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New DACs High End Munich 2023

I am now searching for a new DAC to replace my Oppo UDP-205 and High End Munich 2023 was the event I was waiting for to hear about new announcements.

I know that Auralic and Total DAC have introduced new DACs and Primare has new modules. Anyone hear any other DACs being released in the next 2-3 months?

128x128milpai

Showing 2 responses by vinocour

vinocour's avatar
vinocour
13 posts
 

Should have noted that the Merlot is an FPGA DAC.

I haven't taken the time to look, but a used merlot could be a  lot less than 4K now.

vinocour's avatar
vinocour
13 posts
 

Another fan of Playback designs here

I traded an old DAC (the third DAC trade in) towards a dealer demo Playback Designs Merlot, must be 7-8 years ago now.  So far I haven't looked back. While other components have changed, I have not felt I need a new DAC yet.  If I was not now an older guy with limited cash flow, I would not hesitate to move up to another Playback Designs. As a side note, I had an informative and satisfying email exchange with Andreas Koch, the man behind Playback design (and the SACD when he worked for Sony/Phillips).  If a used Merlot were to show up, see if you can get it to try out in your system.  It was originally $6500, shouldn't be more than 4K now.

The Merlot marries perfectly with my Audio Research REF amp & preamp - at least to my ear.  Of course, there are so many other factors that your experience will probably be different. 

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