[mjosef]

...for anyone else looking for a great dac for less than $200.00. its not highend in looks, bet definately is an amazing sounding unit.. I have no affiliation with the seller as he lives in tawain and I live in Canada..lol.

Ummm...so is there a special password required to "see" this giant-killer? 

[boead]

In a revealing system like yours, the differences between players and DAC’s should be relatively clear. And many will not necessarily be better or worse, just different. You have to choose or find the flavor you like most of the time when listening to music day to day.

Tubes certainly take the edge off digital recordings, I think they are best when looking to get the most out of your buck. The better sounding Players/DAC, in my opinion, are solid state but they cost $$. So you have to set a budget.
Staring around $2000 you can find nice players. An outboard DAC will ultimately cost more considering the digital cable and extra power cord you’ll ultimately buy. If your looking to find something in the sub $1000 range then you won't have to look far, there are plenty but I’m not sure if they will sound any better then your current player, just different – a compromise. But that might be what your looking for.

At around $1500 you can score an excellent used CD Player under 4 years old on Audiogon. Something like a Meridian, ArcamFMJ, Cary or Shanling as well as some others. These CDP’s are a step or two ahead of what you have now (more transparent, fuller sound, more musical/analog) or other players from Music Fidelity, Joida, Sony, Marantz, Rega and so on that you may read about as well as most DAC’s in the same price range, in my opinion. Sell your CDP and invest in an outstanding Redbook Player that’s musical and a lot closer to analog then you may think. I fell in love with the ArcamFMJ and the Maridian's. They retail in the $2500 to $4500 range.

My 2 cents.

[Rapt]

edited
enjoy the music

[mjosef]

Thank you for naming the nameless. I don't own an outboard DAC and am always interested in DAC threads, especially those that don't cost an arm and a leg(cheap limbs in my world).


"Giant-killer" is just a term attached to a unit that matches or almost matches the performance of a MUCH higher priced unit.

[Rapt]

Thank you for naming the nameless. I don't own an outboard DAC and am always interested in DAC threads, especially those that don't cost an arm and a leg(cheap limbs in my world).


"Giant-killer" is just a term attached to a unit that matches or almost matches the performance of a MUCH higher priced unit.

Mjosef

        This little unit sounds very nice I don't know if it is a giant killer but edged out my arcam cd72 diva cdp.. which is a very nice sounding cdp.. It now has more breakin and has opened up some what.. I'm not saying this is a super dac, just a very nice sounding dac...after break in..I think some will thank me just like I thanked the original poster that sent me in this direction..

             This unit just sounds nice for its price a no brainer..I have not heard other dacs!


                       Enjoy the music!

[hcalland]

In a revealing system like yours, the differences between players and DAC’s should be relatively clear. And many will not necessarily be better or worse, just different. You have to choose or find the flavor you like most of the time when listening to music day to day.

Tubes certainly take the edge off digital recordings, I think they are best when looking to get the most out of your buck. The better sounding Players/DAC, in my opinion, are solid state but they cost $$. So you have to set a budget.
Staring around $2000 you can find nice players. An outboard DAC will ultimately cost more considering the digital cable and extra power cord you’ll ultimately buy. If your looking to find something in the sub $1000 range then you won't have to look far, there are plenty but I’m not sure if they will sound any better then your current player, just different – a compromise. But that might be what your looking for.

At around $1500 you can score an excellent used CD Player under 4 years old on Audiogon. Something like a Meridian, ArcamFMJ, Cary or Shanling as well as some others. These CDP’s are a step or two ahead of what you have now (more transparent, fuller sound, more musical/analog) or other players from Music Fidelity, Joida, Sony, Marantz, Rega and so on that you may read about as well as most DAC’s in the same price range, in my opinion. Sell your CDP and invest in an outstanding Redbook Player that’s musical and a lot closer to analog then you may think. I fell in love with the ArcamFMJ and the Maridian's. They retail in the $2500 to $4500 range.

My 2 cents.

After all of the feedback I have gotten from this forum and my reading and research, selling my YBA, and going for one of the CDP you recommended might be my best options -

regards

Herb

[Rapt]

lot of money to spend on a older used dying technology IMO..

[wilsynet]

A couple of more CD players to consider:

Consonance Droplet CD 5.0
Raysonic CD-168

[doug s.]

you do not have to spend a lot to get the best out of redbook cd.  tho i have never heard the valab, it wouldn't surprise me at all if it were a "giant killer", competing w/the much pricier spreads.  i say this because i use a modded art di/o, and, even after all these years, it still holds its own w/stand-alone cdp's, and separate digital systems costing up to $8k. (mebbe even more, this is only what i have compared.)  others i have compared include audio mirror nos dac, resolution audio cdp's, ea modded northstar 192 dac, ea sb3 with pace-car, bolder modified sb2, northstar transport fitted with pace-car.  others i know have compared to electrocompaniet dac, meitner bidat, eastern electric minimax, benchmark dac, xindak cdp, and others...

i would recommend buying this, and modding it based on info out on the web - you will have about as good as it gets for <$400:

http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?dgtlconv&1237395357&/ART-D/IO


it is not a tube dac, btw - one of the first/easiest mods is to remove the tube, which is only used in the adc section - removing it, and associated parts, reduces stress on the power supply...

ymmv,

doug s.

[boead]

lot of money to spend on a older used dying technology IMO..

They said that about vinyl in the 80's.

http://blog.wired.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2008/04/28/riaa_2007.jpg


Interesting stats from the RIAA

In 2007;

CD Album Sales – 511 million shipped, $7.45 billion. (down -20% from prior year)

LP Album Sales – 1.3 million shipped, $22.9 million. (up 46 % from prior year)

Digital Download Albums - 42 million DL, $425 million. (up 54 % from prior year)

Digital Download Singles - 810 million DL, $802 million. (up 38 % from prior year)

[PTC]

Hi I have to second the recomendation of Rapt.I also have a late Dec 2008 version of the Valab dac and this little critter is the real deal.It is not real pretty but it really sounds good.After I let it burn in for about 300 hrs I immediately sold my Benchmark.It is a NOS which implies to some rolled off highs,but not this one.I find it to be extended smooth and natural sounding and has a realistic texture that I have not heard before,very ANALOG sounding.I dont think you can go wrong with this one!!I wonder if anyone has compared this with the Audiosector or Scott nixon dacs that are very highly regarded??I am now into the NOS camp because of this Dac!!!

[JLM]

Another DAC option is the $300 Behringer DEQ2496.  It is primarily provides full digital EQ but can be fed a digital signal and do DAC duties as well.  In stock form the sound quality is just OK, but mods are available from Tweak Audio or Endler Audio for around $250 to reportedly take it to another level (or two).  This is my plan for my Oppo and single driver speakers (to eliminate baffle step and zobel circuit).

The same can also be done with the Behringer DCX2496 (a two or three way electronic crossover) for a little more coin.

[woodsyi]

I listen to digital for convenience. For convenience, you can't beat "discless" once you get yours set up with or without computer.  It's an alternative or supplement to CD playback only. 

[Flashman]

You might try a Monarchy NM24, which is a combination tube DAC, solid state DAC and tube linestage.  The unit retails for $1,590 but you can get a new one from Audiogon via the manufacturer for $1,080, which is a fabulous deal and in your price point wheelhouse.  Head over to www.monarchyaudio.com and check out the reviews.  I use it primarily as a tube DAC; it's an extraordinarily musical piece of kit.

[markC]

A Lite Audio Dac-60 with a few mods makes nice, smooth music for not too many $$.

[Flashman]

While I have not heard the Lite DACs I do know that the Monarchy NM24 and those units do share some of the same DNA (chassis and parts).  The NM24, however, has upgraded parts, better build quality, a linestage and beefy transformers.  I believe it represents a significant step up but at a price.  But if you can snare a used one or a new one from the manufacturer via Audiogon at $1,080 you would not be doing yourself wrong, IMHO.

Here are some pics of the two units so you can see the similarity in chassis.  The single pic is a Lite DAC and the multiple pics are of the NM24.

Good luck!

[markC]

I've studied the lite dac quite a bit, as well as it's cousins such as the Monarchy.
I believe they are made in the same place and all the chassis are the same save for the lids and the face plates.
The monarchy appears to be a lite dac 60 with an added line stage.
The Dac-60 appears to be a monarchy without a line stage.
Oh yea, one has torroid trannys and one has r-cores.
Either way, I feel they're a pretty good deal with a few upgrades.

[kwl]

I would recommend adding a tube DAC to any very highly resolving system.  I added the TADAC (http://www.angelfire.com/biz/bizzyb/TADAC.html) to my highly resolving solid state system recently and I couldn't be happier.  I'm kicking myself for taking so long to do it.  The best part is that you can do some inexpensive tube "rolling" with this DAC to best match your tastes.  Be sure to click on the "sale" tab for the real price ($899).  Service and support by Paul is outstanding.

[timjthomas]

Van Alstine makes a DAC - http://www.avahifi.com/root/equipment/dac/index.htm.

You can find several reviews on it by searching google. 

Abso!ute Sound awarded the Omegastar DAC their prestigious Golden Ear Award for being one of the very best audio products of the year. It has been upgraded to the Insight DAC - $999.