Back to the DAC

I owned the Tambaqui late last year and sold it after a month or so.  It sounded arguably “perfect”, but was not engaging enough to me.  I have heard of others selling the Weiss for similar reasons and Benchmark (which I still own), same thing. However, each of those pieces have many satisfied users.

The point is, the selection of a DAC isn’t so much about brand names, reviews, or recommendations but rather the type of sound you are trying to achieve and the trade-offs you are willing to make to achieve it.  The reviews/recommendations can help shrink the pool but only you will be able to decide on what equipment will stay in your system and the best way to do that is to hear it in your system, to the extent feasible.

Recently I picked a slightly used t+a DAC 200 and I am really, really  pleased with the sound. My progression: border patrol SEi; Ayre codex; Ayre QB9 Twenty; Hegel 590 (built-in DAC); t+a 200. It is a good match for rest of my “colorless” ss system that reveals pretty accurately what’s in the engineering of the material. Poor quality won’t move me but, the better recordings are amazing. Bass, mids, highs, sound stage are all there. Speakers (Magico A3) disappear. For me, audio bliss for around 5k. Some of the others aforementioned may be great too but, the t+a deserves a listen if you get a chance.

@mitch2 agreed.

@hysteve T&A has some great reviews, particularly this one:

https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2FFy-cVOJNWRY%3Ffeature%3Dshared&data=05%7C02%7C%7C0d6bc643d75f4d2ef20208dc66cce6e3%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C638498277430712721%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=yyNg9YiVXsyprw3DOu%2F3sqhpUYWT%2FNoqcXJ8eZpegTo%3D&reserved=0

just wish they made a DAC only with out a pre-amp.

+1 for the Playback Design DAC's. If the MPD-8 is too pricey, consider the Edelwiess MPD-6 or a used PBD Merlot. All extremely musical, great imaging and soundstage, with no "digital" edginess. FYI, I provided some additional information  with a comment on your system page. Good luck with the search!

The Laiv Harmony discussed earlier looks interesting but I would personally hold off until the brand is more established. If they really go the way of Denafrips then it will be a safe bet down the road. 

Look back at the Fore Audio Daisy which 6moons raved about. Seemed like a killer device made by an ambitious team with lots of experience and big ideas for the future. Where are they now? Gone. Same with the Calyx Femto DAC which was big a while ago... Calyx still churns out an occasional budget device but has no website and is basically ghost at this point. I am similarly suspicious about DiDiT High-End which received good reviews at 6moons and elsewhere for their DAC212 models, but appear to be going the way of Exogal where they never get past the initial product and eventual close up shop.

My point here is that all of these were "good" DACs but if the company folds in a couple years, there is no support and very little resale value. I find that unacceptable when there are so so many great DACs from other brands out there which won't have the same problem.