The thousand pound dac dilemma!

[shafesk]

And why not if it makes you happy. Thats what it is all about. Need a new wig ...

regards

:cheers: Lol....tried wigs R us?

 

[shafesk]

Thank you for the suggestions, I have all of these dacs in mind but they are not close to 1000 pounds....I feel spending the extra 500 or so should make a lot of difference, even if it doesn't in my current system it'll future proof my system for all the amp and speaker changes to come.

The Benchmark DAC1 is £895

&

The Benchmark DAC1 USB is £1150

Ahh yes, I'm afraid I've read that the benchmark has volume control issues after a period of time, I don't want to risk it because where I live a repair is just plain painful.

 

[oldric_naubhoff]

Thank you for the suggestions, I have all of these dacs in mind but they are not close to 1000 pounds....

if you want to use up your budget and don't mind USB-only DAC then there's Linnenberg UDC1

http://www.linnenberg-audio.de/html/udc1.html

30-day money back guarantee.

there's also Shiit Audio Gungnir

(I hope it will go through unEDITED)

 

[oldric_naubhoff]

it didn't... :rofl:

 

[CnoEvil]

I don't see why it doesn't make sense that I want to spend all of my budget on a dac and not get something I would have to upgrade later and I know no matter how good the dac is I will always wonder what I would have gotten if I just spent the extra money, this dac is for the next 5 years, I'm going cold turkey on my hifi dealer

In theory it makes perfect sense, except sometimes you get a product that competes above its price level.

I also happen to think the Sneaky is also such a product (which would also relieve you of the requisite amount of cash).

The Moon Dac is also a sensible suggestion.

 

[drummerman]

I have a feeling Shavesk may be one of AVI's customers some years (and many thousand pounds) down the road ...

regards

 

[bluedroog]

The Lavry DAC is another to consider for your shortlist.

 

[Ajani]

Thank you for the suggestions, I have all of these dacs in mind but they are not close to 1000 pounds....I feel spending the extra 500 or so should make a lot of difference, even if it doesn't in my current system it'll future proof my system for all the amp and speaker changes to come.

The Benchmark DAC1 is £895

&

The Benchmark DAC1 USB is £1150

Ahh yes, I'm afraid I've read that the benchmark has volume control issues after a period of time, I don't want to risk it because where I live a repair is just plain painful.

Volume control issues? I've never heard of that problem before. I've had my DAC1 for about 5 years now and have never had any issues with it (volume or otherwise).

 

[shafesk]

I have a feeling Shavesk may be one of AVI's customers some years (and many thousand pounds) down the road ...

regards

fingers crossed drummerman ....but I'm afraid that Ive become more of a tube man, so no solid state amplification for me....at least till I have room for a second setup.

 

[Craig M.]

I have a feeling Shavesk may be one of AVI's customers some years (and many thousand pounds) down the road ...

regards

you can lead a horse to water, dm... sometimes the only way to learn is to waste a load of money. i keep thinking of changing my sig, but then a thread like this pops up. :rofl: you can definitely improve on the dacmagic though, they're pants, i had to buy one twice before it sank in. :doh:

 

[shooter]

Thank you for the suggestions, I have all of these dacs in mind but they are not close to 1000 pounds....I feel spending the extra 500 or so should make a lot of difference, even if it doesn't in my current system it'll future proof my system for all the amp and speaker changes to come.

The Benchmark DAC1 is £895

&

The Benchmark DAC1 USB is £1150

Ahh yes, I'm afraid I've read that the benchmark has volume control issues after a period of time, I don't want to risk it because where I live a repair is just plain painful.

Volume control issues? I've never heard of that problem before. I've had my DAC1 for about 5 years now and have never had any issues with it (volume or otherwise).

Me neither and i've been doing a lot of reading on the DAC1 of late as i have one here i've managed to blag for a couple more weeks. Its good and really needs to be heard in this price bracket.

 

[Gerrardasnails]

Hello hi-fiers!

Well I think my setup is reaching it's completion, a beautiful 4 year journey through which I've saved, spent and enjoyed. I have almost reached a point where you start tweaking things, spending on mains etc just to get that last drop of performance out of my current system. I think it'll be wise for me to change the only "price-inappropriate" component in my system---the dac-magic. While I have no complains, I love the sound signature, I'm looking for more insight, I wanna hear everything my amp can possibly deliver to my speakers. So I have 1000 pounds to spend. I am tempted to go with the Audiolab dac or the Rega but what if I can spend more and get more? I am willing to spend every bit of the budget so I'm looking at the 1000 pound mark. Also note that brightness from the dac wouldn't be much of a problem as I have what I consider to be a warm setup. My priorities are detail and soundstaging and I would also like it if the dac was edging towards brightness as with my system it would lead to neutrality. Recommendations please!!!!!

I recently replaced a DacMagic after months of hunting around. I got my Moon 300D for £800 (mint condition) and its a stunner. You really will hear a big difference. Second hand hunting is a good idea. The 300D retails at £1350 and I've never seen it discounted.

Thank you Gerrard, thats the kind of thing I'm looking for....please let me know how you feel the sound signature is, unfortunately I might have to buy blind.

Well, I bought blind but I have got a Moon amp so I had an idea what it could sound like. The bad news is that any music that's badly produced will be shown up by the Moon DAC. It's amazingly accurate. The vast majority of my music now sounds stunning. The whole room is enveloped in a natural, lifelike sound. Bass is clean, the treble is liquid smooth and the sound just seems to be in time if that makes sense.

 

[VoodooDoctor]

The new Leema Acoustics Elements DAC is around your budget. I'm awaiting the delivery of mine...

 

[nbaptista]

I have the Rega Dac and I think is great! Much better than the DacMagic I owned previously

 

[Jumping Jack]

If possible, you should audition the North Star Design Essensio (or the latest 'plus'-model): not very known but amazing stuff! Lots of details, very dynamic and transparant but with a nice low-end to it. And a lot of connection-possibilities (3x toslink, 2x coax, USB (up to 32bit/192kHz!))...

Interesting choice, do you own this particular dac? I'm quite curious to know as this isn't one of the usual suspects

yes, I have the Essensio. North Star isn't much known but their cd-players and dac's are topnotch. Another brand that people are going crazy about in Holland is Metrum. Their Octave dac is said to be simply amazing (but I'm not very keen on hypes).

 

[busb]

The new Leema Acoustics Elements DAC is around your budget. I'm awaiting the delivery of mine...

That's got to be one to watch out for! John Westlake is currently designing a cheaper model than the M-DAC that he's hoping will sound better & won't be made by audiolab but his own brand or possibly another "English" make. The M-DAC is having another UK mag review by May.

Leema are also going to launch some class D amplification in their Elements range this summer.

 

[ifor]

Maybe save the money and spend it on beer, sometimes that improves my hifi no end. :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

Maybe we should start a thread in the off topic and miscellaneous section to discuss which beer improves hifi most.

Back to DACs; what about the dcs Scarlatti DAC? Maybe it's too far over budget.

 

[El Hefe]

shafesk,

If you can wait and save up more.....go for Zodiac Antelope...I heard it on my system....and it is my dream DAC...not sure how to get there financially to purchase one....but the 1 day session I had it on loan into my system, it was indeed made me really believe that DAC makes a different.

 

[shafesk]

Me neither and i've been doing a lot of reading on the DAC1 of late as i have one here i've managed to blag for a couple more weeks. Its good and really needs to be heard in this price bracket.

[/quote]

I've heard good things about it too. I've read it on some forum which worried me, otherwise it would absolutely be my default choice