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Non Analytical Sounding DAC Upgrade- Budget $1,500 or less

After upgrading my speakers and turntable over the last 3 years it's time to get rid of my nearly 7-year old Beresford DAC. I originally started with a budget of $750 or less, but after researching possible options it seems like $1,500 might be more realistic. This will be in my dedicated 2 channel system. 80% listening through speakers and the rest through headphones. Analog is about 50% of listening, the 50% that is digital is mostly standard res streaming (via Roon/Tidal) or physical CD (using Oppo player as transport) with some higher res stuff tossed in. Music is mostly classic rock, prog, jazz, classical.

Downstream is NAD326 Integrated and Tekton Enzo XL speakers. I'll probably upgrade the amp in the next year. The speakers are long-term keepers.

I want something that gives a nice detailed sound-stage. Being a fan of good vinyl playback I'm not looking for an overly analytical sound. Because of that it seems like a R2R dac might be a better fit. I know there's lots of choices so hoping you can help to narrow the list down to a manageable number. Here's what's on the list so far:

  1. MHDT Orchid or Pagoda
  2. Denafrips Ares 2
  3. Musical Paradise MP-D2
  4. Soekris dac1541
I'm definitely open to other suggestions.

Thanks in advance!
ruleof72
martin-andersen
139 posts
 
I also have the MHDT Orchid. It's a very musical dac. and cheap (:
martin-andersen
139 posts
 
Sorry for hijacking this thread, but as a owner of the Orchid I would really like all owners of the Orchid to join my fb group https://www.facebook.com/groups/orchiddac/.
The purpose of the group is to collect any information that can improve the SQ of the Orchid.If you have suggestion for a great tube, new capacitor, power cable. come join,

kbuzz
214 posts
 
Re Deer Creek's post above that the dac in the MiniDSP is competitive with many mentioned here, can you comment on how user friendly the MiniDSP is to use for a non computer type.  I want to try Dirac on problematic room, and streamer to replace my cpu would be nice. But i took a look at the manual and was a bit overwhelmed....
pastorbob's avatar
pastorbob
74 posts
 
I'm wondering if the Covid restriction on international shipping has had any effect on deliveries from companies like Audio Mirror, MHDT Labs, et al.
What was your wait time?
ruleof72 OP
26 posts
 
Thanks everyone for the ideas and suggestions. I thought it would be good to update everyone on what I decided to do.

After lots of DAC research and considering where I want to take my system over the next year I went in a slightly different direction. Instead of spending my entire budget on a DAC, I split it up and will use part of it to explore the benefits of adding tube preamp and/or power amp. So, instead of a $1,500 DAC I purchased the Schiit Modi Multibit for $250 and will use the rest to add a tube preamp to the system.

I've had the Modi for a couple weeks now and am very impressed with it. There is a bigger soundstage (deeper and wider) and detail retrieval is better than the Beresford. It's a good match to my turntable and I'm looking forward to seeing what a quality tube preamp adds. Right now I'm leaning toward the Mapletree Line 2CRM preamp and will use my NAD as the power amp. If anyone has experience with a Mapletree/NAD combo I'd be interested to hear about it. I posted a thread over on Amplifier forum if anyone wants to chime in.

Thanks again!
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