Rank the top reference DACs you've heard

I have not owned many of the dacs listed but do have some experience with a few. I am running pass labs xa100.8 to power perlisten s7t with a holo audio serene preamp. YMMV.

I will start with the dac that did not work in this chain. The terminator plus was probably my biggest disappointment. Virtually flat, narrow soundstage with cramped imaging. Tonally it did nothing wrong but nothing really right either. It had plenty of detail. Voices did not fair well with a metallic sounding attack and decay.

I have also tried the chord mojo for my headphones and did audition the dave in my two channel. I am just not a fan of the chord house sound so take my opinion with a grain of salt. For some reason I just find it a tad boring, nothing I can pinpoint as wrong but to my ears, in my system, the synergy is missing, the staging and imaging does not place the musicians in the room and there seems to be a lack of micro-detail that adds a sense of realism. Everything sounds musically pleasing but for me lacks the vivid detail that transforms great sound in to great live sound.

The benchmark hpa4 and rme ad-2 came after. I loved both as far as price, features, especially the hpa4. I preferred the hpa4 soundstage as it was a bit wider. Both did surprisingly well w my focal utopia headphones as well as two channel. I give the edge to the benchmark because of the wider soundstage. Plenty of detail exposed through both, tone wise perhaps slightly on the analytical side of things. I really enjoyed my time with both.

Next came the holo audio may kte which was, imho, a hige step forward in my system. This dac I have spent the most time with. For the money I do not think it can be beat. The level of detail is really fantastic. The lack of noise helps to separate the instruments, ie imaging was pretty solid. The tone of this dac was much better than benchmark and rme. The soundstage perhaps was a tad narrower than the benchmark. It really did so much right I thought it was where I would end up, that was until…

I had a bartok apex loaned to me for a weekend. I had assumed I would be running detailed comparison between it and the may the entire weekend but my gf helped me with a blind a/b test, perhaps unfair as I am very familiar with the may. The difference honestly shocked me. The soundstage of the bartok was MUCH wider and deep. The imaging was nearly spot on. I listen to a lot of jazz, folk, pop vocal centered music, especially female driven vocalist. The reproduction of voices through the bartok in my chain is astounding. The singer is in the room with you, micro-detail is all there, but not like under a microscope where it comes at the cost of natural tone. The venue ambiance is beautifully replicated in my room. For headphone lovers the comparison between may and bartok is very much like comparing focal utopia vs susvara. I love the utopias for detail retrieval but their tone and musicality lean cold analytical. The susvara are much more natural, retaining that detail but with such a balanced tone I feel like I am present at the musical event vs analyzing it under a sonic microscope. Needless to say, the may was sold and bartok purchased.

I really want to try the mola mola, weiss helios, msb and of course the dcs rossini and vivaldi. It is a fun, expensive journey. One mostly traveled alone as each of us have distinct ears, chain, preferences and expectations. I just thought I would share my little snapshot. I am hoping to get the rossini apex in for an audition soon. I listened at a dealer w boulder amp and wilson audio alexxa but was a bit underwhelmed, remarkable imaging, best I have ever heard but there was a blurry muddiness to the vocals, as if all the high end energy and detail was missing. I am guessing it was perhaps the speakers at fault as it was a well though out room. But not sure where the problem was, hopefully not w the rossini.

What was odd was with the rossini clock removed the top end muddiness in the voice was cleaned up but there was a hole in the vocal midrange that made the voice sound hollow. So really could not get much out of the audition. Hopefully I can demo the rossini apex in my chain soon.

And sorry I forgot to mention the hpa4 was obviously paired with the benchmark dac 3 so my comments really reference the performance of the dac 3. At the time I did not yet own the serene. Also the dealer speakers were alexx v.

If trying to cut costs I would recommend the may kte paired with holo audio red and serene, easily best value. If you can spend a little more, the bartok apex is where I would go. The mola mola might end up a good in the middle compromise but having never heard it, that is only inference from the reviews of others.

My current ambition, which may be unrealistic given my room is not optimal even with acoustic treatment, is keeping the detail and tone I currently have but improving soundstage depth and imaging. The dealer room really opened my eyes as to how good these aspects can be.

I have spent a ton of time dialing in speaker position. I have demoed more speakers than I care to admit but the perlisten s7t are my locked endgame there. No other speaker has come close to my ears.  I would love any dac advice as far as improvement in those areas. But if was giving myself advice it would be hit the lottery and create a better room to house my chain.

After thoroughly comparing the Playback Design Dream and Kassandra DACs, I would rank the Kassandra as my top choice, with the Playback Design following closely behind. While both are exceptional DACs, the Kassandra stands out for its superior midrange fluidity and tonality, bringing voices and instruments to life in a way that is truly captivating.

+1 the EMM DA2v2 is definitely one. I’m an analog guy and this dac along with the MSB Select 2 makes me forget it’s digital. If you’re on a budget, the Meitner MA3 is also a very strong contender.