Mxn 10 from Cambridge and nano from Bluesound . Seem surprised to hear that for the first time ? That is my personal opinion after trying these devices on my system and the majority view of people that have compared the sound between those . I am talking as a complete package that is as streaming dacs .
I'm ambivalent about spending more money on the DAC. IMHO, the biggest difference in most DACs nowadays is the analog output section, which is relatively expensive and most people don't seem to care about it.
So far, I've driven the Nitsch Pietus Maximus, Burson Swing (variety of op amps) and Topping D90LE with my WiiM Ultras. I have a few more others that I want to try.
None of my DACs are particularly expensive but their MSRP is twice, or more, than the Ultra's... so I doubt you will even see such output sections unless the Ultra were to be updated to something around 900 bucks.. or more... and then many people would not buy it.
My experience with the DACs is that they sound a lot better than the one that comes standard in the Ultra... Again, IMHO, it's likely not the DAC proper but the output section. As it now stands, I only use one of the Ultras with its own DAC in the Home Theater... and even so, I'm planning on plugging in a different DAC one of these days because the sound does sound a bit dry with a shallow soundstage and the mass choral voices get harsh quickly. Why? I don't know really, I just hear it.
Perhaps the Ultra could be shipped with
socketed opAmps? That might allow for the factory to include a plain version and allow users to spend the money on better output sections...
Also, add a
balanced analog output section.
BTW, I have one of these:
Supreme Sound Audio Components
Lycan Op-Amp Test Bench / Headphone Amplifier Preamplifier
When you use it you can clearly hear the differences with op amps.
In my world. a combination of the WiiM Ultra network front end with this
www.schiit.com
would be the best... I would likely sell some preamps...
