Who's had Dac's under 500$ and over 1000$

skynyrd77

Super Member
I've had a peachtree dac-itx and currently a musical fidelity v-90! I haven't had one up in the grand range! Who has experience on both the cheap and expensive ends? And what's your thoughts! I'm running a modwright amp and modwright pre! And these dacs I've had don't do this system justice lol!
 
You know...

I saw a new marantz receiver, built with every new digital device to include networking and downloadable applications and software, it was the top of the line and for only $2,500. I know it's great to create a personalized sound, but for a person that doesn't have a clue I thought it was pretty awesome for the TV room.
 
I've had a peachtree dac-itx and currently a musical fidelity v-90! I haven't had one up in the grand range! Who has experience on both the cheap and expensive ends? And what's your thoughts! I'm running a modwright amp and modwright pre! And these dacs I've had don't do this system justice lol!

I tried a Benchmark DAC 1 for 29 days not long after they came out. I ended up returning because for me the difference was not enough to pay $1000.

The items of comparison were primarily a Denon DCD-1560 CDP, a Music Hall CD-25 CDP and an Analog Devices AD1955 DAC eval board.

I'm currently using an older MSB Link DAC plus the optional Powerbase power supply and an Emotiva XDA-1.
 
I have a Behringer SRC2496 I paid $90 for used off Ebay. I bought it after using ones we have at the radio station combined with online reviews and discovering all the mods people have done to them. What really got me interested in it was reading a review in one of the audiophile magazines. The person that did the review said he expected it to be garbage and was stunned to discover how well it actually performed. He said he'd just bought a very pricey multi-thousand dollar DAC and was going to sell it after doing some of the upgrade mods to the Behringer. I've left mine totally stock and have no complaints.
 
I've been getting older TOTL DVD etc players lately.

Just picked up a Lexicon RT-10.

$3500 MSRP new.

Paid $10

Does that qualify as under $500 and over $1000?

It plays about everything.

Looks and sounds nice but Im not rigged that well just now to really get a good listen. SACD DSOTM did seem pretty nice.
 
Schitt Modi 2 Uber - under AUD$200 used - great, used for playing FLAC files via Plex from a server to a laptop client into a pretty nice system.
Cambridge Azur Dacmagic - again under AUD$200 used - also great - used for TV and BluRay output. The CD player in this room has a better DAC (based on a Wolfson WM8742), but sounds very similar.
 
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I had a Benchmark DAC1 for a few years as well as many other DACs at and below the $500 price point. I've come to the conclusion that the performance doesn't justify the price difference for me to shop DACs that approach the middle 3 figure to 4 figure range. Some of the hifi faithful may brand me a heretic of sorts, but I find the cheaper DACs, and even onboard computer audio to perform more than adequately. Just my opinion and your mileage may vary :)
 
I've used a Cambridge dac100 $3-500 and a WYRD4Sound DAC 1 $999, and my fav by a long shot Bryston BDA-2 $2000 it brings out everything in a song, well upto the $2000 range anyway..
I have no need to go further as my bank account will not allow me, lol
 
I fall into the under 500 dollar category definitely.I bought a Pro-ject dac box e for a whopping 89 dollars plus shipping.It sounds fanastic for my home stereo along with a Audioquest Cinnamon digital cable.
 
I have the PeachTree DAC ITx in my office system and it sounds very nice. My main system has a McIntosh C2500 with a built in DAC but it has issues when switching to different sample rates and has to be power cycled to correct the problem. I currently use my OPPO BDP-105D USB DAC and it sounds very very good. I plan to get the Auralic Vega soon as I have read it is one of the best out there.
 
My first DAC was the Audio Alchemy DAC-in-the-Box ($100.00), it sounded very good. My second DAC was a Parasound D/AC 1600 ($1,500.00)? Not surprisingly, it was far superior. My present DAC is an Angstrom 100 ($200.00 on Ebay, but I think it retailed for $2,000), a preamplifier/processor, actually. It acquits itself very well in my system.
 
It's all about the rest of the system, especially amplifiers, considering speakers should be good for most,
some amplifiers have their own sound, so it's hard to distinguish between dac,
but with the right neutral amplifier it's very easy, and usually the price is adequate for the sound..
 
I started with a $400 DAC and now i have a 6k Lampizator and i would say the difference is quite dramatic. If the rest of your system is up to the task a high end DAC can be a revelation. It takes time for a good DAC to come into it`s own my Lampizator sounded good for the first five months then it took a leap into excellence, it`s now hard to listen to anything less so beware.
 
All my dac's are under $200.

Currently using a non playing Denon dvd-5000 but the dac portion works great.

Shame others didin't provide access to a separate dac function.
 
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