Sweet! Now that looks like fun :thumbsup: Let us know how it goes once you get it up and running.

I will. I was thinking about a MHDT NOS Orchid but Abbas has a good reputation. *I* don't like upsampling. Just sounds weird to me.

This?

http://www.abbasaudio.com/images/pro...ages/160_0.JPG

No. This: https://www.ebay.com/itm/DAC2-1-3-5v...K%3AMEBIDX%3AI

Cool. Let us know how it goes what that unit!

Update: I ended up going back to an Arcam irDAC-II for a while. Sold my last one, this one has the same chipset as other high end dacs use, good power supply design. A keeper for reference or until I settle on something down the road. Hmmm, I guess DACS are like tube rolling... each can sound different from the next as I've relearned again lately. Quite a difference between one to the next when comparing different designs and chipsets. I like the voicing of Arcam gear. I may wait a year or so, study it a bit more, and see what else develops with the new hi-def stuff coming out .For now, going backthe Arcam irDAC-II. The good news is, the texture and smoothness is back, no fatigue, easy to listen to, picked the 3d sound again and pre/tube amps all sound normal again. Easy peasy. I forgot I may need to go through some break-in time I guess. We'll see.

There are SO many DACS to choose from. The seller has a website in Ukranian.

http://abbasaudio.listbb.ru/viewtopi...&sd=a&start=10

Copy and paste the link into Chrome and it will be translated.

Someone here on the Shindo Forum chose one his DACS over Audio Note.

Tonight i confirmed for myself it is definitely worth trying different DACS at various prices and that "more expensive" isn't always gonna guarantee a better match or better sound with so many other factors in anyones given home audio system. My little stop-gap DAC is filling some big shoes right now. Only one days break-in time, back to being musical, with texture and delicacy I was missing for a while there.

Listening to some older 70s vintage rock (non remastered originals, so so recordings...) right now, (Zeppelin, Bowie, Elton John, Steve Miller, Rod Stuart) it all sounds freakin' good! And, find myself wanting to listen to all of it through to the end of songs. How it should be. Good sign, may leave this DAC alone for a while. Demos only with solid return policies here on out.

Exactly. I don't have any interest in hi-rez downloads simply because there is so much red book music and I want it to sound good. I had a very revealing/transparent digital set up and most of the music I enjoy was unlistenable.

I had a 10 watt Shindo Cortese f2a and Monbrisson preamp driving 98 db PHY-HP 12 full ranges with a 47 Labs Flatfish and a VPI Scout. All purchased used. Garbage recordings were very listenable and good recordings were sublime. I sold it all because I did not want $30K, my cost, in a stereo. It cost me $500 to enjoy it for 18 months.

I still hope to demo a well regarded tube DAC at some point.

Some here mentioned MHDT Orchid.

Any others worth demoing under $1750?

I'm still using a late 1990s Parasound D/AC-2000 Ultra. It used the UltraAnalog D20400A (a 20-bit ladder DAC) in combination with a UltraAnalog AES21 input receiver module for dejittering. List price was $2000 back then. That DAC chip was very expensive to manufacture. It was used in DACs made by Mark Levinson, VTL, PS Audio, Krell, Spectral, Audio Research and more, some of these sold for well over $2000.

Nearly all of my source material is standard CD, XRCD, and HDCD and it handles all that. I have a few SACDs which it can't handle. I don't have any 96K or 192K material. The D/AC-2000 is excellent on Redbook & HDCD.

Way back in the 90s, Stereophile reviewed it and wrote: "The D/AC-2000 Ultra’s soundstage performance was beyond anything I’ve heard in a similarly priced processor. The Parasound presented instrumental images against a jet-black background, with deep silences between notes. The sense of air and bloom was also extraordinary for a $2000 processor.
...
The Parasound D/AC-2000 Ultra sets a new benchmark in performance for $2000 converters. It sounds consistently musical and engaging, with a pristine midrange and treble, superb soundstaging, wide dynamics, and an articulate bass. Moreover, the presentation is highly detailed without being overbearing or etched."

Soundstage / imaging is my nirvana. Everything in my system favors this characteristic.

I know there are better DACs out there now, and if one has high res material then something else is a must. Decoding 16/44K (or up to 20/48 with this DAC) isn't a huge challenge. By the mid-90s processors were far more than capable of handing this material.