Need a DAC recommendation

I would like argue the importance of the overall design of a DAC, such implementation of the output stage (opamps, tube, discrete fets)and power the supply, which some say is more important than the dac chips and bit rates.

However, taking this 180 degrees, I'm blown away by the performance of my $150 HRT Music Streamer II (after 300 hour burn-in).... which uses cheap opamps but asynchronous USB technology... I think that the $350 HRT II+ should be on your shortlist if USB is all you need.

Funny, I would recommend a several much older DACs that have great analog performance, quality power supplies but not the "latest and (supposedly) greatest" chipsets.

My experience with most of these mid price latest/greatest chipsets is that sure, they up the bit rate, but in the end don't sound as good!

My recommendations would be a CAL (California Audio Labs) Alpha tubed DAC (preferably, since you care, the 24/96 version). These are typically around $500, but usually sell almost instantly when they do list.

Another strong recommendation would be the Kora Hermes (which does upsample) and is also a tubed DAC. This may be just above your price range, but will kill (based on those I have listened to) of the current 7 pound latest chipset dacs.

I have had some great DACs, including DCS, EMM Labs, Esoteric and others. I can tell you that these are great dacs even running at 16/44 absolutely kill these latest/greatest DACs (running 24/192 etc.). Remember, at some point the DAC needs to send an analog signal. Doing this well requires a good analog circuit design and componentry (HQ parts) and a good power supply (like in a preamp). Good power supplies cost money and have good weight to them. The best chipset in the world can't make up for a bad power supply and analog circuitry (take a look at all the HT Receivers with super high "bit rate" upsampling). They still sound like crap.

My point, you can go for super high bit rates, but this won't guarantee (or frequently deliver) better performance if the other issues (which are just as important) are not addressed.

Agreed, the importance of the Analog circuit and quality of components is crucial. But in the terms of value, digital has come a long way when we look at sub $600 category (i.e. this thread), and the $150 HRT Streamer in my office system smokes my old Cal Audio DX-1 (a $600 player in 1994)in terms of resolution and soundstage. I think, too, that the current technology does a lot better job addressing jitter.

I understand the need for good analog components, and I love the warm sound of analog+tubes...if I could have the best of both worlds that'd be great. I guess i'm kind of a bitrate junkie--my entire music collection is in FLAC, and I strive so hard to find the highest quality files, so I really want a DAC that can stand up to them on the digital end. A lot of the DACs with good analog components mentioned above are a bit hard to find. A few questions come to mind--does a tube DAC really add a lot of warmth to the sound? I don't have any tubes in my setup yet for budget reasons, and being able to add some tube-sound with a DAC would be nice. Also, how do the HRT streamers stand up to the music fidelity DACs and the PS Audio DL III? My only qualm with HRT is that they are USB-only, and I like to use digital coax. Is the asynchronous USB as good as digital coax? I've never used asynchronous USB. Does the HRT II+ add a lot of quality over the HRT II? I think the M1 DAC may be at the top of my list right now, but at that price range are there any others worth considering?

Check out the Emotiva XDA-1 DAC. It has 2 coax inputs, an AES input 2 optical inputs and 1 usb input. The analog output stage uses all discrete audiophile parts (no opamps) and it sounds really great using an hp laptop running J Rivers Media Center 16 in WASPI output. All files are ripped to FLAC.

The unit is a steal at a reduced price of 299.00! The only drawback is it doesn't do 24/96 on usb. I am waiting for a Musical Fidelity v-link to convert the usb to coax so I can try out some High res downloads.

Bob