I am sorry if I may have been a bit sarcastic, possibly in envy of your being able to try all these wonderful electronics at home.
I haven’t listened to any of the TotalDACs but they are as high on my list as the dCS’.
Many great gear out there,I would love to here AudioNote and Nagra DAC, but now happy what I have 
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Best DAC? I have no idea.
Best DAC for the money? I use the $500 Chord Mojo off my Naim Core server for digital on my big system (72/hicap/250/Quad 2805) and quite frankly it is shockingly good.
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IMO, the Linn Klimax DSM with Katalyst if you do not care about your budget, otherwise Chord Hugo 1.
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Don’t forget they are subject to human judgement on how to implement any DSP and if course, they all have to have an analogue output stage which includes a preamp similar to a phono stage. That’s a huge amount to differentiate the sound in both the digital and analogue realm.
Absolutely. I use. Auralic Aries G1 with Chord Qutest.
Wich Naim component has the best sounding dac?
V1 DAC or ND5 XS2 ?
I would go for ND5 …
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Thanks !!
Chord gets a lot of love on this site. I’d start there. Mojo is very affordable and does a good job. Original Hugo is even better and can be had for a relatively modest price these days.
Above 1k and it begins to get a little more complicated. You will then have to match your DAC to your system and preferences. For example I strongly prefer Audio Note DACs to any other I’ve heard because they satisfy what I want from a DAC.
Good luck and don’t be afraid to buy and sell a few before you discover what you really prefer.
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Any CDP or streamer, with a digital in feed can be used as a DAC. This makes the NDS probably the best value for money DAC you can currently buy.
I’m biased, of course.
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Chord DAC are excepional, I use chord qutest feed by sbooster and nuc fanless
Emotional is not always the first word that springs to mind with dCS.
Nor the Chords.
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I find such comments weird and unhelpful. The/a Chord DAC may not “render that groove” for you but it certainly seems to be doing so for many others. We all hear differently and our hearing timing differently.
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Yeah… my way or the highway approach!
I’ve appreciated the quality sound of Naim, Cyrus and AudioLab but prefer Chord. Doesn’t mean the others don’t/ can’t offer a great/perfect sound for other people!
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I’m aiming to audition NDX2 plus Innuos Zenith versus Innuos Zenith, Phoenix reclocker and Qutest. It’s very boring when someone jumps in and points out that they are very different sounds. Yeah, and…
Prior to owning my CDX2 I had a Sony CDP and a Micromega Stage 3. They all brought something to the game.
Even cheap DACs sound different, my Beresford Caimen Seg Dac has changed sound greatly though various mods, changed power supplys, interior chips, and latest power caps supply. Great sound for around £300.