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What the Best Dac have you heard or owned. How could you tell it was that good.

I wondered what’s the best sounding dac you have heard or owned. What did it do that the others didn’t. 

calvinj
tomwipf's avatar
tomwipf
16 posts
 

The timbre, impulse and transient information coming out of my Ayre Acoustics QX-5 Twenty ($15,000) with L5xe is fantastic. Horns, voices or anything else in the midrange sounds rich, relaxed and has information around the notes normally missed in dacs such as the Bartok Apex ($20,950) which I sold. The bass with QX-5 is incredible as it has texture, extension and detail galore without sounding bubbly, bloated, unnatural or lacking. The QX-5 has made me a better listener because now I know what I was missing. Compared to the competition, the QX-5 should cost 2-3x as much. Happy listening!

chuck
203 posts
 

The best DAC I have heard is the MSB Select.   I have not heard the Nagra, Wadax or Playback designs.  I have heard all the others mentioned in this thread and it is not even close to my ears.

phantom_av's avatar
phantom_av
326 posts
 

Both MSB and DCS frequently introduce new models at such a rapid pace that it leads to a depreciation of their second-hand markets. This constant influx of new releases creates a perpetual cycle where buyers feel compelled to constantly upgrade, never quite reaching satisfaction. However, the allure of owning prestigious equipment remains a significant driving force behind their purchases.

DCS, known for being ahead of its time in the past, leaned heavily towards analytical precision at the expense of musicality. This single-minded focus on transparency inadvertently led to a loss of emotional depth in the sound, resulting in a somewhat hollow and overly sharp listening experience.

In an attempt to retain customers who were seeking more musicality, DCS launched the APEX upgrade. Presently, they are developing a new DAC to compete with MSB's upcoming Cascade and their higher-priced DAC offerings. Despite their impressive technological advancements, both companies struggle to maintain long-term user satisfaction beyond the initial excitement of ownership.

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hk_fan
460 posts
 

My Weiss Helios is the best that I've heard.  Unrivaled detail retrieval but not artificial sounding.  It's completely musical and a soundstage that is deeper and laser etched.

I know it's good because I hear new things on familiar recording and I don't want to turn my system off even when it's way past bed time.

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o_holter
975 posts
 

My analog chain is top level but the digital is mid level only. In my system, the best sounding DAC so far is the Teac NT-505. No surprise: it sounds better than my little Topping e30ii dac (at almost 10x the price). What IS a surprise, is that both DACs sound much better playing pure DSD with the volume disabled, compared to PCM with volume enabled.

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