Better than DAC1?

[EdipisReks1]

I have a DAC1 USB to a Luxman P1u to a pair of HD820. Should I do better than the DAC1? I have limited space. Probably pointless to upgrade. Wish I had a DAC still that would not fit there:

[EdipisReks1]

I'm persona non grata. Guess I'll stick with with the DAC1.

[Torpedo]

I don’t think the non-grata is an issue. It’s just that improving from a Benchmark isn’t easy and most of us haven’t been into audio much lately, or at least enough to offer any insight worth reading.

[HiWire]

My first thought was a Schiit Mimir. I haven't heard one, so I didn't feel qualified to comment. Still, the price looks right and it might be a sideways upgrade (it may be too wide for your arrangement).

All I've got is a tiny Schiit Fulla 2... it still sounds great. There's been a lot of new entrants in the field and I'm way out of date on new equipment. I listened to a Chord Mojo 2 but it didn't sound any better than my portable CD player's headphone output.

The Benchmark DAC3 B would be the logical thing to compare, but they look expensive and I'm not sure it would be that much of an improvement. I've been curious about the Chord Qutest but it may be out of your budget range.

Perhaps it's worth a trip to the local stereo shops?

Edited Friday at 11:35 PM by HiWire

[dreamwhisper]

The DAC1 sounded like glass breaking to me.

I am liking an ESS Sabre based Dac recently.
I missed the AKM chip fad, so maybe someone else can comment on the those.

I’d be curious to try the Topping D70 Pro Sabre, due to the form factor and marginal upgrade over my all-in-one mass drop Ess/thx 789.

The real appeal is in a few years relegating it to living room duty, and using the Bluetooth function for easy uses.

Makes me feel a little bit of the Swiss army feeling I got looking at the NAD M51.

Impossible to tell with just measurement data.

But the mid-fi DAC game is like playing whack-mole with compromises.

I’d be happy if something sounded marginally better than my iPhone dac, and has balanced outputs.

Rebook only is still a thing. I recently saw a PMD100 surround sound Dac for cheap that looked cool. I’m not sure how the components hold up, and can’t justify used gear unless I see internals these days.