Best External DACs Available and Why??

[admin_exported]

I'm curious to know which external dacs are available out there and which are the best and why. Any info/ help is very much appreciated. Thanks.

 

[PJPro]

I think you're going to have to be a little more specific with your question. There are loads of DACs out there and the "best" one will depend on the use you wish to make of it.

 

[Anonymous]

Im look for something under $2500, use is for music off my PC as well as I want to hook my DVR Cable box and my Xbox up to it.

 

[pete321]

My personal position would be to buy a relatively cheap DAC in the first place and have it upgraded with better components. I think this will produce better value for money, getting better components for less money. For instance, Burson opamps are reckoned to be one of the best opamps you can get, I don't know of any brand name DAC's that install them, but I bet you'd have to pay a fair bit for such a DAC. You can get a Cambridge Audio DacMagic for £230, spend about £150-£200 getting Burson's fitted and few better capacitors and transform an already good DAC into a different beast. The only area I'd say that the upgrade path is hampered by buying a cheaper DAC to upgrade, is the power supply, DAC's from the likes of Cyrus would incorporate a far better power supply which is difficult to replicate in something like a DacMagic. Having said that, opamps, like analogue cables, can transform the way a DAC will sound. I'm not sure which would give the greatest benefits, a DAC with an excellent power supply and good opamps, or a DacMagic with an OK power supply (can be modded to an extent) and excellent opamps.

As you're giving a $ sign in your value, I assume your not in the UK, so you'd need to find a company that offers upgrades of this sort wherever you maybe in the world. I've spent a total of about £650 on my DacMagic, I'd love to compare it to something like a Cyrus DAC X or even DAC XP, I suspect it would beat the DAC X.

 

[Gerrardasnails]

robfrawley:Im look for something under $2500, use is for music off my PC as well as I want to hook my DVR Cable box and my Xbox up to it.

is that US dollars or Aussie or other? If you have £1-1.5k, I would get a Chord DAC64.

 

[Dan Turner]

If it's USD you have then by all accounts it would be worth continuing to save until you have enough to get the Naim DAC. If you're talking AUD then you might be saving for a bit longer.

At your current money (again assuming USD) the Cyrus DAC X is well regarded (now upgraded to '+' form I think).

The Cambridge Audio DACMagic is very good indeed for far less dosh.

 

[idc]

Are you in a position to audition any DACs? When you have got a higher budget to spend I think it would be worthwhile spending some of it travelling to audition. I have a notion for a DAC by Wavelength called the Proton. It would be cheaper for me to fly to the US and buy one there than to get the DAC from the one UK dealer

If not the companies to read up on are Naim, Chord, Benchmark, Wavelength and others will come along and add to that list of £1k to £2k DACs.