Best DAC for less than 2500 euros, New or used ?

[DuckToller]

2 hours ago, Ozan Bolat said:

No opininion ? is it because it is not a good price point ? Can I spend much less to get as good a result if I can not spend much more?

Here's an opinion:

It is very difficult to give you more than personal ideas about that subject. Objectively you can stop searching after let's say a price level of 500 Euros because most differentiating factors above that limit are very difficult to reproduce as a distinguishing factor for sq in objective research. But they may exist subjectively, which imho validates each decision to spend more.

If you have a take in @GoldenOne
videos at YT, about the Holo Audio May (4k+) or the Denafrips Aries 2 (750),  you may get the message, that one is better, but not day and night, and it is a plain subjective decision to invest 3k or more for the better device to get that bit more of SQ and quality. And you may need a system that allows you to perceive that correctly.

As most if us do not know details about you and your system, a direction to look at seems kinda difficult in my view.

Plus, we don't know your favorite formats or habits for upsampling.

One of my favorite Dacs I would consider above 1 k, would be OktoResearch Dac8 stereo.

A component with advantages and limitations, but a good start to look what you could get.

Above that, you may want to integrate service proposal, upgradeability, brand and resale value in your decision.

In my opinion the DAC performance problem has been solved as the mobile phone performance had been solved long ago. IOW: the feature set that suits you should win.. 

Cheers, Tom

 

[DuckToller]

2 hours ago, ecwl said:

I know even reading my own post that I sound a little over the top.

Not at all!

In this hobby, I really appreciate people who care and share ideas that are well thought and based on experience.

Me, too, tried to give the OP some directions, but I can see the advantages of mother tongue... 🙃🙏 Thank you!

[DuckToller]

Guten Morgen,
Will you store your music as well on the the MacFamily or do you feed it by NAS.

IIRC, higher bitrates often demand dedicated machines with last generation CPU/GPU.

Cheers, Tom

 

 

 

[DuckToller]

@GoldenOne
Which version of the Spring 3 did you use for your upcoming review, which will be appreciated by many I may reckon ...???
I have read there had been Spring 3 with Pre-Amp modules available for reviewers in Europe ...
Best, Tom