DAC Choices - $5,000 to $7,000

@grannyring You got it!  Should have known we were both talking about the same person. I forgot about him mentioning the Sonnet.

So Funny. He has tried so many dacs after selling his Mojo. All of them came up short by a long way according to him. He kept telling me he made a big mistake selling it. He just had to see if there was something better 😊. Oh my!

He trialed a very costly Metronome dac, Lampi, Terminator, Sonnet, Audio Mirror maxed out and perhaps another one and none of them pleased him like your Mojo 👍.

He is getting his Evo tomorrow. He will be happy and has learned his lesson.

I doubt the Mojo ever leaves his home for any reason. Ha!

Purchase a Lyngdorf DAC. They throw in my favorite amplifier with it for FREE! https://lyngdorf.steinwaylyngdorf.com/lyngdorf-tdai-3400/Seriously, I am also digitally inclined as apparently you are. I went through an number of Tube/Class A/Class AB/ amps with a number of DAC combinations. I found nothing as good as the Lyngdorf. And the Lyngdorf also met or exceed all competition with analog inputs too. Which was a total surprise. But, to each their own. Just a different path to suggest.

@cal3713 , yeah the Totaldac measurements are a bit confusing but there are so many folks who like how they sound.  I will look into whether any of the Mojo DACs have been critically measured as I would be curious to see how they measure.  The Holo May has been measured by two publications and seems to have done well.  It is certainly nice when measurements and sonics align, but it does not occur in every case and for me it is not absolutely necessary as long as I like the sonics.

@grannyring , everybody says their gear is "upgradable" but the reality is that in this hobby I have heard that more than seen it.  In many cases the new technologies force changes that are not retrofittable.  In other cases, it simply doesn't make economic sense.  One thing for sure, Ben's 45 day trial period is generous and if I decide to take advantage of that I will be committed to purchase except in the event the sonics simply don't match my preferences.  I would be interested in what your friend thinks of his Morpheus.  I am still not convinced it is a better sounding DAC than the two upper end Metrum DACs, based on reports from people who have owned both and also considering the less robust power supply and reduced level of isolation compared to the Pavane L3 and Adagio.  I am in a good position of having a pretty good sounding set-up currently so can afford to be patient as I search for something better and a bit different.

@jgoldrick , thank you for the additional information on Totaldac. 

@mitch2 He really did not like the Sonnet. Lacked body and weight. Not enough bass and again too electronic sounding vs his time with the Mojo. He thought the Sonnet sounded weak and “fragile” vs the solidity, ease, control and foundation sonically of the Mojo.