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Recommendation Temporary DAC

My ARC DAC 8 does not appear to be passing a signal, and I imagine it will soon be boxed up and going in the shop.  I am thinking about getting a temporary DAC.  Would like to spend no more than $500...$1000 max.  I can't even begin to weigh and balance the pros and cons of older, higher build quality devices vs the latest little plastic box that has the best tech and may sound better.  Key limitation: Needs XLR input.  Older model that I have noticed is NAD51, newer one is Nuprime DAC 9, as examples only.  Ideas?  Is new tech so good that I should be looking to leapfrog the ARC  8 altogether?  DAC will feed an ARC preamp.  Thanks

mathiasmingus

Showing 2 responses by jaytor

jaytor's avatar
jaytor
766 posts
 
Could mean that the OP is using an AES/EBU connection.  There aren't too many < $1K dacs with AES inputs, but the two mentioned in the OP do.

There are plenty of DACs with balanced outputs though. 
jaytor's avatar
jaytor
766 posts
 
BiFrost doesn’t have an AES input which is what the OP was looking for. 
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