Looking for a new DAC under 50K

Sonus said:

Well, they do it still.. in a couple of years it will be replaced with a new one so why advertise something you know is not true?
Anyhow, they have great products just sell them as they are instead of half-truths.
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I agree with you but this doesn't mean you can upgrade to any and everything that comes down the pipe in the future.

Back to the dCS. The Vivaldi would sound better than the Rossini with clock but you would need to add either the Network Bridge or the Upsampler if you wanted to stream Hi-Res audio from a network. These are the digital inputs on the Vivaldi Dac:

USB 2.0 interface on a type B connector. Operates in asynchronous mode, will accept PCM data up to 24 bits at 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, 192, 352.8, 384 kS/s and DoP (DSD/64 or DSD/128 over PCM) in USB Audio Class 2 mode, can operate in Class 1.
4x AES/EBU on 3-pin female XLR connectors. Each will accept up to 24 bit PCM at 32, 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, 192kS/s & DoP/64 OR 2x Dual AES pairs at 88.2, 96, 176.4, 192, 352.8, 384kS/s & DoP/64, DoP/128 plus dCS encrypted DSD.
3x SPDIF on 2x RCA Phono and 1x BNC connectors. Each will accept up to 24 bit PCM at 32, 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, 192kS/s & DoP.
1x SPDIF optical on a Toslink connector, will accept up to 24 bit PCM at 32, 44.1, 48, 88.2 & 96kS/s.
1x SDIF-2 interface on 2x BNC connectors, will accept up to 24 bit PCM at 32, 44.1, 48, 88.2 & 96kS/s or SDIF-2 DSD (auto-selected). This interface requires a compatible Word Clock input, locked to the data rate.

The Network Bridge:

• accepts data from UPnP, asynchronous USB-on-the- Go and Apple Airplay.
• supports Streaming services including TIDAL, Qobuz, Spotify Connect, Deezer and Internet Radio.
• is Roon ready.
• MQA™ Core Decoder, which unfolds a MQA™ file once to deliver even higher than CD-quality. The first unfold recovers all the direct music-related information. Output is 88.2kHz or 96kHz.

The Upsampler offers the following digital inputs:

Network interface on an RJ45 connector – Acts as UPnP™ renderer, streaming digital music from a NAS or local computer over a standard Ethernet network, decoding all major lossless formats including FLAC, WAV & AIFF up to 24 bit 384kS/s native sample rate or DSD/128 in DFF or DSF formats. Other supported file formats include ALAC, MP3, M4a, AAC, WMA and OGG. Some formats are limited to lower sample rates. Accepts data streamed from an iPod, iPhone or iPad via Apple AirPlay, 44.1 or 48kS/s only.
USB 2.0 interface on a type B connector. Operates in Asynchronous USB mode, Audio Class 1 or Class 2. Class 2 mode will accept up to 24 bit PCM at up to 384 kS/s and DSD/64 or DSD/128 in DoP format.
USB-on-the-go interface on A-type connector, streams audio files from a USB flash drive. Will stream up to 24 bit PCM at up to 384kS/s plus DSD/64 or DSD/128 in DFF or DSF formats and operates in asynchronous USB mode.
1x AES3 on a 3-pin female XLR connector.
4x SPDIF on 2x RCA Phono, 1x BNC connectors and 1x TosLink optical connector.
1x SDIF-2 PCM interface on 2x BNC connectors + Word Clock.
All electrical digital inputs will accept PCM data at up to 24 bit PCM at 32, 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, 192kS/s & DoP.
The TosLink input and SDIF-2 interface are limited to a maximum of 96kS/s.

I went with the Rossini because it has all the above inputs eliminating the need for the Bridge or the Upsampler and for budgetary reasons.

Hope this helps

MSB, Ideon, Mola-Mola (Tamb.) are the ones that easily come to mind.

If you have an opportunity, give a listen to the Alex Paychev's APL DSD-MR MKii. It's very emotionally engaging, which is, to me, of maximum importance.

Probably you will not find what you are looking for.

Consider this: Looking for a racing car that can also help me harvest potatoes on my farm....

What i want to say is that maybe seperating the DAC and the inputs is key to get the best possible sound.

wisnon said:

MSB, Ideon, Mola-Mola (Tamb.) are the ones that easily come to mind.

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I can second the advice above through personal experience

Searching for a SOTA DAC some time ago, I chose the MSB Select II over Esoteric, Mola-Mola and a few others, all excellent offerings, but nowhere near the performance level of the Select (IMO of course). I hadn't heard of the Ideon stuff at the time, plus I was offered an once in a lifetime deal on the Select....

During one of the rare lockdown lifts about a year ago, I compared the Select to an Ideon "Absolute" and I was amazed that the Absolute bettered my Select (clarity, dynamics, and bass extension). To be clear, there was nothing wrong with the MBS which is IMO an excellent performer offering loads of musical joy. The other one was just better.

By that time, however, COVID had already dealt a considerable dent in my finances and I was already considering downsizing the system, so changing DACs was not an option (I actually sold my Select later).

I don't know what the Absolute retails for, but I seem to remember it was nowhere near the price of the Select.

+1 for the Silver Reference Trinity DAC. Can’t do DXD or MQA, but I think it’s worth it. The original was far the most analog sounding DAC I’ve ever heard. I haven’t heard all the high-end contenders though.