What is the best DAC ever made?

> Drubin: you used the Ayre with USB, but was was your source and method of connection with the other DACs?

USB to Ayre and to Scarlatti when using upsampler, otherwise optical out from Mac Mini.

>USB to Ayre and to Scarlatti when using upsampler, otherwise optical out from Mac Mini.

You preferred optical out to the Berkeley over USB to the other two?

> Drubin: You preferred optical out to the Berkeley over USB to the other two?

Yes, very much so.

Recent coverage of USB DACs might have left the impression that the new approaches to doing USB well are automatically superior to older means of connection. I do urge using your ears, and your system, to come to a conclusion on that topic yourself. It certainly isn't my experience.

Dev, I know that AA Tube DAC is better than many.
But Berkeley and Emmlabs in another league.
After comparision in my system, we did it in another and result was the same. I strongly recommend you to try one of this DACs.
Tomorrow I'll have a chance to compare them with dCS Scarlatti.

Murataltuev,making such a statement suggesting these are in another league is very bold.

I'm quite interested in what you heard in your system. Please share some details regarding the sonic differences between them.

See below what Teajay's experience has been

11-13-09: Teajay
If Pubul57, had not beat me to the punch, I was going to add to this thread way I still find the Accustic Arts Tube DAC to be a keeper in my system.

I have spent a considerable amount of time listening/auditioning the following new crop of either DACS or CD players: 1) Berkeley Alpha DAC 2) Weiss Medea DAC 3) PS Audio Perfact Wave combo 4) Meridian 808i2 5) DCS Puccini 5) EMM reference player

All of the above were used for red book, I don't care about SACD or other high rev formats, and I did not find any of them to be better to my ears then the AA Tube DAC. They are all quite good and offer different sonic signatures, my favorite among them was the Weiss and Berkeley, I would put them in the type one sonic category, and was surprized at the performance of the Meridian 808i2, it just was ok, yet John Atkinson of Stereophile thiks its the best on redbook he has ever heard. But then at the end of the sonic day, I did not find any of them surpassing the musicality or over all performance of the AA Tube DAC in my system.

I do know that when a friend auditioned a totally broken in EMM Labs SE in my system in comparsion with the AA Tube DAC, he returned the EMM to the dealer and then purchased the AA Tube DAC. In my system the AA DAC was much more musical/natural, all on redbook CDs, and that's way my friend chose to purchase the AA Tube DAC.