[DSD_Mastering]

Don't forget about Andreas' DAC, the Playback Designs MDS-3

[ted_b]

Oops, good point Bruce.  Thanks.  It sounded great at THE Show.

[rollo]

  The new Rega DAC and the Musiciical Fidelity M1-DAC both under $1000 look very interesting. Don't forget the E-Mu line real sleepers. Priced right as well.



charles

[HumanMedia]

+1 for the Rega DAC, a heavy hitter in it's price range.
Or did it technically come out last year, December in Britain?

Edit: nah, it only came out this year in the rest of the world, it should be on the list.

[eclein]

Anything new coming for us poor folks!!!!!! I saw a HLLY on ebay with a remote and 5.1 decoding for $200.......I could swing $200ish maybe 3, anyway if anyone hears of a good new inexpensive one please let me know somehow...TY

[roscoeiii]

Not sure if it is just a + stripped of some functionality or if the analog output stage, etc differ is some ways, but the non-gold, non-plus Antelope is coming soon...

[Vinnie R.]

Rumor has it that RWA has something brewing, too 

[ted_b]

+1 for the Rega DAC, a heavy hitter in it's price range.
Or did it technically come out last year, December in Britain?

Edit: nah, it only came out this year in the rest of the world, it should be on the list.

I added it, but would like to know why folks call it a heavy hitter.  If for great Rega quality and sound, then please report back your findings, by all means yes.  But for specs, no.  For one, the USB is somewhat useless for computer audio (cheap synchronous 16/48 max) so owners will need to spend addtl $$ for a USB-to-SPDIF interface if one wants hirez from computer.  So, the highly advertised 24/192 is only really available via digital inputs (from, say, a DVD-Audio player or hirez computer sound card add-on).  At $250 less one can do the same with an EE DAC and have either ss or tube rolling output to boot.  My $.02

[ted_b]

Rumor has it that RWA has something brewing, too 

TALK TO ME!! 

[ted_b]

Not sure if it is just a + stripped of some functionality or if the analog output stage, etc differ is some ways, but the non-gold, non-plus Antelope is coming soon...

Antelope has been pushing out the date for awhile.  I have the Plus here, and a Voltikus just arrived on my doorstep today.  Go figure! 

[roscoeiii]

Well, you know I am looking forward to your impressions. As a fellow Weiss DAC2/Minerva owner, I am keeping my eye on how the many DACs you try out compare to the Weiss, and  I will certainly sit up and pay attention to whatever you may replace it with...

[pardales]

Anything new coming for us poor folks!!!!!! I saw a HLLY on ebay with a remote and 5.1 decoding for $200.......I could swing $200ish maybe 3, anyway if anyone hears of a good new inexpensive one please let me know somehow...TY

I am currently demoing the Hegel HD2 -- retails for $350.

[eclein]

I am currently demoing the Hegel HD2 -- retails for $350.

Let us know if your liking it or not when you get a chance...got a link to a website??

[pardales]

Let us know if your liking it or not when you get a chance...got a link to a website??

http://www.hegel.com/hd2.htm

So far so good. I prefer it to my HRT II+ which I have had for about 5 months now and thought was quite good. By the way, I am selling my HRT II+ on Audiogon right now. Love to sell it to an AC'er.

[roscoeiii]

And from the Hegel webpage, a link to a translation of a DAC shootout from a Scandanavian mag, complete with jitter measurements. DAC geeks should note that the top two rated USB DACs were not async USB implementation.

http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=no&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&sl=no&tl=en&u=http://www.lydogbilde.no/test/hegel-hd2&act=url

[eclein]

http://www.hegel.com/hd2.htm

So far so good. I prefer it to my HRT II+ which I have had for about 5 months now and thought was quite good. By the way, I am selling my HRT II+ on Audiogon right now. Love to sell it to an AC'er.

Looks like a Hegel is in your future??

[Syrah]

I'm waiting for Dan Wright to weigh in.  We need his 6SN7 output stage on a top notch DAC.

PS Great thread.

[johnnydarko]

Rumor has it that RWA has something brewing, too 

Vinnie - you're such a tease!

[HumanMedia]

I added it, but would like to know why folks call it a heavy hitter.  If for great Rega quality and sound, then please report back your findings, by all means yes.

Yes heavy hitter based on sound quality (for it's price) not it's feature set or components. I'm giving one a go right now. Maybe Im biased towards the Wolfson DAC chip sound, or maybe they have managed to bake a reasonably tasty pie with deceivingly simple set of ingredients.

[pardales]

Looks like a Hegel is in your future??

Actually, it is in my present. I seem to be allergic to spending more than $400 bucks on a DAC these days.