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Small form factor, budget DACs?

I'm trying to restore the musicality to my system, piece by piece. A few years ago my Jolida JD-602A CD player finally died and I've never really found a good replacement. I think really I've been mourning the loss and lacked the funds to get something of equal quality (since it was sort of a giant killer).

So, what can I get for < $400? Used is fine, but it has to be a compact form factor - I don't have room for another full-sized component. I think the 1/2 size form factor that Channel Islands, Musical Fidelity and Creek use is about as big as I could go.

24/96 is a plus since I have a bit of DVD-A stuff but not a necessity. I don't really have an opinion for or against oversampling, or regarding filterless DACs.

Here are the DACs that have popped up in my search so far:

$175 - Lite Audio filterless DAC
$250-400 - Ack! Dac
$200? - Creek OBH-14 - I'd have gotten one by now but I have yet to see one pop up on the used market. Probably a good sign.
$300-400? - Musical Fidelity X-24K - older DAC (circa 2000), but it looks nice and let's me stay with the appealing X-component form factor (I have an X-ACT and X-LPS now). Maybe a little overpriced - I can't help but think that for that money I could get something better
$400-600 - Channel Islands DAC - undoubtedly the best DAC on the list, but also the most expensive, so it would take the longest for me to save up the coinage.

Anything I'm missing from the list?
hudsonhawk
mwilson
430 posts
 
About the older CI DAC, I was well impressed with it for such a simple unit. It had reasonably good bass - not boomy, but not really in charge. It had surprising detail and presence, but it was a little bodiless through the midsection, and in comparison to DACs in the next price step, in the end a degree less detailed and spacious. The Bel Canto was palpably more lush, smooth and deep, and at the same time more in control of the bass, and more crystalline on the highs without brightness. The CI was extremely pleasing and capable - only by comparison to a costlier DAC of similarly exceptional value did it please less. Compared to the older DACs in this list, the CI was just way better.

Build quality of the CI is an example to others at the price. The Bel Canto is in the next rung of overall quality with better chassis + connectors (the RCAs on the Bel Canto being considerably more robust with thicker plating etc.) I liked the CI enough that I'd buy one again at the $225-250 or so used, but at a couple hundred more, I think the Bel Canto stands as the greater value. If I had $225-250, I'd buy the CI. If I had $500-550, I'd buy the Bel Canto. Both are great - I really liked the CI, I loved the Bel Canto. I 'd enjoy owning either (I've owned 2 of each over the years, I currently have one Bel Canto 1.1)
tfkaudio
589 posts
 
The Birdland Odeon-Ag. It's small (weighs about 3 lbs.). It has a volume control for direct connection to an amp. Absolutely stellar sound. A bit over your budget. There is one for sale right now at $795 which is a very good price if the re-clocker is installed.
gmood1
1,251 posts
 
I would add the Scott Nixon, Audio Note and Audio Sector DACS to the list. You owe it to yourself to experience NON OS done right. You may never look at oversampling DACs again. I haven't experienced anything up to several thousand I would trade my DAC for. I know I would have to spend quite a bit more to hear a clear upgrade..so I haven't bothered. In most cases, I would be just pissing in the wind.LOL

Good Luck
brooks
55 posts
 
If you value music over hi-fi, you need to hear a nonos dac.
Steve
hudsonhawk OP
69 posts
 
Gmood,

The non-filtering, non-oversampling DACs are definitely something I've been keeping a close eye on, and reading as much as I can about them. I hadn't heard of the Audio Sector or Audio Note units before - they are both very sharp-looking units.

I had been thinking about the Scott Nixon Chibi Dac with power supply in addition to the Lite Audio and Ack! Dac's mentioned in my first post. Unfortunately, I can't find a lot of info comparing them to the other DACs in my price range, or even to each other - they seem to kind of have a dedicated following outside the scope of "normal" high-end. There's lots of very positive reviews of the Audio Mirror, which is a souped up Dac-Ah - that's the main reason I was looking at that one.

It's something I'm very interested in however. I'm a recovering tube addict who would love to get some analog-ness back into his system, and that seems to be the good word on these.

The Dac-Ah seems like a no-brainer gamble at the price in fact. It's my top choice right now, though Mwilson's words on the older CI dac makes me think it might fit well in my system. And then maybe in a year or so I can save up for that Bel Canto or Birdland DAC.
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