What made you want to use an external DAC?
- Thread starter 70'sMusic
- Start date
I tried one because I thought I might be "missing out" on something (sound quality). I'm still not sure if the lower-priced DAC's sounded any better to me than my computer's sound card...but I'm sure happy now with my Bel Canto DAC. Overall, my system is better though than it was...amplifier, cables, speakers. So maybe it just took the rest of my system being better to realize the DAC benefits. Although I did step up from a $500 DAC to a $5k DAC (DAC plus power supply)! So it better sound better!
I think when you get to $1k and above on dacs there’s a significant difference in sound quality compared to sub $1k, or at least there should be. It’s interesting to me that I used to have the latest high end Dac in my oppo 105d ($1500) a Sabre 32 and my Musical Fidelity TriVista 21 Dac ($2500) is miles better sounding to me . Granted the oppo is a multi media player with a Dac built in and the MF is only a Dac but still interesting how significant the sound difference is .
Audiofreak71
70'sMusic
Well-Known Member
"Although I did step up from a $500 DAC to a $5k DAC (DAC plus power supply)! So it better sound better!" - yes, it better!
70'sMusic
Well-Known Member
Nice!
70'sMusic
Well-Known Member
BTW - are there any differences between the McIntosh D100 and D150 DACs?
A bit of AK history somewhat relevant to the topic: http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/ak-fest-dac-comparison.106097/
IIRC, the D150 supports DSD and DXD while the D100 does not.
Unfortunately, both still use NE5532 op amps in the analog output section. Gee, that what sources a $400 Oppo 103 player used in the HT and $100 Delta 2496 audio card used in the main server.
olderroust
AK Member
setting up sound in my home office, I ran across a sale on the Sony UHP-H1. it is generally reviewed decently and has analog outputs, I thought I was done.
It has awful sounding analog outputs, I was not done.
Currently I use an arcam irdac-ii in the office and have a schiit fulla 2 as my portable HP amp and DAC.
It has awful sounding analog outputs, I was not done.
Currently I use an arcam irdac-ii in the office and have a schiit fulla 2 as my portable HP amp and DAC.
Oppo is one to consider, even though they’ve stopped making disc players , they are still leading the pack in blu-ray players and really sound great on the analog side , if not a bit bright (imo) . You can find used 103’s 93’s and 83’s for fairly inexpensive. As a matter of fact there was a bdp-93 for sale on bartertown for only $150 not sure if it’s still for sale , excellent player both analog and digital with 4K upscaling.
Audiofreak71
olderroust
AK Member
they do sound great, and I have a 103 in my main system. I didn't think I'd need a second one for the office and hoped the Sony would be usable. so long as you don't use the analog outputs, it's fine.
Granted, it plus the arcam cost as much as a second 103 would new (I got a very good price on the DAC), but they're set up now.
I had an 83,103d, 105d and now Added the 203 to the list all have been excellent and a Swiss Army knife for music and movies . I just recently bypassed the 203’s Dac with a much more expensive stand alone Dac for my music but the 203 is still very relavent to my setup , I really wish they wouldn’t have canned there players .
Audiofreak71
After having been in audio since the 70's and having owned a number of great pieces, including both home and professional, no system today is complete without the ability to deal with digital audio. The real question is how does one go about effectuating that implementation. For me, an AVR is the perfect choice. In high quality 2 channel, I utilize the best of old old and new school technologies with a great set of speakers to reproduce the type of sound I love.
I actually find my 105 to be not bright at all--very listenable. But keep in mind I came from a crappy-arsed Pioneer Elite DV45A, a harsh, grating player that I lived with for a decade and cursed digital with every ounce of my being. I still remember the headaches I used to get with that thing; it was from unknowingly clenching my teeth from all the sawtooth distortion that thing used to pump out. Even my Pioneer carousel changer (used for background listening) sounded a little better--a little on the dull side, but it would spin discs for hours while I worked.
That is what led me to try a Cambridge DacMagic that a friend offered me. I can't say it made much of a difference--it took some of the bite out of CD-rate digital, and offered my first taste of high-res, but beyond that there wasn't much to speak of. So I guess I was not really at all impressed by the outboard DAC, as I heard little improvement. It now resides in my desktop computer system, handily driving a tube power amp and subwoofer, and it's quite comfortable in its little niche.
The Oppo 105's DAC was like the skies parting--one thing that hit me immediately when I first dropped in a disc was how wide and deep the soundstage was--it just bloomed into the room! The 45A in comparison was flat and one-dimensional, and the DacMagic couldn't better that aspect either.
I have toyed with getting the Sonica DAC along with the Modwright upgrade, but the Sonica still has the gapless playback bug and is ruled out for that simple reason. I no longer play discs, so whichever DAC I get (likely the PS Audio DirectStream with Bridge II, or a DirectStream Junior) will need to sound excellent and also play back all files gapless. I like that the DirectStreams are more or less future-proofed due to being upgradable by software (they use FPGAs vs. DAC chips like traditional DACs), so they are on my short list when I decide to upgrade my digital in the next year or three.
KlipschFan61
Smooth Jazzer
All the cool kids have one. Who am I to disagree?
Pure chance. I saw an Adcom GDA700 DAC at a Goodwill. I wasn't an Adcom fan. I had a pre+power from them very briefly (no) and a friend had their pre + 2 x 300W mono power amps (no + no). I don't remember the model numbers.
But this DAC was mint and only $7. Hearing it was instant Wow. Adding a real digital cable, instead of a normal IC, to the transport connection was Wower. Soundstage, detail, tonality, "musicality" all made my CDs far better (even better than green ink on their edges).
But this DAC was mint and only $7. Hearing it was instant Wow. Adding a real digital cable, instead of a normal IC, to the transport connection was Wower. Soundstage, detail, tonality, "musicality" all made my CDs far better (even better than green ink on their edges).
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ldatlof
We are all steak
Both of my Squeezeboxes (SB3 & Duet) died and at the time Logitech had discontinued the line. I didn't want to replace them with used ones. So I made my own SBs with Raspberry Pis and Pogoplugs. Then I got a netbook for free from my neighbor and run squeezelite on it in my main system. The Pogos have no audio output and required a USB DAC. The Pis and netbook just sounded better with a stand alone DAC.
Anything on the Massdrop dac?
https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdr...sdi_Yv0tRrpxzU0iQ5bQVGPZ8Idq6hdRoCvLwQAvD_BwE
https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdr...sdi_Yv0tRrpxzU0iQ5bQVGPZ8Idq6hdRoCvLwQAvD_BwE
