dogwan
Dogwan
Looking for an inexpensive DAC with multiple inputs for the living room. It ia a 2-channel speaker based primarily vintage system.
Up until now I have gotten by with a Fiio D3 Taishan DAC stuck to the back of my TV and routed trough the AUX in of a Hitachi HA7700 integrated. This took care of TV audio out. Also have an old Powerbook and Oppo dvd player both using line-level out to the integrated. For a CD player I have an old Pioneer PD-M50 which is surprisingly good, but does not have digital out. If the DAC sounds better than the CD player I could go to just using the Oppo for a transport.
Now thinking of stepping up the game in LR. But, it does not need to be over the top. I have a separate listening room where I use a hot-rodded Philips TDA1541 based cd player and a Cambridge DacMagic for the occasional 'puter input (I'm predominantly an analogue guy). I much prefer the native out of the Philips CD player to the DacMagic.
I am also a tube fan where practical. Based on that I think I might like the Maverick. However, I do realize it's mostly a buffer on the output.
Then again, anecdotal evidence tells me that I will probably prefer a multi-bit (r2r ladder?) dac over a delta-sigma based dac. My fear is the Schiit might be a little bright which is not my taste.
Whichever one I choose could end up in the listening room system and the DacMagic would probably satisfy me in the living room where it is mostly passive listening.
My tonal preference is for detail and neutrality with timbral accuracy. I also like super tight and deep bass where it is actually present in the recording. In other words.... I want my cymbals to sound real, not like air being let out a tire. I want my bass to be the foundation of the melody I can follow and to be able to hear the textural differences between a kick drum and the bass player.
Anyone have experience with both of these dacs?
I also see I can get the XiangShen DAC-03A for about the same price. I understand the design is virtually the same, but supposedly the Maverick has higher grade components and better specs. But, it looks like the XiangShen would have a better USB card.
Up until now I have gotten by with a Fiio D3 Taishan DAC stuck to the back of my TV and routed trough the AUX in of a Hitachi HA7700 integrated. This took care of TV audio out. Also have an old Powerbook and Oppo dvd player both using line-level out to the integrated. For a CD player I have an old Pioneer PD-M50 which is surprisingly good, but does not have digital out. If the DAC sounds better than the CD player I could go to just using the Oppo for a transport.
Now thinking of stepping up the game in LR. But, it does not need to be over the top. I have a separate listening room where I use a hot-rodded Philips TDA1541 based cd player and a Cambridge DacMagic for the occasional 'puter input (I'm predominantly an analogue guy). I much prefer the native out of the Philips CD player to the DacMagic.
I am also a tube fan where practical. Based on that I think I might like the Maverick. However, I do realize it's mostly a buffer on the output.
Then again, anecdotal evidence tells me that I will probably prefer a multi-bit (r2r ladder?) dac over a delta-sigma based dac. My fear is the Schiit might be a little bright which is not my taste.
Whichever one I choose could end up in the listening room system and the DacMagic would probably satisfy me in the living room where it is mostly passive listening.
My tonal preference is for detail and neutrality with timbral accuracy. I also like super tight and deep bass where it is actually present in the recording. In other words.... I want my cymbals to sound real, not like air being let out a tire. I want my bass to be the foundation of the melody I can follow and to be able to hear the textural differences between a kick drum and the bass player.
Anyone have experience with both of these dacs?
I also see I can get the XiangShen DAC-03A for about the same price. I understand the design is virtually the same, but supposedly the Maverick has higher grade components and better specs. But, it looks like the XiangShen would have a better USB card.