$200-ish DAC with balanced out

[curiouspeter]

Listen to rips done from mint or near mint quality records. DSD is a superb format for vinyl records. I stopped getting flacs after discovering DSD.

It is very hard to do right. But then my newest record was pressed in 1992. Even on a good day, I am driven mad by the pops and crackles.

If I can find a mint record for an album I can probably find some CD-quality (or better) files. Bit-perfect rips from a CD is so much easier.

I like DSD too. I buy the files from NativeDSD. But a lot of people hate it for no reason.

 

[curiouspeter]

I have a Pioneer DV-58AV with Burr-Brown PCM1796 DAC's from 2008 that still blows my socks off with SACD and DVD-A. It's all about implementation.

My NEO iDSD is also very good with a Burr Brown chip. Will I buy it again? Not for $699 since I have decided to hate headphones. The X16 at $499 is a better deal.

 

[MOCKBA]

If I can find a mint record for an album I can probably find some CD-quality (or better) files. Bit-perfect rips from a CD is so much easier.

Unfortunately CDs do not provide vinyl's dynamic, so I could live with some records imperfection. But, if a vinyl recorded after 90, then it won't differ from CD, and better get a CD.

 

[curiouspeter]

Unfortunately CDs do not provide vinyl's dynamic, so I could live with some records imperfection. But, if a vinyl recorded after 90, then it won't differ from CD, and better get a CD.

True, but those clicks and cracks drive me crazy. This is why I rarely use headphones anymore. They reveal too much.

If DSD is available I will definitely prefer that over a CD. No problem with classical music, as the collection is large, and many albums used a mostly pure DSD workflow.

I bought my favorite vinyl album from Russia. I could not find a CD version.

 

[dtaylo1066]

I always hated clicks and pops and was in awe when I heard my first CD. After 40 years and a couple hundred albums in mint condition (sill click and pop a little) just sitting in my basement, about a month ago I bought a Sony PS-HX0500 turntable that also has a USB out that is good for PCM or DVD recordings of one's records through Sony software. You can use other software if you wish to nix the clicks and pops. Not sure if I will ever use any of the turntables digital capabilities, but it is also a quite decent basic turntable for my long dormant vinyl.

Both of my Emotiva DACs are old and I think most new DACs would blow them away. I never like the Emotiva DC-1 very much, and in many ways think the old XDA-1 sounds better.