In this article, we will dive into some of the best DACs for 2024. DAC is short for digital to analog converter. DACs became very popular when CDs first came on the scene, as many offered far better circuitry than found inside most CD players and significantly improved the sound. These units usually had one or two digital inputs to take signals from a CD player with digital out and typically had a fixed level output to connect up to your audio system like you would a CD player back then. We have seen lots of evolution in the DAC market, with many great new features. The popularity of streaming audio has undoubtedly had an enormous impact on the feature sets we see. By the time this article is over, we hope you will better understand what to look for in this category and how to make the best decision on your musical journey.

For those unfamiliar with DACs, a DAC is simply the part of the electronics chain that converts digital signals into analog. How well it does this is dependent on many things, including the DAC chips themselves and the supporting circuitry. Your smartphone, like many devices, has a DAC inside. At the higher end of the scale, DACs can cost as much as an automobile.

This list will also include many combo units, including a DAC and streamer that gives you access to the wonderful world of HiRes streaming audio. A few of these can even function as a full-fledged audio preamp where you would just need to add a power amplifier. One very cool thing about a DAC/Streamer/Preamp combo is that you can typically control the system's volume right from your smartphone, where you are selecting your music.

Now, before we dive into our top units, let’s review some of the features we will cover.

Bit Rate Capability will tell you how far the unit can go in playing back HiRes Audio files from some premium streaming services or your stored files.

Asynchronous USB computer input is something you will want to look for if you plan to connect up a laptop or desktop computer to your DAC, which is very common in office systems.

If you also want to connect your TV to your DAC, it should ideally have an HDMI ARC input or, if not, a Toslink digital input.

If you have music on a USB drive, you must confirm it has a USB drive input.

For those of you who are headphone buffs, we will list whether it has a built-in headphone amp.

If you see a DAC has variable audio out, that means it could be used as a preamp.

For even more flexibility, some DACs include a subwoofer out, and a few even give you bass management to control the crossover where the signal gets separated from your main speakers and goes to your subwoofer.

We will also list the additional inputs each unit has.

Finally, there is Roon, a super cool interface that combines Tidal, Qobuz, and your entire music library into the best music discovery system we have ever seen. We will note if Roon is on board, too.

First up on our list is the very modestly priced Zen Dac V2 from iFi. iFi is known for making great-value products; this great little unit is a wonderful example. The Zen Dac V2 is designed for use with a computer to work with streaming audio apps on your computer or files on your network. If you listen to music at your desk and have decent speakers but still use the computer audio outputs, this little DAC is a great way to improve your sound. Or, if you are using the basic headphone jack on your laptop or desktop to power a good set of headphones, you will not believe the difference the Zen Dac V2 will make in the sound of your headphones. It has a very high-quality DAC with an excellent headphone amp. You can even set it up for variable or fixed audio out. This would allow you to connect it to a set of powered speakers and use its volume control, which is very cool. It even has a neat bass boost feature if you want to add a little extra oomph to your music.

The Bluesound Node has been around for over a decade and is one of our most popular DACs at Audio Advice. The latest Node N130 is one of the best values in HiFi. It has excellent internal DACs, is a streamer, can act as a preamp, and even has a subwoofer out with control for the crossover. Many people use the Node as a digital preamp/streamer with a power amp, but the most common use case is someone adding it to an existing system to get into the world of streaming. The BlueOS app gives you great control and allows you to combine it with other Bluesound units. The main reason it is so popular is how good it sounds as a stand-alone DAC, given its fairly modest cost. It is very warm and three-dimensional and can be used even in a very high-end system. Use its digital inputs for an old CD player that has digital out and enter the cool world of streaming. The bonus is, should you want to go with an even better DAC later, it has digital out, so you can still use it as a streamer coupled with a better DAC only and still take advantage of the excellent Blue OS app. Or if you already have a very high-end DAC for your CD player and want to get into streaming, it is a great way to go about it. It’s easy to see why so many of our Audio Advice employees have a Bluesound Node in their systems.

When the Mojo was introduced a few years back, it set a new level of performance for both portable audio and desktop use. The Mojo 2 offers even better sound and is still quite tiny in size. There are several use cases for the Mojo 2. It has an incredible headphone amp that is capable of easily driving just about any headphones. You can use it on the go with your smartphone and nice headphones for an upgraded experience, as it can run for quite a while on its rechargeable battery. Take it home, connect it to your laptop or desktop, and go with headphones or a nice pair of powered speakers. It sounds great, and many people also move it over to their main audio system to be used as a DAC. While it is not a streamer, it does accept coax or optical digital in and works great with the companion Poly streamer from Chord or any other streamer only. It even has variable audio out with tons of output so you could use it to drive a power amp and passive pair of speakers as well. Chord makes some of the very best DACs in the world, so the Mojo 2 has some great heritage. As a DAC in this price range, its sound is very hard to beat.

Eversolo is a new brand on the streamer scene, but it has taken the audio world by surprise with its great performance and impressive user interface. The DMP-A6 Master Edition is all about extracting the best sound from your digital and streaming sources. It uses one of our favorite ESS DACs, the 90382QM, supported by a well-done power supply and a particularly impressive audio output stage with high-end parts brands you normally see in far more expensive units. Ease of use is first rate with the large touchscreen or their intuitive app. We loved the fact the DMP-A6 Master Edition comes with balanced audio outputs to run either into your integrated amp or directly into a power amp. One unique feature is a full bank of completely adjustable parametric eq settings. If you have found a frequency peak or peaks in your listening room, you can dial it right out using a filter, which is pretty cool. Or, if you want to tinker with very advanced tone controls, there is a standard graphic EQ interface. But it's the sound of the Eversolo that has won so many people over. It is warm and rich with excellent dynamics. Given the pedigree of the parts inside the unit, this is no surprise, which you would expect for 2-3 times its price. This amazing value combination has made it such a popular unit in a very short time.

Like the Mojo 2, the Chord Qutest is housed in a unique package. It is not portable like the Mojo 2 but has much more of the tech found in Chord's award-winning $14,000 DAVE DAC. We feel that, because of its price point, you will be very hard-pressed to find something that sounds better. The Qutest is not a streamer but is designed to connect to your laptop, desktop, CD transport, or any streamer with a digital out. We see a lot of people who started out with a basic streamer/DAC combo moving up to the Qutest for much better audio performance. And its performance is astounding. We have compared it to a DAC that costs twice as much and came away super impressed. The audio press thinks the same way about the Qutest, which has been winning best-of-class awards since its introduction. The USB, optical, and coax digital inputs are galvanically isolated, while the Qutest PCB sits inside a small cavity in the solid aluminum chassis for even more isolation. Its DACs are first-rate, and it has an incredible ability to pull you into the music with its astounding sense of pacing. Connect your CD player with digital out and/or a basic streamer to the Qutest and prepare to be amazed.

With the HiFi Rose RS250, we are starting to get into the higher end of things. HiFi Rose had a cool beginning when an executive at an old and very large South Korean tech company decided they could make an audiophile-level product and leverage all of their great in-house engineering and manufacturing. They have taken the high-end world by storm with both their beautiful design and great sound. The RS250 is definitely one of the best-looking DACs you will see, and it's a bit of a chameleon as you can change the display to match a lot of current gear. They use a very high-end ESS DAC with incredible support circuitry. We’ve been very impressed with how good these units sound and have seen them go into an existing system as a DAC/Streamer. With all of the available inputs, the RS250 is also fantastic as a digital front end paired with a power amp. Another really unique feature of the RS250 is an HDMI out, which allows you to watch a very large curated library of Hi Res content called Rose Tube. If you are like most, once you play around with an RS250, you will be hooked!

Naim has been into music streaming longer than any other company we know of, and when serious music lovers want the best, Naim is one of the major brands to be considered. Made in the UK, Naim gear can reach far into the stratosphere price-wise, but for the sound the ND5XS-2 offers, it is hard to beat. While it can not function as a preamp and has limited inputs, the Naim sound bowled us over the first time we heard one in 2014, and we have been fans ever since. Naim has put all of the money into the sound of the ND5XS-2 as it has no front panel display, but Naim has a great app for streaming and controlling the digital inputs. Plus, the ND5XS-2 is also Roon Ready. It is hard to describe how Naim's digital sound draws you so into the music until you experience it for yourself. The ND5XS-2 has the ability to separate incredibly tiny nuances in the music, which gives it that live sound. Plus, hands down, it has the best sense of rhythm and pacing of any DAC in the price category. When you want the best digital sound we have heard, the Naim ND5XS-2 or their better DAC/Streamers should be on your list.

Last on our list is the NAD M66, which is unlike anything else here. NAD’s Master Series of components have always been very well made, with one of the most unique upgrade paths in the business. Their units are modular with what they call MDC boards, which can be swapped out if tech improves. NAD has also held to its promise and introduced a wide variety of MDC upgrades. The M66 is absolutely the coolest and best thought-out DAC/Streamer/Preamp on this list. It uses the very expensive top-of-the-line ESS DACs for great audio and has a plethora of inputs, including analog and phono. The unit is also gorgeous with its large display and aluminum casing. But it has two very unique features that set it apart from the competition. Just about every room we have ever experienced can benefit from some form of electronic room correction. Dirac Live is one of our favorite room correction technologies, and for the first time, we find Dirac built into a two channel product. That is just fantastic. Another thing most people have in their two-channel systems is a subwoofer, which is usually a challenge to add to a two-channel rig as most preamps do not have any way to control and crossover the sub. Well, the M66 has this, too, and can do not only one but up to 4 subwoofers. As a bonus, it also comes with Dirac Live Bass, which will do a phenomenal job of blending subwoofers with your main speakers. If you have been thinking about making the move into a serious digital capable preamp and want to incorporate subwoofers and/or just get the best out of your room, look no further than the M66.

That concludes our list of top DACs for 2024.

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