Best DACs 2019: USB, portable and desktop DACs

djh1697

Well-known member
Nov 27, 2008
171
30
18,620
Visit site
The MARCH USB DAC is only £260, and made the Naim DAC sound pale! Works great with Tidal/Qobuz/Roon. Grab one while you can! They are superb! The will take DSD64 and 384/24 PCM
 

Jacore

Well-known member
Mar 31, 2015
3
6
18,525
Visit site
Nice list. Would be good to see some reviews of R2R ladder DACs. Massive analogue dynamic sound. I’m currently running the Denafrips Ares II and it sounds astonishing. Like having my LPs on demand :)
 

jgladden

Member
Nov 14, 2020
1
2
20
Visit site
Agree w aaadavid, huge miss excluding rme adi-2. Either the list is wildly out of date or whathifi is getting a kick back from chord. The rme costs less than the qutest, offers mind blowing options to dial in the sound, superior reproduction across the frequency range, balanced and unbalanced output, much quieter output (the qutest hiss is a thing folks), qutest might edge out the rme in regards to wider soundstage - it remains hotly contested which is the better DAC, but missing the rme entirely is unforgivable. Come on whathifi, its 2020, test a wider range of product please!
 

Jota180

Well-known member
May 14, 2010
27
3
18,545
Visit site
Agree w aaadavid, huge miss excluding rme adi-2. Either the list is wildly out of date or whathifi is getting a kick back from chord. The rme costs less than the qutest, offers mind blowing options to dial in the sound, superior reproduction across the frequency range, balanced and unbalanced output, much quieter output (the qutest hiss is a thing folks), qutest might edge out the rme in regards to wider soundstage - it remains hotly contested which is the better DAC, but missing the rme entirely is unforgivable. Come on whathifi, its 2020, test a wider range of product please!

Agree with all of this. I was thinking of pulling the trigger on the Chord and was looking around the internet and I'd never heard of RME beofre, but once I'd read up on it, looked at the specs and feature list it's an absolute no brainer.
It's just so well specced with useful things, well thought out and the two plugs for headphones and in ear phones is the icing on the cake.
I'm so glad I found this one because the sound and features makes this unbeatable in my view.
 

Friesiansam

Well-known member
I would want to see far more than just that one review about the RME. It tells us that the noise floor is low, timing is good and clarity is good but, there is lot more that affects perceived sound quality and this review tells us nothing else about the sound it delivers. Make sure to buy from a retailer that will facilitate easy returns.
 
Last edited:

gaburko

Well-known member
Aug 22, 2010
8
1
18,525
Visit site
Again no RME? Guys, your objectivity has always been questionable, but when you persistently ignore one of the best products out there for years, it makes me think you might have other things on your mind apart from product quality.
 

TenTonTarantula

Well-known member
Aug 17, 2021
24
12
525
Visit site
No Schiit, Denafrips, RME....in general in WHF, not just this list. Must be something to do with not upsetting established relationships with manufacturers, but would make WHF much more interesting if they covered the full range of the industry, not just the same old roster of incumbents. Might given the reviewers a bit more excitement too...and even the chance to give something less than four stars for a change.
 

Jasonovich

Well-known member
Jul 28, 2022
1,019
602
2,070
Visit site
The main actors, Chord Cambridge Audio, ifi, Audiolab et'al feature prominently on What Hi-Fi 's DAC Hall of Fame and well founded and excellent choice I'm sure.
However, the tsunami that is flooding the other audiophile forums seems to have by-passed the What Hi-fi editing desk.
My God, the DAC Chinese manufacturer Topping has been stirring up a storm in it's wake, how is that not featured in What Hi-Fi's top 5?
My Topping D50 USB DAC at a fraction of the price of it's British Competitors is absolutely sublime in terms of transparency, timber and rare emotion that allows you to transcend to another place.
Please What Hi-Fi do your due diligence, and give this little gem the spotlight it deserves.
 
The main actors, Chord Cambridge Audio, ifi, Audiolab et'al feature prominently on What Hi-Fi 's DAC Hall of Fame and well founded and excellent choice I'm sure.
However, the tsunami that is flooding the other audiophile forums seems to have by-passed the What Hi-fi editing desk.
My God, the DAC Chinese manufacturer Topping has been stirring up a storm in it's wake, how is that not featured in What Hi-Fi's top 5?
My Topping D50 USB DAC at a fraction of the price of it's British Competitors is absolutely sublime in terms of transparency, timber and rare emotion that allows you to transcend to another place.
Please What Hi-Fi do your due diligence, and give this little gem the spotlight it deserves.
Welcome to the forum.

This thread began in 2019, so may be not the best place for your thoughts.

FYI, the magazine will only review products submitted by the manufacturers. I’m not aware whether Topping have a UK distributor or not, but they seem to proliferate on eBay. Topping get lots of reviews on ASR because they’ve learned how to engineer a very high SINAD rating, even though nobody needs a DAC that 30dB quieter than inaudibility! (A 180mph car isn’t any faster on a 70mph motorway than a 130mph one)
 

JennaChaplin

Well-known member
Dec 13, 2020
15
3
525
Visit site
"...t'll take a bit of running in time before the Qutest really starts to sing"

I totally disagree with this. What is really happening is that the listener's brain is learning how to hear the sound generated by the device. The electronic hardware does not change from the day it is manufactured until the day it dies.

Disagree? Please let me know.
 

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts