What NOS DACs are you comparing these DACs to? Because it's not entirely fair to compare the Berkeley to a $300 NOS DAC.
The Z and the Mojo Audio DACs are nicer than the Berkeley IMO. But the Berkeley is no slouch by any means. The Mojo Audio DAC is currently a NOS DAC. But Ben is doing tests on the Sabre 24/96 DAC chip that will allow you to natively handle files up to 24/196 without SRC. The Mojo Audio DAC sounds as good as it does because it has a beefy power supply... well 5 power supplies, one for each output, one for the DAC chip, one for the crystal oscillator/DSIX, and one for the digital input. Audio is fairly simple, it's us dorky audiophiles that make it complicated.
So I agree with you that the latest technology OS DACs are actually quite good. The Prism's oversampling and SRC is stellar. But the Prism Orpheus is a different animal altogether. I wouldn't go as far as to say that all modern OS DACs are better than NOS DACs. Your evaluation of the Benchmark, BC, and Havana are quite accurate. I just encourage people not to use components as tone controls. If you remove the bandaids from your system you will be much better off and have much better music.
Rather than getting a warm DAC to cover a bright amp, remove the bright amp instead. Brightness is a boost caused by distortion in the 2-4khz domain. It is often caused by mechanical vibration, cheap capacitors, or a weak power supply.
With live music there is no such thing as warm or bright. Music is just music. If you stop thinking in terms of "what will fix the brightness in my system" and begin thinking "how can I make my system more accurate" you will get much larger gains in enjoyment from your system. If you go listen to live unamplified music it will give you a benchmark to start from. Music is warm, it is bright, it is bold, it is intense and it is subtle... it is all of these things. Music is Music is Music is Music. It doesn't matter if it's tubes or solid state. If you do it accurately all components will sound the same. Listen for proper flow, listen for time, tune, and tone. Coherency and inner detail. EMOTIONAL CONTENT. Ok... sorry for the rant, gents!
The Z and the Mojo Audio DACs are nicer than the Berkeley IMO. But the Berkeley is no slouch by any means. The Mojo Audio DAC is currently a NOS DAC. But Ben is doing tests on the Sabre 24/96 DAC chip that will allow you to natively handle files up to 24/196 without SRC. The Mojo Audio DAC sounds as good as it does because it has a beefy power supply... well 5 power supplies, one for each output, one for the DAC chip, one for the crystal oscillator/DSIX, and one for the digital input. Audio is fairly simple, it's us dorky audiophiles that make it complicated.
So I agree with you that the latest technology OS DACs are actually quite good. The Prism's oversampling and SRC is stellar. But the Prism Orpheus is a different animal altogether. I wouldn't go as far as to say that all modern OS DACs are better than NOS DACs. Your evaluation of the Benchmark, BC, and Havana are quite accurate. I just encourage people not to use components as tone controls. If you remove the bandaids from your system you will be much better off and have much better music.
Rather than getting a warm DAC to cover a bright amp, remove the bright amp instead. Brightness is a boost caused by distortion in the 2-4khz domain. It is often caused by mechanical vibration, cheap capacitors, or a weak power supply.
With live music there is no such thing as warm or bright. Music is just music. If you stop thinking in terms of "what will fix the brightness in my system" and begin thinking "how can I make my system more accurate" you will get much larger gains in enjoyment from your system. If you go listen to live unamplified music it will give you a benchmark to start from. Music is warm, it is bright, it is bold, it is intense and it is subtle... it is all of these things. Music is Music is Music is Music. It doesn't matter if it's tubes or solid state. If you do it accurately all components will sound the same. Listen for proper flow, listen for time, tune, and tone. Coherency and inner detail. EMOTIONAL CONTENT. Ok... sorry for the rant, gents!