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Best dac under $2500 - comparing build quality and technologies

I have been in the  Audio field for over 4 decades and have owned some pretty exclusive audio gear 
I was listening to a 3 years old R2R dac the R7 from AudioGD a 20 year old company which won several awards  which is not known much in the U.S yet  ,This New R8-MK2 is better still.
it is  very well built using 3 R core transformers rarely seen unless spending $$. Their latest and best value is the New R8 mk2 dac. This dac just came out late April 2021 ,over a year went into the redesign the Owner stated this unit has several advancements vs previous designs , and runs much cooler for less money then  the previous R7 but better ,their is also a mk2 R7 also as well as a Flagship R7 HE with power regeneration,which I wanted but could not afford .The dynamics and realism is what sets this apart it’s massive power supplies and over 130k uf 
of capacitance is more then most amps has a lot to do with it I will be getting my dac next week and put side by side with  very well know competitors  it was noticeable better  in several areas , and it has 7 sonic adjustments all FPGA based 
4- non over sampling ,including a vinyl mode, and 3 over sampling  other dacs just a minor OS option 
you literally can Taylor the sound to your audio system .it weighs 26 lbs ,Underwood Wally is now the U.S distributor and service center  . I will give a full rundown once I have logged a week or two on it ,2 R- core transformers go to the pure class A  analog output section, the 3 rd transformer -digital is now fully servo controlled and runs much cooler and much better specifications . Check out link below.
http://www.audio-gd.com/R2R/R8mk2/R8mk2EN.htm
128x128audioman58
jimob
85 posts
 
jjss49 that’s my point ,that is why I am going out on a limb almost $2k is not cheap ,but most dacs have little to none change in adjustments 
the GD audio 8 I heard was 1-2 years had at least 5 user adjustments both non oversampling and over sampling ,and for sure went to extremes at both ends 
of the spectrum ,vinyl like soft to more leading edge ,but never sharp 
that is what I found interesting .I was told solely because of the FPGA programming for the different sonic pallets. I will chime in after I get at least a few deals in on it.
daledeee1's avatar
daledeee1
519 posts
 
Wondering how the AKM factory will affect DAC design.  I see Topping already had to discontinue D90 and redesign with with ESS 9038 PRO.  I  like my D90.  Detailed, nice soundstaging, etc.
jimob
85 posts
 
I have the topping D70s it is at least as good as the D90 mqa  good for a budget dac .
What many audiophiles don’t understand  each ,class $$ the resolution and depth of image gets better in the better models there are a couple exceptions ,once you get beyond the $7 k
point then it’s starts  becoming % points unless you have  $15 k and up .
my brother owns the $34k DCS Rossini yes it is fantastic and a Big step above 
anything  I can afford ,and night and day better then anything mentioned above ,
and to think they make dacs and master clocks to $100 k,Where does it all end?
yyzsantabarbara
4,553 posts
 
There is a new Topping D90 SE model that just came out and should be interesting.

I may have mentioned it before but the Gustard X26 Pro is a heavy hitter DAC. I cost only $1500. I am having a tough time deciding why I need to spend the $6K to get the AudioByte stack (as planned) given the sound of the Gustard.
26mo18pts's avatar
26mo18pts
22 posts
 
Gave my brother a R8-HE that he really likes. I also had him try the Audio-GD 7.77 that he has for sale on US Audiomart. He says Audio-GD makes great stuff for th money. Very good value. 
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