DAC suggestions

thanks nott. I was wondering myself what bloomy really meant. The dac 8 and it's successor the 200 come highly recommended from others I speak with. thanks

I've recently upgraded my Musician Pegasus to Lab12 Dac1 Reference. In the process I auditioned quite a lot of DACs. Here are what I think about their sound quality compared to each other:

Tier S: Lab12 Dac1 Reference, Weiss DAC502 MKII, MSB Discrete, Aqua La Scala MKII

Tier A: Rockna Wavedream, Esoteric N-05XD, Teac UD-701N

Tier B: Musician Aquarius, Rockna Wavelight, Morpheus Sonnet, Audiobyte Hydravox

By no means my tier B is not excellent, but the four I put into tier S were the ones that grabbed my attention immediately and addictive to listen to. 

I'd highly recommend the BorderPatrol SEi DAC !  I have one and it's terrific.  Very analog like and realistic sound.  It's an R2R ladder-type DAC so those types have that characteristic also its not over-sampled or digital filtered.  Well within your budget new !  

I wouldn’t characterize T+A DAC 8 as bloomy either. There is a nice liquidity perhaps, that makes it a very natural, engaging and soulful DAC in delivery but detail and separation are still leading characteristics.

And yes, the T+A DAC 200 is definitely a step above. There was a great review about it shared on another thread in this forum. 

One of the best DACs on the market for around 2k is the UK's Chord qutest.