Weiss Dac2/Minerva?

But what does "better" means?

I owned the EMM LABS CDSA and now the Weiss Medea. They sound so different to each other that it is a matter of personal preference. I am not saying the one is better than the other, they just sound completely different.

And they are both at reconding studios...Food for thought! ;)

I was referring to a better buy price-wise between the two Weiss units. I do envy you your experience with the EMM labs CDSA and Weiss Medea, but now you are in the 10K range new.
If I had that kind of budget (I don't), I would also look into the Playback Designs MPD-5...

I have both, BADA Alpha DAC and Weiss Minerva.
I compared them both using AES/EBU out of Silent music server (that could be found on endpcnoise) using Lynx AES 16 into Spectral DMC30SS/DMA 250 with proprietary MIT350/770ULII cables. IC's between DAC'S and preamp are K-S Elation, all power cords are K-S Emotions. Speakers ar
e Marten Design Miles III.

I've found that Alpha DAC is much better using everything thorough 16/44,1 to 24/176 HDCD where Alpha excells. With HRX I think that there is little competititon to Alpha at near 3 times the price (using same transport).

I imagine Heymikey has made a decision, but it seems to me that a critical factor in the Berkeley vs. Weiss decision is interface. Since he's using a Mac Mini, the Weiss allows him to go Firewire out. With the Berkeley, he'd need some intermediary conversion device to get him to S/PDIF or AES/EBU. He could use his Freeway, but is that as good as going Firewire direct?

Drubin and Teddy_Bear, I still haven't purchased a new dac yet. Thanks very much for the comparison of the Berkeley and the Weiss. And Drubin, your question really points to a major deciding factor between the two: firewire vs usb to spdif converter. I have the feeling that direct firewire may be the superior interface with the mac mini, but if the SQ of the Berkeley is in another league above the Weiss, the Berkeley may be the better way to go. But, for about half the price of the Berkeley there is the Weiss Dac2 and the new unknown Ayre QB-9 dac with it's asynchronous USB interface... I've been waiting for some user reviews on the Ayre.