Dipped my toe in the world of DAC’s and....

[Copperblue]

.....it has been a revelation!

I started with an Audioquest Dragonfly Red and thought this was good but last year acquired an iFi Zen Dac with power supply and this has really convinced me of the merits of the DAC approach. I recycled an old laptop running Audirvana, an Audioquest jitter bug, QED usb cable, an old NVA AP35 amp with a pair of Sony SS86e speakers for an office system that sounds really good. This process has also led me to ditching Tidal and switching to Quboz, I just can’t get my head around the MQA sound and where that’s going.

Playing CD lossless rips and Quboz the laptop/Zen DAC combo sounds way better than my Auralic Ares mini in my main system....

So in terms of of other DACs to try next what should be the direction of travel? Budget to be less than £500 and I would definitely be in the camp of a more organic sound rather than forensic detail.

[CN211276]

I also ditched Tidal for Qobuz because I think it sounds a bit better and MQA is too much smoke and mirrirs. I also subscribe to Tidal much of the time as they have so many low cost promotions. It fills in gaps in Qobuz. I cancel just before the first £19.99 payment is due.

[Copperblue]

So in terms of of other DACs to try next what should be the direction of travel? Budget to be less than £500 and I would definitely be in the camp of a more organic sound rather than forensic detail.

Organic sound (for me) is better found in DACs with a NOS approach (non-oversampling). The incoming digital signal receives the minimum amount of messing about and the 'spirit' of the music is maintained - although possibly at the expense of extra detail.

Under 500 pounds, see if you can get hold of a TeraDak V4.5 Chameleon (AliExpress) or a Musical Fidelity M1DAC (2nd hand, Ebay). These will both sound very 'analogue', although the M1DAC might be a bit too polite. If your budget stretches to the Denafrips Ares II then get one!

[Pottyp19]

Bought an RME ADi-2 DAC last summer. Incredible step-up from the old Rega DAC I was using. Originally used with an old Rega Planet CD player, but recently bought the current audiolab transport, which again was a a very considerable step up in sound. Have ditched tidal/qobuz etc (all that money for no ownership??) and now buying second had CDs at an average price of £2-£3, and digitising them as I buy them. All this combined with Klipsch Heresy 3 speakers and NVA A60/P50.

All this currently making perfect sense to me. I love vinyl too but at £20 an LP not buying much anymore unless I see a bargain...

[slinger]

Bought an RME ADi-2 DAC last summer. Incredible step-up from the old Rega DAC I was using. Originally used with an old Rega Planet CD player, but recently bought the current audiolab transport, which again was a a very considerable step up in sound. Have ditched tidal/qobuz etc (all that money for no ownership??) and now buying second had CDs at an average price of £2-£3, and digitising them as I buy them. All this combined with Klipsch Heresy 3 speakers and NVA A60/P50.

All this currently making perfect sense to me. I love vinyl too but at £20 an LP not buying much anymore unless I see a bargain...

Welcome to the dark side.