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Three way shootout...

I've narrowed my "never heard a single one of them (yet)" DAC search to 3 candidates and would appreciate opinions from anyone that has actually heard any two of them. All three? Great!

  • Mytek Brooklyn + microRendu
  • PS Audio DS Junior (network built in)
  • Schiit Yggdrasil + microRendu
Accounting for a trade-in on the DSJr, these options are very close on price. 

I want to stream Tidal and playback files, mostly CD rips, from a Windows 10 computer accessible at the audio system only by Ethernet. I would most likely using Roon. I prefer simplicity of implementation (DSJr built in network has a leg up here). I'm also hoping for sufficiently good sound quality that I can get off this merry-go-round for a couple of years.

What are not important at all are variable output/preamp, headphone amp, phono stage (?!?) or fancy display. My preamp has balanced inputs, but I believe all of the above have balanced outputs.

I do have quite a few SA-CDs that I'd hate to lose use of, though I could still play on my Oppo BDP-105D.

Thank you.
Chris V
cvalle
cvalle OP
6 posts
 
Thank you for the responses. mac48025, what did you replace the Yggy with?

I appreciate the suggestion of the Codex, but I would shy away from it if only because of the form factor. 

Chris V (more responses welcome!)
mac48025's avatar
mac48025
672 posts
 
I replaced the Yggy with the PS Audio DAC and transport. I prefer the PS Audio but I'm sure the synergy between the units with their is2 connection has a lot to do with that. 

Yeah, I can see that the vertical form of the Codex would be a deterrent.
cvalle OP
6 posts
 
Which PS Audio DAC did you get? I'm leaning slightly to the DSJr because of the built-in Bridge II (which I understand is internally connected to the DAC via the much ballyhooed I2S, someone correct me if I'm wrong), and the strong support Paul, Ted and friends show for their customers in the form of free firmware upgrades that are actually performance enhancements rather than simply bug fixes. The slightly leaning grew recently with the announcement that a Bridge II update will support MQA (not fully decoding, but passing the high-res through).

Chris V
gdnrbob
4,444 posts
 
@mac,
Oh, must everything be flat!
limniscate
241 posts
 
I compared the Codex to the Yggy and could not telll any difference once they were volume matched.
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