Bargain Basement, Giant Killing DACs for PC Audio

Don't know if you call it a nargain basement dac but it is a GIANT killer and that's the Teddy DAC. Do a search and if you get a chance go hear one, it's just wonderful!

Hello Everyone,

Ahead of this holiday weekend, my mind is wandering again to "Bargain Basement, Giant Killing DACs" where I am amazed to see that > 8 years have passed since I first posted this thread.

I don't remember if I had yet purchased what has become my daily driver for PC and television:  an Antelope Audio Zodiac +.  Generally, I love using it as a DAC and a preamp when I am at my desk for long hours.

As an experiment (and reviewing SFAR's suggestion) I also dug out an old NuForce UDAC from storage with some decent cables and plugged it into my same system. 

Although I always enjoyed traveling with that device for laptops and headphones on airplanes etc, it sounds very hard, less spacious and instantly fatiguing compared to the Zodiac - at least on my desktop with near field monitors.  So back to the Giant Killers! 

Maybe 8 years later, there are some new ideas or even lower prices on previous suggestions?  Would love to know, especially with basic switching / attenuation to eliminate the need for a preamp.  Extra credit for DSD.

cwlondon

Have a listen to Tommy O'Brien's DAC DACs - I have the DAC DAC 1 HS model playing with VAC Musicblocs and ESL-57s and have been very impressed by its musicality and how emotionally engaging it is. 

I don't know about giant killers, but the Parasound Z was always under the radar for most people.