Recommend a $600ish DAC with filter choice

[RedFuneral]

I'm open to spending more or less but wanted to make this thread more general/useful than a very specific personal recommendation thread.


Hi. I'm a subjective listener whose begun testing the waters of 'the other side.' I've lurked here for about a month before joining and I'm looking for a different perspective on DACs to complement advice received elsewhere. I've mostly owned R2R DACs and grown frustrated with them because they don't seem to differentiate albums as well as the JDS OL DAC I have here now. I was happy with NOS DACs until I started buying newer & better recorded music. My going theory is that differences in DACs originate from the noise floor & filter behavior in the time domain.

What I'm looking for in a new DAC is superior performance to the OL DAC & filter choice. Performance here means a clean input & power filtering, the OL leaks mouse movement & graphics card activity through its USB. I want the filters to sooth the inner audiophile tweaker & because I tend to fatigue listening to the same filter at length. I can listen all day with NOS(no filter, perfect transient) but it comes with significant compromise in all other performance metrics. I have previously owned the Soekris DAC1321 and was happy with its feature set but wanted to move to Delta-Sigma. Years back I owned a Questyle CAS192D but it sounded veiled with most settings(I suspect the oversampling chip it utilized was lower performance than the DAC chip.) I've discovered the new SMSL M300 as a DAC that fits my expectations but am waiting on review to purchase. It seems like it'd be a lot easier to find a tweaker's DAC these days now that AKM/Sabre build multiple filters into their chips but the market seems as short on options as it was before.

Current system is: JDS OL > JDS Atom/Schiit Ragnarok > Audio-Technica R70x/Hifiman Edition XX. I have vague plans to swap the amps out when the new Neurochome hits depending on power output.

 

[gvl]

If you have a decent R2R NOS DAC that is immune to USB noise you may want to consider trying HQ Player with it, filters galore... For PC noises the OL DAC has optical input, if your PC has optical just connect it with a Toslink cable or you can use a USB to SPDIF converter to decouple your DAC from the PC such as https://www.minidsp.com/products/usb-audio-interface/usbstreamer-box, or maybe a Topping D10.

 

[RedFuneral]

Thanks for your recommendations, I have tried HQ Player's filters as well as the feature in Foobar2000, its different but not better. It doesn't bring the treble back. I've sold off everything except the OL.
The OL only has a USB input but I'm willing to include a USB-SPDIF converter in my budget if it helps sidestep a problem area of whichever DAC I end up with.

 

[gvl]

Ah, I see the OL has a USB only model. I tried HQ Player with a couple of Metrum DACs and the changes in treble were pretty obvious, but still not as clean as what hear from the better delta-sigma DACs.

SMSL SU-8, Topping DX7s, D70 are safe choices, technically D70 performs a bit better but likely not audibly better. If you don't need balanced outputs it make sense to wait for the D50s. It's unclear if their USB inputs can deal well with pathologically noisy motherboards which you may have, but if it remains to be an issue you will have remaining budget to pick a good isolated USB to SPDIF converter. As for filters, I find their effects on the DX7s underwhelming, the differences are subtle. I just use the linear phase sharp roll off.

 

[VMAT4]

This is no more than a model of which I know. If you want selectable filters, this one has five. And, the manufacturer has a good reputation, I think. It's the Pro-ject Box Design DAC Box DS2 Ultra: https://www.pro-jectusa.com/en-us/p...s/dacs-and-sources/ds2-line/dac-box-ds2-ultra
I really can't tell you much more.

 

[andreasmaaan]

The Topping DX3Pro's performance is beyond reproach and it has adjustable filter settings (only one optimal one, however ).

Note some reports of reliability issues with this unit, although there is a dispute raging as to whether or not this is a legitimate concern.