maverick audio DAC VS Marantz cd6003

emu 404 (especially at the price offered it pretty much is a super pc of electronics)
make no mistake im talkig about only the DAC here
its recording inputs and mixing abilities are not up there

the others ive liked are about 500$ and above
the stello is a super one ive liked but ive got a benchmark itch i need to take care of first
 
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.....but ive got a benchmark itch i need to take care of first

the emu is considered to be a very decent dac,its other capabilities are a little "pro-consumer" oriented and hence never made sense to me.as for ur "itch",...supposed to be the "benchmark" for good dac's,tad expensive for me,..unless u have a resolving system to use it in :).would love to hear an opinion from u reg my keces da151 mk2 tho ;).cheers
 
yeah,the 0404 is what we were referring to.i still remember listening to a cousins 0202 driving his altec lansing atp3(his primary setup based around a pc,circa 2007) and thinking how "good" the sonics were :p!!!and they were too!!!!!heh.cheers
 
I think with DACs, even more than CD players, system matching and personal preferences are critical.

I've tried various DACs (Valab, Musical Fidelity V-DAC, a custom made DAC using 4xWM8740's and some el cheapo ebay dacs). Transports used were a DVD player, NAD CD player, an old marantz CDP and Goldenote CD player as well as a laptop (usb or with a musiland monitor 02). My main conclusions:

1. DACs can have very different presentations. The Wolfson based DAC, which I prefer among all of these, has a very different presentation from the Valab. Its impossible for me to say which one someone else will like more - depends entirely on the system and the person's preferences. The sub $100 ebay dacs are in the "little better than a dvdp" category
2. Transport can make a big difference. With the exception of the v-dac, I've found SPDIF to work better than a regular usb. Even with SPDIF, the quality of the transport can make a fair bit of difference.
3. The musiland monitor 02 improves over a regular usb connection. Its not as good as the goldenote as a transport but I havent done a head to head comparison against the nad to see how it compares to vanilla cd players. My Marantz has gone kaput so that is out of the equation now.

I haven't heard the EMU in question but my experience with a few mid-end ($1-1.5k) studio pieces I've borrowed from a friend is that these are the other extreme of presentation from the Valab. To me they sound a bit harsh. Again, a matter of preference.

I dont think budget DACs make sense unless you are looking at non-cd audio or want to add better sonics to an ageing cdp (something that worked with the Marantz).
 
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