What is the best DAC under $500?

Beresford Caimen. Available factory direct on audiogon. I also think the new MF V-DAC is a great dac, but you realy need the separate power supply to go with it.

Right now you can get the Emotiva dac on closeout for 250.00 At that price, it's a steal. I am using one in conjunction with a Musical Fidelity V-Link and couldn't be happier. The dac offers a lot of bang for the buck and is very musical. It is not at all bright or etched sounding.

Kingrex is wonderful but they have no US rep at this time.

Also highly recommend the MF V-DAC.

CONTRARY to what many people claim, differences between DACs are much smaller than what you'd gather from all of the "This DAC blew away that DAC" threads.
After hearing a DacMagic for 429 bucks go up against my Rega, EE Minimax Plus and an ARC Dac costing a small fortune, I could easily live with any of them providing there is reasonable synergy with other components. Few people really get to compare DACs in their own systems and I assure you that even the entry level stuff sounds great. Expensive amps and preamps often sound MUCH better than lesser ones, but this is just not the case with DACs.
Still, be careful with Tube DACs. I'm not hearing any advantages at all from my admittedly narrow experience with them.
I'd look at the DacMagic and Emotiva unit that was just mentioned. Both are well featured and quite capable.

Cheers,

Rob