North Star Supremo and Excelsio. The es9016 based DACs from NSD are more neutral but these two are very smooth and engaging.
I cant believe nobody mentioned Chord. The Hugo series is excellent.
Another nod can go to the AMR gear. I’d assume the new iFi Pro iDSD would have a similar tone but I haven’t heard it.
Marantz gear is musical with just a tad bit of bite to it. I’d recommend the HD-DAC1 or the higher end SACD players.
Any tube based dac should get there but then you might be chasing tubes instead of the dac.
I cant believe nobody mentioned Chord. The Hugo series is excellent.
Another nod can go to the AMR gear. I’d assume the new iFi Pro iDSD would have a similar tone but I haven’t heard it.
Marantz gear is musical with just a tad bit of bite to it. I’d recommend the HD-DAC1 or the higher end SACD players.
Any tube based dac should get there but then you might be chasing tubes instead of the dac.