2. digital
  3. 1328675706

sub $600 DACs: MF vs Music Hall vs Schiit

OVERVIEW
I'm comparing sub $600 DACs and need opinions on my top three contenders.

LISTENING STYLE
My listening tastes are across the board: jazz, classic rock, classical, bluegrass. Pretty much everything but black metal and hot country hits. I favor balance over bass. I listen to mostly vinyl and 320k mp3s/FLAC digital from my computer. Looking into lossless options for converting and playing the files currently on my CDs. They're starting to gather dust.

THE CHALLENGE
I've pretty much maxed out my current system in terms of budget and the room itself. The room is pretty small (12'x14'). The one area I see for improvement is converting the digital signal to my pre. I'm currently using a cheap TurtleBeach USB sound card and think I could improve overall music depth and soundstage with a proper DAC.

THE SYSTEM
NAD 1700 pre
NAD 214 amp
Audes Blues floorstanding speakers
Music Hall MMF5 turntable
Nakamichi CD4 CD player
Tara Labs Prism 55i interconnects
Monster Cable M2.2 speaker wire
Turtle Beach AudioAdvantage Micro sound card

THE QUESTION
The three DACs I'm looking at are
- Music Hall DAC25.3 $550
- Schiit Bifrost $449
- Musical Fidelity VDAC $350

Do you feel one of these might suit my system more than another? Are there others I should consider? Or, should scrap that plan and put my $ into a new pre? a completely new integrated? Any advice would be appreciated.
mojo1819
jedinite24's avatar
jedinite24
1,502 posts
 
I say put the Cambridge Audio DacMagic along with the Pangea P100 Power supply on your list. I enjoy this combo quite a bit and it is well within your budget.

Another DAC that I've read good things about in the sub $600 range used on A'gon is the PS Audio Digital Link III DAC.
elberoth2's avatar
elberoth2
1,219 posts
 
I would add Arcam rDAC to your list. I preferred it to the v-link. You can get the rWAVE version, which allows wireless streaming.
jp1774
1 posts
 
I was using an M-Audio Revolution sound card in my PC and then bought a $30 Fiio D3 dac, which I ran through the S/PDIF from my motherboard. The Fiio D3 made the m-audio card sound like mud. I will upgrade the dac soon, but my point is that you will be happy with the improvement you will clearly hear with any of the dac's you are considering.
ts0711
91 posts
 
I use the Bifrost in a second system and I'm very happy with it. I really don't think you can go wrong there. I've got the USB option for the Mac mini, optical for the old Roku soundbridge, and spdif for a cal Della transport. Plenty of bass, nice midrange and good highs. It does take a 100 hours or so to break in...
mojo1819 OP
1 posts
 
Thank you all for your input. In the end, I went with the Bifrost with USB. Sounds great out of the box and I look forward to see how it breaks in over time.
More to discover