Upgrading V-DAC II , Please suggest DACs

[megh55555]

Hi There I am looking at a considerable upgrade to V-DAC mk II + V-PSU II , and would like to know what would be the best Upgrade options around 500 ish GBP Im thinking about REGA, JKDAC32, Audiolab M-DAC . Someone previously mentioned that V-DAC II + V-PSU II sounds similar to MF M1 DAC , Hence I am not looking at that option, As that would only give me sublte improvement . What i would like is a massive improvement . Any suggestions? My Setup Is as Below : Sources : Panasonic Blu Ray Player - for CDs & Movies , Dell Laptop for playing FLAC / WAV Cambridge Audio 650A, Monitor Audio BX2, v-DACII + V-PSU II , NJC Monitor II HPA, Hifiman HE-400 heapphones

 

[pauln]

What about the NJC DAC to match your NJC headphone amp?

Those two items and the HE-400's are on my wish list BTW!

 

[nopiano]

Welcome megh55555.

I'm not clear what you think a different DAC is going to achieve, but I fear even ten times your budget on a DAC cannot result in a "massive improvement". Unless your existing MF is broken, which I doubt!

A Rega DAC will sound warmer, but that is not massive but subtle. Similar by re-aiming speakers or moving chair, or closing drapes/curtains. Or are you mainly on headphones? BX2 are very nice, but I'd be thinking about £500 plus px on better speakers, for example.

So, what are you hoping to achieve or change?

 

[busb]

Hi There I am looking at a considerable upgrade to V-DAC mk II + V-PSU II , and would like to know what would be the best Upgrade options around 500 ish GBP Im thinking about REGA, JKDAC32, Audiolab M-DAC . Someone previously mentioned that V-DAC II + V-PSU II sounds similar to MF M1 DAC , Hence I am not looking at that option, As that would only give me sublte improvement . What i would like is a massive improvement . Any suggestions? My Setup Is as Below : Sources : Panasonic Blu Ray Player - for CDs & Movies , Dell Laptop for playing FLAC / WAV Cambridge Audio 650A, Monitor Audio BX2, v-DACII + V-PSU II , NJC Monitor II HPA, Hifiman HE-400 heapphones

Welcome to the forum. That rather depends on what you mean by "massive"! I own the M-DAC that's going to sound different to the V-DAC or Rega but hardly "Night & Day" (a term I'd advise not to use on this forum).

The M-DAC excels on dynamics, imaging & bass but I wouldn't put it in a bright system. Another consideration is what functionality you want such as playing back 24bit 192k files via USB, volume control or XLR outputs. Another possibility is the Creek being launched soon. The M-DAC is going to get various upgrades under the yet-to-be-launched Lake West brand later this year.

 

[Cypher]

This one maybe. It has the burr-brown PCM 1792 chip.