Your favourite DAC?

[purite audio]

As far as I am aware no single dac unit has ever been upgraded,external power supplies were manufactured by a number of of 'kitchen table' manufacturers, and a few Young units have been fried as a result.
Keith.

[DSJR]

For vintage DACs, the old 1541 based AVI DAC was very good (although the CD player they later made with different chipset was better). The very last Linn Numerik was good too.

These days and for USB, the Behringer UCA 202 takes some beating (under £30) if you don't know what it is you're listening to. Of course, as soon as you see the little plastic case and the name on it, it becomes a pile of poo as the preconceived ideas kick in

[Reffc]

Hmmmm...there were a fair few posts on various forums about the Young DACs, psu's or whatever, they sounded like good units and I'd be very interested in listening to one at some point. For the minute though, VFM does seem to be improving all the time when it comes to DACs in particular.

[DSJR]

Often Chinese manufacture in the zillions must help I'm sure, but fortunately, the same names come up time after time by satisfied owners at various price points, so hopefully it isn't a load of bull...

Cambridge DACMagic II?

[Gazjam]

Can't disagree with the Young being mentioned...

Took mine (with separate PSU) down to Owsten DIY meet and a few of the guys came back to me saying how good it sounded.
Didn't disgrace itself in some very esteemed company.

Prior to this I had a Rega Dac and the Young is a level above that, especially on usb.

[Clive]

Two current DACs I get along with really well:

Metrum Octave mkII - it's NOS, I use it with the USB input card powered by an iFi iUSBPower

John Kenny's Ciúnas

The two DACs I feel are at a similar standard with the Octave being a little more "analogue" and the Ciúnas and bit more detailed thoigh in truth the sound of these 2 DACs is pretty close, more 2 sides of the same coin. The Ciúnas is USB only (and is much less expensive) whereas the Octave also has SPDIF and Optical.

[Oldpinkman]

I have heard many good things about the Da Capo too but have yet to hear one.

.

There are not too many about nowadays. There were not that many in them days, and a lot failed terminally and irreparably. My daughter is at Hartpury college. I'll put mine in the boot next time I'm down there. As the only dac I am aware of with a discreet dac circuit instead of a chip, it was very different to any other I have encountered. I have a feeling JW shares that feeling, but got lured into MDac partly because of other digital formats. As a redbook device it is special.

[purite audio]

I sold my Meridian 808 to a DaCapo owner , it sounded extremely opaque compared to the modern dac, far less resolution and rolled off bass and treble.
Keith.

[Mr. C]

Considering that the Meridian could bore the bollocks off a charging Rhino @ 100 paces that says something!

[Oldpinkman]

I sold my Meridian 808 to a DaCapo owner , it sounded extremely opaque compared to the modern dac, far less resolution and rolled off bass and treble.
Keith.

And my aunt knew someone whose friends sister said a cd player sounded more natural than an orchestra. So that's ok then