i am interested in getting a dac for my soon to arrive olive music server. i want one that is above all, musical. i also would prefer a tube dac so i can alter the sound a bit from tube rolling. what would you all recomment? i am open to all sugestions, so go crazy.

i have reading about the following:

dodson 263/ 217mk2d
sonic frontiers sft 2 mk3
audio note 2.1x balanced
benchmark

i would like to stay under $2500 on the used market, and perfer if it had balanced outputs. thanks.

Not sure about the others, but you can scratch Benchmark from your list if you want a tube DAC.

yeah i know its not tube, but with all the rave reviews and great price i thought i would throw it in. anyone with experience is welcome to post. thanks.

you wanna go to head-fi forum under dedicated component for more lively discussion regarding DAC.

Bel Canto Dac3 and lavry DA10 also got a lot of rave reviews, you should check it out, although its not tube.

Check this out:
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=199941

California Audio Lab has older tube DAC version. Mostly available on FleaBay. Also on FleaBay, there is a Taiwanese guy hand builds and sells his DAC with very reasonable price (between $200-$500 depending on models). Just search for user "mhdtlab". I tried his non-tube version, and it was worth the try. People give more raves on his tube version "Paradisea" (~$500). It is worth a look, and might save you some serious bucks.

i am interested in getting a dac for my soon to arrive olive music server. i want one that is above all, musical. i also would prefer a tube dac so i can alter the sound a bit from tube rolling. what would you all recomment? i am open to all sugestions, so go crazy.

i have reading about the following:

dodson 263/ 217mk2d
sonic frontiers sft 2 mk3
audio note 2.1x balanced
benchmark

i would like to stay under $2500 on the used market, and perfer if it had balanced outputs. thanks.

Hi Anthony,

What inputs are necessary for your DAC? Will you ever be needing more than 2-channels? Also, what sampling rates will you need decoded by your DAC?

If you must have tubes in the DAC, I would add Manley Labs and Audio Aero's DAC to your audition list. However, those DACs are already tweaked to perfection, so tube-rolling won't be necessary ;)

- Steve O.

i really don't mind whether it is an oversampling or non dac. to be honest, whichever sounds best. i really would like one that is very natural, musical, excellent soundstage and above all, non-fatiguing. overly detailed is not what im looking for. my system already has all the resolution i want, however more resolution with sublety would be great. i will be using the dac mainly for my music server or cd transport (if i ever go back to one), and may use it with a dvd player (since i only have a 2.0 setup for home theater). but i need it to have balanced outputs, a true balanced design is what im after.

yeah i know its not tube, but with all the rave reviews and great price i thought i would throw it in. anyone with experience is welcome to post. thanks.

Well, despite the rave reviews, I sent mine back. The difference it made wasn't worth $1K to me.

Perhaps I should have said, "IMO, if you are looking for tube-like sound then the Benchmark probably isn't for you.".

okay as an update, i found a few dealers who can offer me the lavry, benchmark, bel canto 3 and audio note dacs. i will have some fun the next couple of weeks "living" with them. i will report back with an update on these and my impressions. hopefully one of them will be to my liking, hopefully one that is a good price so i can buy some more "gear". keep them coming everyone, im enjoying all the options you're throwing at me!!!!

If possible, at least try to do your testing side-by-side and level matched. I think level matched is very important because the louder device, even by a small amount, nearly always gets the nod as sounding better.

Why not just dick around with software? Or maybe just insert something like the Behringer UltraQ into your system and dial or bypass the tubiness factor as well as the other things it does?

well this one, although not released yet seems to fit the bill quite nicely for you @ $995

http://www.psaudio.com/products/digital_link_iii_overview.asp
http://www.psaudio.com/products/images/417_6.jpg
http://www.psaudio.com/products/images/417_2.jpg

I've had a Benchmark DAC1 in my system for over a year now. It was one of the most signifigant upgrades I've ever made. It's a mainstay in my system now, and will be for many years to come. I refer to my digital front-end as my "digital turntable" it's that smooth. No glare, no harshness, no digititis--just music.

My system:

Parasound HCA-1500A Amp
Musical Fidelity A3CR Preamp
C.E.C. CD-3300 redbook transport (via digital XLR)
Benchmark DAC1 DAC
Energy Connoisseur C-9 speakers
Kimber Hero IC's and Kimber 8TC speaker cables
DH Labs AES/EBU digital XLR cable