best mid priced dac

[nandac]

is it safe to assume arcam's rdac as one of the better products in mid priced (under $500) DAC segment (including vdac, dacmagic, beresford etc) ?

also if the intended use is primarily play music from a computer, is the rdac significantly better in terms of sound quality than products like HRT streamer?

appreciate the insights.

 

[anm]

MF M1 is being discussed a lot these days. Blasto found it very good. Price is about 32-35k IIRC.
It also has async usb, and has a good hi-fi build.

 

[soulforged]

I've heard good things about Asus Essence One as well. You may want to consider that as well.

 

[gvenu]

Hello,

I am having AP DAC (acousticportrait.com) expensive and it is a one time investment. It also has all required connectivity.

Regards,
Venu

 

[krishpiscean]

Refer to the thread 'Hot deal for monitor speakers' it has some detailed levels of DACs comparison.

In short

Caiman< CA DAC< rDAC< M1/Audio-GD

all of the above are below 500 except for M1 which is 33k at audio people.

Check with Ravi_d on how to procure audio-gd from China, it's a good dac below 500 usd.

 

[corElement]

I wonder if there are any tube dacs in this budget.

 

[soulforged]

I wonder if there are any tube dacs in this budget.

Not sure but I think Maverick's DAC has a tube buffer...

 

[corElement]

Yep, but no idea how mavrick compares against all these dacs I read about today.

Musical fidelity also has tube amps which i see on audiogon but theres so many of so many different brands how does one even pick!

 

[Audiodoc]

If you can do DIY the sabre 32 and some new wolfson's 8741 dacs will be a great option.

 

[iaudio]

MHDT Havana is a well reviewed tube dac, but I think it retails close to 700$.

 

[spirovious]

Yep, but no idea how mavrick compares against all these dacs I read about today.

Musical fidelity also has tube amps which i see on audiogon but theres so many of so many different brands how does one even pick!

mavrick D2 is a good one.Better sound stage & overall musical.

 

[vaibhav.gadade]

mavrick D2 is a good one.Better sound stage & overall musical.

how much better than D1? it does not have an analogue input. i sometimes use my D1 as a tube preamp. never fancied it as a DAC. my cd6003 slayed it.