Looking for a replacement DAC or add on (have D10S)

[ITguyAR]

I've read threads and articles to the point my tinnitus has gone ape shit over the last month so why not start a thread. A brief intro: I'm 56, I spent 25 years in the Home A/V & Car Audio industry from 1985 till 2009, and loved every bit of it, of which the last 9 years of as a multi-line manufacturers rep. None of that really matters in the grand scheme but it was a fun career before my 2nd career in IT when the market went south in 2008/2009. I went back to college at 43 and started over.

So anyway.... I'm pretty basic on my gear as I have tinnitus after growing up in the late 70's and 80's going to concerts, listening to and building car audio systems (was a certified SQ judge back in the day), etc., but, unfortunately, developed tinnitus right at age 40. So, my upper HF hearing after 10kHz is pretty nil but I still enjoy listening to music. I primarily stream now although I have 800+ LP's and about 1,200 CD's (ripped FLAC to NAS) that are there. I have older gear (all fully rebuilt internally) including a Carver C-1 preamp, M-1.0t amp, Klipsch CF-3's & ads L1230's, and I use a Topping D10S DAC tied to either a Lenovo i7 tiny PC or a Pi4b. I use Spotify because I like their playlist algorithms, it works well with my Google Home stuff, and I have the Family package for me, wife, 15 year old son, med student daughter and mother-in-law. I also go back and forth between Qobuz and Tidal but not as thrilled with Tidal as I don't like their typical recommend crap they push.

My point of diminishing returns price is fairly reasonable as I just don't hear the top end that well like I used to. I mainly went into this thinking I'd just buy a new preamp like a Parasound P6 or NAD C658 as they were rather all inclusive (plus I know the reps and manufacturers and can get for cost) and also thought about a Mcintosh D100 but I lose analog input for the turntable. I do like the sound of the Topping D10S for USB and considered getting another version but read that many (manufacturers) have had chip issues, etc., and had to change their stuff up some. Basically, I wanted to have two optical inputs and a USB input and didn't really care about coax. But, I guess there are coax to optical adapters. Also, balanced out, MQA, and Bluetooth aren't a needed at all.

Keeping it reasonable, say under $500 for a DAC, what are some of the "success story" DAC's recommended here lately? Thanks for tolerating the long read for me to get to the point. A few I was pondering....

S.M.S.L DO100 I like the looks but does it not show on the display what it's currently "seeing"?
Topping E50 seems like a worthy contender and similar to the SMSL. Does it show the bit rate?
Schiit Modius. Yeah, I kinda get the general consensus of their DAC's here. lol

 

[bryan0101]

Not a common strategy, but I'd get an older, but top-of-the-line DAC with no/crappy usb (but great sound), and add a USB/bluetooth/spdif bridge/interface to it (ifi zen blue or whatever).
Transport/source can be just an old android phone/tablet; spotify maxes out at 320kps, using any old android with LDAC bluetooth maxes out at 9xx kps, so plenty of room, no latency. Newer bridge/interface has excellent spdif out with low jitter anyway, feeding an older DAC, the combo can be as good as a newer dac but at half the price.

 

[kchap]

There is nothing wrong with the D10, but it does lack TOS link / SPIDF and balanced out. The DO100 seems to have most of what you need so if you like it, buy it. If you go to the review index and look at any DAC built in the last 2 years; you will find a number of suitable DACs. Just have a scan through the comments to see if there are issues with reliability or a design flaw.

I wouldn't be put off by USB. Asynchronous USB is the preferred interface these days.

 

[Dunring]

I've got several and just got the Sabaj A20d balanced DAC from Amazon for $169 and it's great. Every feature, 5v balanced output on XLR and measures well on the review here. The blue display shows but rate and easy to figure out, but not as nice as the SMSL M300 but it's ok.
The Topping d10b is great if you don't need the extra features. Can't go wrong with any of the three. I had the E50 and it's good too, just buy on features and connectivity since they sound the same except for filters.

 

[ITguyAR]

I just decided to order one of the JDS Atom DAC+ as it should do all I need it to do. I won't hear any differences in DACs above 10 or 11k anyway but mainly needed one where I could switch inputs. I guess I don't have to worry about buying a new preamp for awhile and just stay with my Carver C-1.