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

I do not have Linndrum808's extensive experience with as many DACs as he/she, but I can say the Doge 7 is wonderful. I did, however, have a Stereophile class A DAC before and some other great ones coming through my room--all of them lost to the Doge.  

The Doge's build quality is fantastic.  ClarityCaps used throughout.  Great separation of wiring, power, etc.  Internal build is clean and beautiful. 

The Doge's features are great and work without issue.  I run mine all the time. Not an issue.  Controls are laid out well.  The DSD and USB stuff links to other systems (Roon NUC, computers, etc.) well without issue.  

For me, the Doge's sound quality is what has kept it here in my room, which sees lots of rotating gear.  I was looking at getting a DAC that could compete with my vinyl side of things:  Kiseki Purpleheart, Manley Chinook, and Technics 1200 GAE (anniversary edition/$5k table).  It did that so it's been here since.  Its job was to make me love streaming as much as my records.  I do.  

The sound is clear, big and on just on the wet side of neutral--it is not dry, cool, and analytical.  It is slightly wet, slightly warmish, and musical.  It does have detail and precision--just not at the expense of casting a beautiful musical picture.  Instruments though sound just like they should.  The soundstage is big and holographic.  And while I get no fatigue, it's not laid back or sleepy--it is big, bold and beautiful. There's no sheen, haze, hash, or anything forced.

The stock Chinese tubes are very good but not exceptional.  You don't need to roll tubes to hear what it can generally do, but it is responsive to rolling.  I have found, however, that it doesn't need super special tubes to open up and sound its best.  It can sound amazing with resissue Gold Lions; my private stash of NOS tubes do make a difference but I don't feel they make it that much better as compared to using NOS in preamps.  

I have some pieces in my room that I'd recommend, but none that I feel as strongly about at this price point (likely pushing $2k now).  This DAC is exceptional in sound, build and value.  If you told me it was $5k I'd say it is worth it, but for the understated looks.  To be clear though, by understated I do not mean cheap or inexpensive looking; it's a strong build. 

I wish they came up on the used market, as I'd buy another to use with friends' systems.

I ended up with Mojo Audio's Mystique EVO B4B 21 D/A Converter, which I found to sound a bit better than the Mystique v3 it replaced, but cut from the same basic cloth.  It cost a bit more than the budget I posted to start this thread last December.  As @jimmy2615 reports below (or above depending on how you sort), it serves the music very well.   Not sure which version Jimmy heard but IMO the B4B 21 displays great tonal color, deep, dynamic and slightly rounded bass, and no noticeable SQ shortcomings but maybe (and subjectively) falls just a bit short of some other very good DACs with respect to all the audiophile markers.  I also have the Deja Vu EVO Media Server and I am fully satisfied with the musical sound resulting from that combo in my system. 

Simply based on the bottom tier Mojo-Audio DAC in my system I’d have to think the better DAC’s should be on anyone’s audition list. If I had the $$$ for sure one would be in my system.
My server was built by Mojo and uses his Deja vu software.

am currently comparing at length the doge 7 (and an audio note ank 4.1 tube dac) against my references chord tt2/scaler, sonnet morpheus and audio mirror tubador 3se

am not through the listening/comparing yet but i can say at 2 grand the doge 7 is spectacularly good... jbhiller’s description earlier in this thread is quite accurate, it is very very close to the m scaler/hugo tt2 at over 10 grand cost - to my ears it is also more natural sounding than the top denafrips terminator...

more later

I realize this is an older discussion but it won’t hurt to freshen it up a bit.  
I sold my mojo audio mystique v3 over a year ago and have been on a constant search trying to replace it. I’ve tried many dacs, many more then I care to admit and finally found a dac that just plays beautiful music. No fatigue, no bloat, no fireworks or pyrotechnics, just good warm music. No MQA, no DSD just 16/41 to 24/192. It’s the Swiss built Merason Dac1. I find it hard to understand there is no noise or discussion on the forums of the Merason. It’s list price is $5500 but my dealer shipped it to me at $4950. Prior to me buying it Mike at Tweek Geek sent me a demo on his dime to try. This certainly eliminates stress of buying and having to sell if it doesn’t fit in your system. 
The dac has a huge soundstage deep and wide, never ever bright with the perfect amount of detail. Bass is full sounding which helps to provide a great foundation of the music. This dac is very large sounding with plenty of meat on the bones. 
if anyone is shopping for a dac in the $5000 range this is a great very musical fun dac to audition. 
Starboard