looking for something a little new...

Teac 503 or OPPO Sonica???
plan on a Zbit on backend too.

plan to feed it with a transport or cd player and PC player.

beowulf,

not sure going up the schitt chain yet.  like to get some reference points before i cash out >$2k for a dac.  i like my bifrost multibit, but haven't heard much else.

thought about the 205 too and running everything thru it.  $1300

i play mostly redbook flac files via pc and daphile.  thinking of trying to live without a cd/transport for a bit..

did pickup a sonica last night on audiogon for $499 (couldn't resist).  going to give that a try.  believe its dac is the same as the 205...  let you know what it think.

thks tim

ty alper!

that will give me some stuff to study for my next step.

will have my used sonica thursday... be interesting to see how it measures up to my schitt multibit (which i've always liked... but haven't heard much else).

cheers

Benchmark's DAC3 series, which I have not heard, are in the ballpark of $1,700 - $2,200, as far as I can see from their website.  You can also go for the refurbished DAC1 which sells for $1,150, but I remember hearing one that sounded a bit on the harsh side.  I am not sure, though, if it was a new unit and needed some break-in time or not.  But, none of my DAC's so far (3 different models of Hegel, Copland DAC215, Cambridge Audio DACMagic 100)

If you are looking for a budget DAC, you can check Cambridge Audio.  I used to have their DACMagic 100 (for $199) and it was a steal for the price.  Also, you can give a try to Musical Fidelity's V90-DAC for around the same price.  These last two are small packages with a lot to offer and they sound fine right out of the box.

I'm not familiar with that Oppo - I have the BDP-105 which I liked, till I heard a DAC with a better chip.

The Teac NT-503 smokes my Oppo, but I've not heard the newer Oppo stuff. If they are still using off the shelf chips, then yeah, your Multibit, and the Teac will smoke them as well.  

I still prefer my DirectStream, but the Teac is very close second.

Good news Jeff, these upgrades are wild. I at first was hoping there weren't too many as it's a pain for me . . . somehow they never download correctly so I've been buying cards from PS Audio. But the Torreys then Huron were really good improvements. Nice to hear that Red Cloud is as well; I ordered a card today.

I should be joining you guys on Red Cloud mid-next week. I have had so much change going on in my systems lately. The ZROCK2 has changed how I use my P10 and the tonal controls on my Torii Mk III and gotten me changing sound in ways I haven't for a while. . . so my "benchmark" has been more fluid. But I'll be able to hear the differences in the OS I'm sure.

In my second system I did something radical: I bought a Peachtree Audio Grand Integrated for an awesome price and it is now the centerpiece of my second system. Its interior DAC is very good, better than the Denon flagship universal players by a hair (both are 32 bit DACs) and though it's a Sabre and I haven't like these in the past it doesn't seem to share the same shortcoming I've heard in others (a sort of dryness and a midrange edginess). It's really spacious and yet smooth sounding. The headphone amp sounds nearly as good as the Taboo Mk III I had in that system on my Oppo headphones. . . which is a feat. And the (most recent incarnation of I think) ICE class D amp section has immense power and really drives the speakers I've been using (Peachtree Audio bookshelf, Trapeziums) so much better than the Taboo even when driven upstream by a ZBIT AND a CSP2+). Great sound . . . not traditionally solid state or tube like, a good fusion of the best of both. It has a tube buffer stage built in as well that is switchable in or out, even with the headphones.

And it has a current source volume control which really works well at keeping consistent balance at all volumes and really allows detail and nuance to shine through. Even if used as just a preamp (has preamp outputs) it's a very good piece of gear, with that excellent volume control and great DAC, and  has two coaxial and two optical inputs and a USB input and has built in USB drivers for MAC for those who might use computer audio.

As it has the built in DAC I can now watch and listen on headphones to programs on TV upstairs when Lucy is doing something else downstairs, a plus.

Peachtree Audio also made basically the same DAC/pre (with balanced inputs and I think outputs) and called it the Grand Pre--that too would be a good choice for a DAC. I've seen these for about 1000 now that they've been discontinued by Peachtree (Peachtree seems to just build a big run of a component and then come out with a new model rather than make another run).

Kingrex, can you tell me more about the hardware in your server? What's amazing about the power supply? What overall is the system hardware?

The software I get, and have been down that same path as well - though with my DirectStream DAC the updated OS made a bigger improvement than the Optimized server software, but I do agree that the OS and tweaks make a big difference.

I am no expert when it comes to the actual materials and techniques used to build a power supply.  What I have learned via friends and a lot of reading on Computer Audiophile (CA) is that power supplies from traditional computers inject all sorts of noise in music.  When you get rid of the noise, the music just seems to rise out of the ashes.   Most server builders use linear power supplies.  Some do not.  A well designed linear power supply will generally have multiple power rails allowing the components in the computer to be isolated from each other and not inject their own noise back up into the power supply to be sent back out to other components in the computer.  A good server will have the following isoltated from each other.  The SSD that is running the operating system, The SSD holding the music library and the mother board.  The mother board will have isolated 12volt, 5 volt and 3.5 volt rails.  Some go a lot further and provide isolated power to the individual clocks on the mother board.

On a simple system where a laptop is used, ethernet is generally better as it is isolated from the noise to some degree.  USB is not isolated and many times gives unsatisfactory results.  With a good clean server usb can be phenomenal.  I believe mine is.  Especially when playing music from the internal drive as compared to my NAS.   However, Adrian with The Linear Solution brought one of his ethernet switches to my house.  With it installed the playback via my NAS was better than what I got from my internal storage.  Tidal was way better.  Not better than my NAS, but much better that without the switch.
Adrian also brough a plain old apple laptop with playback software his company has developed.  It was pretty much as quiet as my full blown server.  I only had a few minutes to listen to it and I think it was lacking some dynamics.   Of course the Linear Solution is also coming out with their own server containing something like 25 individual power supply.  That server with their software is going to be amazing.  It will not lack dynamics anymore.

Anyhow, my long winded rambling is to emphasize the point that the source and how it is configured is extremely important.  Flopping between DAC IMO should come second to finding the right source.  Once you have the right source, you will be better able to hear the real difference between the DAC that follow it.  

Thanks Kingrex, I follow you 100% and there is a lot I agree with. It sounds like you've really squeezed the technology for all it's worth and listened to the differences!

Tripwr1964, that's great! Nice for $100! I'm betting they have a new buffer to help lower the jitter - as Kingrix alluded to, it's all about noise reduction and ultimately Jitter reduction!