which bang for the buck DAC?


Hi,

I would love suggestion for a DAC with performance per dollar in mind. It will be used with a Sony S350 (bluray player) as a transport and also with a computer as the other transport. This way I can downsize my standalone cd player. The DAC will feed into a Krell 400xi via XLR. This way I will have a music server and the ability to play cds as well.

I would love to stay under 1000. I am looking at the DACMagic and the PS Audio Dlink iii, and I am a bit skeptical of both. Are they good or just hype? Are there better choices? Would love to hear other suggestions. I am looking for that DAC which delivers performance per dollar. Hopefully it exist.

Thanks in advance
jeanluc07
Something to keep in mind about the PSA DL III is that it uses no op-amps in the output stage. Instead, PSA uses a 100% class A discrete FET output stage (most DACs in this same price range utilize an op-amp based output stage). Whether or not, this is why the DL III sounds so good, I don't know. It does sound good though, and the Cullen Stage IV modified version sounds even better.
I have the Benchmark and it works really well in my system (as a pre-amp with a Pass amp and Quad 2805), but I am not sure it will work well with the Krell if that sounds like the KAV300i that I had some years ago. The Benchmark is precise/lean and combining it with a Krell may be too much.
I've compared the Benchmark to the Apogee Mini-DAC head-to-head. The Benchmark was extraordinary, so detailed it was the musical equivalent of watching bodybuilders ripped for competition. Every muscle stood out. I thought, if anyone wanted to know what "analytical" sound meant, this would teach them. I was glad of a pause after a while, but I honestly wouldn't have missed the experience. You might love it.

The Mini-DAC didn't seem to leave out any detail but the focus was on the music as a whole, the relationship of parts within it, and with more sense of a performance event. I liked it better for a longer session. Furthermore, using the same transport and cable, the Mini-DAC's highs were less hashy.

So this is to recommend the Apogee Mini-DAC, at about $800 for a USB version on eBay.
Dacmagic - good dynamics, soundstage and extension. Top end a little too hot for my taste.
CI vda-2 - smoother, did everything ok. Transport was a Pioneer 59avi and there was not a whole lot of difference between the pioneer and the vda2 in direct comparison, couldn't justify keeping it. Keces dac was a bit better at less price.
MF a3.24 - best of the lot, a great buy at the used price it sells for.