Very. If you can get one second hand you will be doing well.
Oh I get it, don’t worry. For years and years, Chord stuff was all very clever but you could hear all the cleverness and that sort of defeated the object. They’ve got it sorted now but for many people, that’s come a bit late.
On a more prosaic note, using it is much less of a Krypton Factor challenge than before too.
3 Likes
Listen to one.
They are really good. I wouldn’t part with my TT.
It is also superb for headphones, and portable (and a pre amp if needed).
I expect this would be quite hard to find used in the UK so VAT would have to be considered if buying from the EU which would be pushing the budget. May well be OTT if just one input is required but yes a great DAC. I have the Romulus Signature which is a Pandora with a CD transport.
1 Like
They have quite a fanbase Dom so you are unlikely to loose out financially if you buy a used one and decide it’s not for you.
Is the “sack of spanners x deathtrap collab” aesthetic not quite doing it for you? 
7 Likes
What source are you using Dom?
Sonos port, I only stream music
How much time do you spend listening between vinyl and digital? Personally I’m 90% vinyl; 10% streaming. So I guess when I do stream stuff I don’t want it to sound too different or jarring in presentation from analogue. That’s why I found most of the DACs on the market to be too ‘hifi’ and digital sounding to my ears, and went for a custom built NOS DAC instead.
But if your listening is mostly digital anyway this may not be an issue for you. The Young DAC I’ve heard many times and its not my cup of tea at all. If you like it but want something better then the list Ian has outlined above is a good place to start. If you don’t really like the presentation of the Young then you might want to branch further out and demo a NOS DAC or two.
1 Like
I’m digital only now, no other sources. So pretty simple system.
I found the young dac better than what I was using, but have never really got on with it. Not that it’s terrible, just hasn’t got the special stuff going on for me.
If you mainly use Tidal or Qobuz you should buy my Lumin in the classifieds and forget about a DAC 
1 Like
Another vote for the Auralic Vega above. I had one, sold it, and regret it. Great piece of kit, non-digital sounding and a grand will get you one second hand. Another one I stupidly sold which was similarly non-fatiguing was the Burmester 113, about the same price used, but not that common to see in the classifieds or t’bay.
And worth a home demo of a Chord dac. I’ve heard most of the current range, as well as previous Hugo/TT. They sound nothing like you would expect from the company’s reputation. I have a Mojo for portable use,and it’s really quite special, and an absolute bargain at the price.
1 Like
This is actually very good advice. I use a D1 into the Pandora but in some ways that is overkill. I was very happy with the D1 on its own. The support from Lumin in terms of software updates etc is second to none.
1 Like
I guess my only worry with that is time. If I get a DAC it will always just work and isn’t going to get outdated by lack of updates as things change
2 Likes
Random observations:
Isn’t the Lumin Apple-only?
The Sonos Port is limited to 24/48 - I won’t be blowing huge cash on a DAC for mine any time soon.
I think the newer stuff does 24 bit but the older ones I’m pretty sure are 16/48 or 16/44
Get the Okto DAC 8 stereo with built-in streamer. It has a Raspberry Pi built in 
1 Like
I do most of my listening via an Audio Synthesis Dax Decade however I also have a Chords Hugo2 and Poly on my desk, that I also didn’t pay for (so possible bias blah blah blah without going into too much detail) which I find to be very pleasant to listen to.
Yes, the older stuff was/is 16/48. The Port is very new and supports Sonos S2 + 24/48.
I have one and play 24/48 stuff with it.