded harsh to me and overall sound was not as good.   Suggestions appreciated.

habrandt

Showing 1 response by audphile1

@habrandt what is your budget? 
On the low end of the price range if you like the Chord sound you can try Chord Hugo TT2 which is more refined than the Qutest with smoother highs, fuller mids and better bass. Only thing I didn’t like with the TT2 and the Qutest is both DACs were really sensitive to the quality of power and sounded their absolute best only very late at night. And this is considering the fact that I have s dedicated circuit for digital and a totally separate dedicated line for analog. 
 

I use Bricasti M3 now and love it. It has multiple filter and clock options that result in very subtle changes but allow you to tune the DAC sound to your liking. 
 

Also consider the fact that the equivalent of your dCS by today’s standards is probably dCS Lina. You won’t get away with a cheap dac here…