[DavidS]

sadly using an original 10 year oldish dacmagic with my microrendu so thinking about upgrading.  Using Roon / Tidal pretty much exclusively in a desktop system.  $1K is my max budget and okay with new or used but I think new dacs have probably left my dacmagic eating their dust.  Which makes me nervous about a new dac as the technology seems to move pretty quick - but enough of procrastination.  What in this price range are you using with your microrendu for great sound?

[YashN]

I have neither the microRendu nor a DAC in this range but read some very, very good reports of the latest Gustard DAC.

There is a thread over on WBF with additional mods you can do or commission if you like as well. Enjoy!

[Paddlefoot]

you should check out the Schiit Bifrost Multibit dac for 600.00 sounds awesome with my Microrendu with Roon and Tidal.

[DavidS]

guess this is one thing I was wondering about with the microrendu is whether most people are using pretty high end dacs with it ($2K plus) or can you get amazing sound from a more modest dac.  In addition to the Schiits others I have been thinking about are the affordable teac dacs and mhdt r2r dacs. 

Need to read some more on the Gustard as it seems to be mostly a platform for modders and diy (which I am clearly not).

[Ric Schultz]

The stock Gustard has been compared to Yggy ($2300) and Vega ($3500) and found to be better.  There is a new Gustard X20U Pro DAC with the new ESS9028 DACs in it coming out at the end of Nov. ($899).  I am sure it will be even better.  Some of the simple mods that can be done can be done by anyone.  But stock it is killer.

[jtwrace]

The stock Gustard has been compared to Yggy ($2300) and Vega ($3500) and found to be better.  There is a new Gustard X20U Pro DAC with the new ESS9028 DACs in it coming out at the end of Nov. ($899).  I am sure it will be even better.  Some of the simple mods that can be done can be done by anyone.  But stock it is killer.

I'll disagree after hearing the three of them all side by side at a G2G.

[DavidS]

does anyone know if the mdht dacs work with microrendu - they require a specific driver with windows but not with Linux based systems.

[poseidonsvoice]

I'll disagree after hearing the three of them all side by side at a G2G.

+1. I was at the same get together. FWIW, the Vega stayed playing well into the night. Different flavors between the three, although the Vega was definitely more sophisticated, detailed, full bodied and anchored. The other 2 were not bad at all, with the Gustard tending to a more smooth sound. The Yggy I didn't listen to acutely.

Surprisingly the Vega's little brother, the Aries mini was quite good, as was the internal dac in Vinnie Rossi's LIO.

Best,
Anand.

[rajacat]

If the stock Gustard can play in the same league with the Vega and the Yggy then it's definitely a good candidate for a 1K budget.  I'm getting excited about the soon to be released Gusty Pro with the upgraded chip, all for just an extra 100 bucks. One of the good points about the Gustard is that it's relatively cheap therefore if you mod it, you're not tampering with a $3000+ dac and wrecking its resale value.

[JackD]

The Gustard DAC with the ESS -9028's AKM equivelant is already out.

http://www.shenzhenaudio.com/gustard-a20h-hifi-dac-headphone-amplifier-double-ak4497eq-xmos-dsd256-384khz.html