Bel Canto Dac 3

I have a Dac 3 in my system right now and am not sure it's that big of an upgrade over my Jolida JD100 w/upgraded tubes!
I can see it's convenience factor if using as preamp but I also use phono and it doesn't work that well with the Pre 3.
That said I only have coax out of my Jolida so I can't speak for the other inputs. Bel Canto suggest on thier website that USB isn't as high sampling as the other inputs and suggest using a good audio card with SPDIF. Whats the point? If you have a good audio card, generally there is an excellent Dac that comes with it. Check out RME or M-Audio.
I really like the new Bel Canto equipment but honestly with the Dac, I'm not so sure. Upgrading tubes in my CD made a profound change for the better in sound quality for about $40. A speaker cable and power cord change moved things up the scale as well. A $2000 DAC had better be leaps and bounds ahead of my stand alone and it just isn't.

That's an interesting observation and I am considering the DAC3. Is it possible that your unit is not broken in as yet where tubes generating more heat can break in faster? I am looking at simplifying my system as I only run digital and although most people indicate that it is better to have a preamp I would prefer to sell my preamp and put the cash into a better DAC with volume control.

They have a new cd player coming out,it would be nice to see a price well under 2 bills,otherwise i think they might be in for some competion from a whole bunch of other stuff to pick from.It at the least will be interesting to see the final price.

It could be true that the DAC may not be fully broken in yet but I know that it had some hours on it as a store demo and I've had it now for a week.
Maybe I should have been a bit clearer about the sound quality however. It was a bit late and I rushed to post my findings.
The Bel Canto DAC3 does sound very good. So does my Jolida. My point is that for a $2000 change in my gear, I expect fairly substantial changes in sound. This was not the case with the DAC3. The changes were very subtle at best and considering the DAC3 is going into my Pre3 via balanced cable and my Jolida is strictly single ended I must assume that some of those changes can be accountable to the lowering of noise floor and increased gain from the DAC. Now on the other hand maybe the DAC would sound even better when using a balanced input or BNC or even USB. I cannot comment on what it may ultimately sound like used in its best environment. As it stands it does sound very good and possibly in an all digital system the volume controls and it's versatility of inputs make it very attractive indeed.
As for the new CD player soon to be released, I would like to hear it as well as it is obviously designed to be a great match for the DAC3. I think it is a top loader which is a bit unfortunate for myself but many may really like the design. I like the small enclosures and having the Bel Canto REF1000's makes for a unique looking system that sounds fantastic too! Again, the CD player would have to bowl me over to shell out the hard earned scratch to displace my ageing Jolida. I wouldn't mind hearing their full sized multi format players but my dealer is sold out, so I'll have to wait! ( I'm also waiting to hear the new phono )
With this in mind I wonder if, other than the PC, are the advances in digital front ends really that superior to those of 3 or 4 years ago? I guess I'll have to listen to some more units but so far nothing has been all that groundbreaking.

Same here for the cd player.It will have to have blow me away,state of the art sound,otherwise its just wont be happening.I love the int,there is no doubt there,and its improved in sound as ive used it.But the cd player its going to have to be special,sound wise price wise the whole thing,I think they have their work cut out on this one.