Quest for Inexpensive Balanced DACs

A nice sounding balanced unit that doesn’t get much press is the “Ross Martin Audio” PCM1794A DAC. It’s a bit agricultural in it’s appearance, but is a nice listen:

There are better-sounding (to me) single-ended DACs for the same or less money (it was <$220 when I reviewed it), but if you need a balanced DAC it’s a relatively inexpensive option.

Another, slightly more expensive ($350), more feature-rich model is the Cambridge Audio DacMagic Plus. Again, you can get better sound in a single-ended format for a lot less, but in this case I keep the unit in mind because it is, as far as I’m aware, the only way to buy a current-production DAC that uses the WM8740 converters (easily outperformed today, but something I have a soft spot for).

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