DAC recommendation

Micromega MyDAC.

+2 kacomess.  Great advice on the AQ Dragonfly Red.  Take your time to do some research on other DACs.  Meanwhile, the AQ will give you great sound, and like stated, it will not become obsolete.  It’s what I did as I’m new to all this DAC/ computer sourced music.  Best....

In regards to first version BP DAC - which I own and like very much - I've recently been engaged in a discussion with Gary Dews (owner of Border Patrol) about the quality of the driver embedded in the DAC. The version of the BP DAC I own comes with the C-Media CM6631 driver; others are suggesting it should be replaced with the newer, better X-MOS driver. (Gary is willing to change out the USB card in the unit for a fee.)

It has come as a revelation to me that different drivers can have significant (emphasis on significant) impact on sound quality, or at least that's what I'm being told. As there's not been much discussion about this on audio boards so far as I know, I'm interested in others' take on this.

Steve N., any thoughts?

Rega DAC or NAD D1050

Shadorne-you are not accurate in your statement that A rated dacs are very similar. Plus, you left out the PS Audio Directstream which is also A+ rated and is much different than most if not all the dacs you listed. The Directstream has the built in bridge which is much better than other alternatives. Besides the Directstream sounding excellent today, every 6 months the software gets a free update and the SQ gets even better and new features get installed. For example, MQA support was added for free along with bridge support for MQA and Roon. How many other dacs get a boost in SQ and features every 6 months for free? None that I know of! Another feature that isn’t common between the dacs you mentioned are MQA support. Because MQA has the ability to increase SQ, I wouldn’t buy a new dac/streamer without this support. I couldn’t be happier than using my ps audio DS with built in bridge II.