This thread in another place makes interesting reading
http://www.computeraudiophile.com/co...t-Cheapish-DAC
Quote from a knowledgeable member
No output filtering and no output stage - minimalist is often good. I wonder if you have to pair it carefully with an amp?The Valab is a simple DAC with no digital filtering. It literally has no output stage, just a stack of D/A chips. It is great sounding with a
low-jitter input and even better if you upgrade the output coupling
capacitors. For modding I recommend:
3.3uFd V-Cap oils bypassed with .22uFd Sonicap Platinums. These require some weeks of break-in BTW. This will be a world-class DAC with these caps. Not as good as my Overdrive, but beating most DAC's in the $10K range.
An I dont sell them either.
Steve N.
Empirical Audio__________________
http://www.empiricalaudio.com
Academic, because I am not in the market for a DAC at the moment, but an interesting option.