Which DAC in 2022 to upgrade from a Musical Fidelity V-DAC II

[audiohunter]

Dear community,
I'm currently a happy owner of a Musical Fidelity V-DAC II. Nonetheless, I'm searching for options to replace it with a more premium DAC (budget up to 1K$, I'm fine with new or second-hand options). I was maybe considering the Schiit Bifrost 2, but I've been reading things in this forum that now made me unsure about that choice.

Any recommendations? Feel free to ask more questions if needed. Just some context elements, I've recently restored a vintage pioneer vinyl player I had, replaced the stylus of the shure cell, and started listening to vinyls again. In the digital area, I have a library of flac HDTracks, but when I A/B test the same album in digital (24bit flac files) through my V-DAC II and my vinyl setup (same amp, same speakers) I feel that the spatialization of sound is way better in vinyl. So I am wondering if upgrading my DAC will allow me to reach a similar spatialization than with my vinyl/phono setup. I feel that the sound produced through my V-DAC II is extremely clean (with good flac 24bit sources), but sounds kinda too flat to me now.

Best,
AH

 

[Trell]

You won’t get a better “spatialization” by buying a new DAC unless it has some DSP to color the sound to your liking.

 

[Zenek73]

I have Musical Fidelity v90 and to be honest... I bought Roon instead of a new dac
It's better to buy much more important high quality speakers/(pre)amplifier than dac - but it's my opinion

 

[audiohunter]

Thanks for the feedback! I think for now I will keep my V-DAC II then, sounds good enough to me, and if I can't improve the "spatialization" unless going through some DSP then I will live with it, it's fine for me. If anyone has any other thoughts or different points of view, feel free to continue sharing: I will be reading with curiosity :- )

 

[Rednaxela]

So I am wondering if upgrading my DAC will allow me to reach a similar spatialization than with my vinyl/phono setup.

But. If you want it to sound like your vinyl/phono setup, you’d have to downgrade right?

 

[audiohunter]

But. If you want it to sound like your vinyl/phono setup, you’d have to downgrade right?

Good point = )

 

[MidnightCarouselRider]

Dear community,
I'm currently a happy owner of a Musical Fidelity V-DAC II. Nonetheless, I'm searching for options to replace it with a more premium DAC (budget up to 1K$, I'm fine with new or second-hand options). I was maybe considering the Schiit Bifrost 2, but I've been reading things in this forum that now made me unsure about that choice.

Any recommendations? Feel free to ask more questions if needed. Just some context elements, I've recently restored a vintage pioneer vinyl player I had, replaced the stylus of the shure cell, and started listening to vinyls again. In the digital area, I have a library of flac HDTracks, but when I A/B test the same album in digital (24bit flac files) through my V-DAC II and my vinyl setup (same amp, same speakers) I feel that the spatialization of sound is way better in vinyl. So I am wondering if upgrading my DAC will allow me to reach a similar spatialization than with my vinyl/phono setup. I feel that the sound produced through my V-DAC II is extremely clean (with good flac 24bit sources), but sounds kinda too flat to me now.

Best,
AH

Get open baffle or Maggie's.