Beautiful DACs

[sjeesjie]

I know I know, all dacs sound the same
But if you’re looking for a nice looking dac that would complement an expensive hifi setup (both aestetically and sonically, i.e. measures well), what would you choose?
At the moment I find the Holo Spring 3 the most beautiful DAC on the block, but what if your budget was €1500?

 

[E-Lint]

Kill two birds with one stone and get a Denafrips Pontus?

 

[solderdude]

simplicity, elegant, small, available in 2 4 colors, functional, excellent measurements, affordable, utilitarian and cheap, PCM, DSD, USB, Optical, RCA SPDIF, remote control, volume control. You can buy 10 of these on the suggested budget.

 

[MakeMineVinyl]

A most beautiful DAC:

 

[JeffS7444]

I want a DAC by Sandbenders.

 

[Blaazen]

I also vote for (my silver) E30. Actually, it is available in 4 colors on shenzhenaudio.

 

[Blumlein 88]

 

[polmuaddib]

I love Wadia design. Something about the name as well... Don't know why it resonates luxury...
Sure the specs show mediocre performance. But who cares if you have this beauty...

 

[Dvass13]

I second the Okto!

 

[sjeesjie]

The Okto looks very nice indeed! But two gripes: it’s 446mm wide (most components are 430) and only XLR outputs.

 

[Blumlein 88]

The Okto looks very nice indeed! But two gripes: it’s 446mm wide (most components are 430) and only XLR outputs.

It is usually no problem to convert XLR to RCA. The sweet thing would be to upgrade your amp to one with XLR. I know that wasn't part of your posted question however. If you take away the lip around the face the rest of the component looks to be 430 mm. I've had several components like that.

 

[MaxBuck]

I'm a huge fan of the Holo Audio designs also. Just lovely gear.

 

[Deleted member 47224]

Well, fortunately for me, I don't need to put much money on the table to find a beautiful DAC :

Too bad it doesn't perform at least as good as his little brother the V90, but both look good to me, as do the M1 and the M6S. The Cambridge Audio DAC Magic 200 and the Mytek Liberty DAC 2 also have a similar design, but less refined.

Yes, I like all those little dots.

 

[VintageFlanker]

 

[neg]

Msb DAC are the most beautiful ones for my taste. But as far as I know all them have very large amount of intermodulation distortion. Unfortunately, as far as I know, there are no high-quality reliable measurements for them, such as thd on small signals, imd depending on the signal level, etc.

Holo audio is also interesting enough. Personally I don't really like warm colors though. It is known about their flagship DACs have good objective measurements in general. However, I didn't listen to them by myself.

 

[giordy]

a little retro, a little modern

 

[Tks]

@VintageFlanker and his post #14

Couldn't have nailed it better myself. (though idk why Matrix Audio went with that dumb tempered glass top on their Sabre, ruined it honestly).

 

[mccririck]

simplicity, elegant, small, available in 2 4 colors, functional, excellent measurements, affordable, utilitarian and cheap, PCM, DSD, USB, Optical, RCA SPDIF, remote control, volume control. You can buy 10 of these on the suggested budget.

Only problem us you haven't told us the name or given us a link.

 

[JeffS7444]

There is beauty in not dominating the room with audio equipment, too.

 

[solderdude]

Only problem us you haven't told us the name or given us a link.

Google E30 (mentioned in the picture)
You can even (just barely) make out the brand name top left of the front panel to narrow the search.