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Which DAC for $5K or less?

I have been reading about the Benchmark Dac1 Pre (Equation "solved"?!), Berkeley Alpha Dac (rave review by same mag.), Audio Research Dac7 (no reviews that I know of but I respect company), Weiss Dac, et al. I am trying to make sense of all this. I like the idea of getting an external dac rather than a higher end CD/DVD player for various reasons--both cost and flexibility. I know the Benchmark is by far the cheapest and can be auditioned in home easily for 30 days, which is great. I might be able to arrange a loaner in a month or so of an ARC unit, tho no guarantees. The ARC is a good bit less than the Berkeley Alpha Dac and the Weiss, but I have no clue how it stacks up. Anyone have some insight as to what the current state of the art is without blowing the budget completely on dcs current gear?

Thanks!
luvwine

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luvwine OP
44 posts
 
Tweak: Why pay money for a Raysonic which has dacs built in? Less expensive options would seem to output high data rates like the Oppo players for around $200. I understand jitter may be an issue with less expensive transports, but it seems like the current crop of dacs handle jitter pretty well perhaps rendering a high end transport superfluous.

The frustrating thing about some of the dacs is lack of USB inputs. The trend seems to be heading to where that is a desirable feature. I know the Benchmark accepts usb as does the new Audio Research (I wish there was more feedback on this one!) but some of the others don't.....
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