One DAC/integrated you could be happy with forever?

Playback Designs IPS-3

Go for broke, almost, would be Gryphon Diablo 300.

If you mean Integrated amp with an optional dac module, Vitus SIA-030.

"you could be happy with forever"
There is no such animal ... ;-)

Integrated? Maybe. I am tired of all those boxes. DAC? Dont think so: 1-Bit DAC was once proudly etched onto Discmans as if it were the best, and I believed it. now its R2R, MQA, multibit and whatnot, so No for DAC.  I did settle onto my Last TT: Keel-ed, Naim-ed Sondek. My last DAC will be the one which beats (or as good as) Sondek, but until then I will keep looking

Krell Vanguard?

If only Mytek would make a Bronx Integrated, or is PS Audio made a Directstream Sprout5000.

Some day..

After many trial and error's my dac of choice is the Bricasti M1

Definitely the new Ayre EX-8.

I own. The Danish Gato Audio 400S itis a very powerfull but refined integrated amplifier ,with the bonus of having a very respectable BB  dac built in ,everything inside is precision built 
including custom  Analoginput sections as well as output . With the Verastarr Power cord and cables I complement it  for $6k retail this is one of
the best sounding  digital amplifiers on the market. Compares very well to most high end class AB amplifiers and preamps very vacuum tube like warmth and still loads of very good resolution. .you truly would have to spend over $10k to get all that this integrated offers,  and one of the best looking also. 

The Ayre Ex-8 - DAC - the DAC in that is stunningly good!

Audionet Watt
Audionet Sam
Audionet Humboldt

Gryphon's dac is upgradeable, as far as I know.

Teddy Pardo i80d

Moon, Mark Levinson, Hegel

"Forever" is a strong word but i'm totally in love with my Lyngdorf TDAI-2170If I need something more powerful in the future I will probably add SDA-2400 power amp or get the new Lyngdorf TDAI-3400

Devialet 

Anyone for Primare? 

I just bought a Micromega M100 and according to my wife that's the one I am going to live with the rest of my life. Speakers is another story

The Vinnie Rossi Lio.  Amazingly transparent, full bodied.  No internal wiring, everything point to point shunted.  Super capacitor power supply eliminates concerns about AC power.  Every internal module is upgradeable with full trade in value.  No obsolescence.  Plus you get Vinnie, the designer builder as a partner in sound.  Check it out.

I'm very happy with my Peachtree 220we and they are a bargin now.

SE and don't auto correct.

Devialet D1000 - done and done.  Anbout as future proof as can be.

That being said, extensive first hand experience with Devialet and Gryphon suggest the Diablo would be a wrong choice either so long as you go with the Kallisto designed Gryphon DAC too!  Shame they done have an ethernet or streamer option.

I just prefer the all in one wifi, streamer, DAC, amp etc. Two power cords, speaker cables and speakers done!

My 110.00 delivered Arcam rDac works fine. Listen to the music. Not the equipment.

This type of question will evoke 95 different answers per 100 responses....I just bought a used Peachtree Nova for cheap because the guy upgraded.  He felt it was perfect for him at the time, but forever?  Umm, no.

Without a doubt the AYRE E-X 8. Best amp I have ever heard. Does have built in DAC

Lampizator Pacific for me. :)

Vinnie Rossi LIO-for all the reasons mentioned by dumptrike!

The Lyngdorf 2170 may not be "forever" for me, but it's certainly gotten me to an expansive plateau in my system upgrades. I'm sure the new 3400 is equally as good. I did quite a bit of side by side testing when I purchased the 2170 against some pretty stiff and expensive competition. I was very surprised this class D-ish amp bested all comers SS and Tube. Both utilizing analog inputs and digital using it's internal DAC for digital. It's a gold plated Swiss army knife of an amp in my opinion.

Ayre AX7e / QX5-20. I'm done! 

The Lyngdorf 2170 corrects for intersample overs that are common with almost all pop/rock digital music. Very few DACs address this ubiquitous problem.

@d2girls

here is an explanation

https://benchmarkmedia.com/blogs/application_notes/intersample-overs-in-cd-recordings

“Every D/A chip and SRC chip that we have tested here at Benchmark has an intersample clipping problem! To the best of our knowledge, no chip manufacturer has adequately addressed this problem. For this reason, virtually every audio device on the market has an intersample overload problem. This problem is most noticeable when playing 44.1 kHz sample rates.”

No wonder upsampling of files sounds better to most people. It isn’t anything to do with higher resolution just less clipping!

Well, I have to say, interestingly, and perhaps coincidentally, that since that article came out, DAC's have gotten MUCH better at playing redbook. You can find this in several of my posts, I"ve been saying this for years. 

So, if it was a problem then, it seems to have been fixed today! 

Erik 

PS - The article claims publication in 2017, but I know I have read it from Benchmark long before then. 

@erik_squires 

Roon has a -3dB volume adjustment that is specifically intended to fix this problem. So if you use the right software then even a DAC that would normally clip can be made to work properly,

I think the issue may be overhyped somewhat. As I recall, it only occurs when upsampling, and is a problem easily corrected in code. 

I enjoy my Audio Research GSI75. I've had alot of fine gear, this piece gets it pretty darn right. I can understand at its $16,000 price it didn't fly off the shelves. Additionally, many of our peers prefer multiple boxes which is fine too. Horses for courses.

Nothing is permanent.

I adore my Soekris dac1541 DAC/amp combo.

While it is integrated and has a very decent built in amplifier, I do feed its differential balanced output into a Mjölnir Audio’s Pure BiPolar* balanced headphone amp.

The only other amp that approaches the insane gain of the BiPolar is another very high bias solid state amp, the Pass Labs’ own headphone amp.

I’m driving a set of LCD-4 with the fully balaned end to end Dac/Amp one/two punch and I can say i’ll be able to listen to this system end of my days to these and never be disappointed.

* Mjölnir Audio is a one man botique amplifier maker out of Iceland and not to be confused with the model of headphone amplifier also named Mjölnir produced by Schiit. (That is like confusing a McLaren with a nice but consumer level sports car!)

@erik_squires

I have only seen Lyngdorf, Roon, Benchmark and Stereophile’s Jim Austin mention the inter-sample over problem. For such a serious problem affecting nearly all pop/rock it doesn’t seem over hyped. Obviously most manufacturers would rather not admit they have a problem. It is not easy to correct unless you add additional digital processing in front of and separate from the DAC chip.

@shadorne 

I'm going to have to re-read this, but my hazy memory is that this problem ONLY occurs as a result of upsampling. 

If you don't upsample, you don't have the problem to begin with. 

Best,

Erik 

@erik_squires   

Yes. If you don’t upsample then you should also be ok. 

" 
One DAC/integrated you could be happy with forever?"
Foolish premise.  The DACs that can make you happy forever are not to be found in integrated.  Schiit remains upgradeable for when a new breakthrough is discovered. Integrated may have a fine amp,  but the DAC will become sorely outdated over time.

I have a Luxman L-30 amp bought when I was a kid, that I could live happily ever after as its residing in its own little cubby hole in a far off land. My Quad Vena has a DAC, and as long as the amp keeps working, it maybe my last......

Esoteric f-05 with dac

Don't go there DAC's are always changing I've had four so far.  Most had more.