When to buy a DAC?

[stirfrizzle]

Hey everyone. This is my first post here. Hopefully this isn't in the wrong forum, but the sticky at the top makes me think this is a relevant question(s).

My laptop is my main source of music. I usually play 320kbps MP3s or loseless files. I go from my laptop to an HK3390 receiver via a normal 3.5-RCA cable. My speakers are a pair of Polk Audio m50s, and a PSW10 subwoofer.

I've been reading up on DAC's, and most seem a wee bit out of my price range at the moment, but I've been looking specifically at the HRT Musicstreamer II. My question is: With my current equipment, would a modestly priced DAC make a sizable difference? It doesn't have to be day/night, but I'm a working student, so a day/night would be appreciated.

My second question is as followed: I occasionally listen to CDs through an old Denon DCD-1500II CD player. When I compare the CD player to my laptop, my CD player is much louder! Does anyone know why this might be? And what could I do to change it?

Thanks for any help. :thmbsp:

 

[olson_jr]

My second question is as followed: I occasionally listen to CDs through an old Denon DCD-1500II CD player. When I compare the CD player to my laptop, my CD player is much louder! Does anyone know why this might be? And what could I do to change it?

Thanks for any help. :thmbsp:

Do you want to make the CDP quieter or the laptop louder.

 

[stirfrizzle]

Do you wan to make the CDP quieter or the laptop louder.

Ha. I guess I never thought of that. Which should it be? I'd expect that it was the laptop that was too quiet. What do you think?

And before you ask, the CDP being louder isn't a problem, I know how to work a volume knob. I'm just wondering why it's louder compared to my laptop.

 

[drknstrmyknight]

A lot depends on the laptop's sound chip and the DAC you select.
I'd venturne to say that even a middlin' DAC will outperform the usual laptop's sound system.

Your CD player simply has a higher output than the aux out on your laptop, not much to do but turn it up. An outboard DAC would probably have a higher output.

 

[tmp31416]

The standard built-in audio out on virtually any run of the mill PC (incl. laptops) is definitively not the best source for audio. In my case, putting in an ASUS Xonar DX in my main workstation lead to some very noticeable improvements sound-wise. Better resolution, tone, texture, imaging... all from an inexpensive sound card, compared to the on-board audio hardware. (Wishing I could afford a Xonar Essence STX...)

So, connecting an external DAC to your laptop will indeed improve what you hear. You might be very pleasantly surprised by the result. The HRT unit is a good option -- though, go for the "pro" version, if you can.

You might also want to consider the Benchmark DAC1 USB, if you can afford it.

Cheers.

p.s.: if you can, do re-rip your music from lossy (MP3, AAC, etc.) to lossless (FLAC, ALAC, etc.). You will be happy you did.

 

[stirfrizzle]

A lot depends on the laptop's sound chip and the DAC you select.
I'd venturne to say that even a middlin' DAC will outperform the usual laptop's sound system.

Your CD player simply has a higher output than the aux out on your laptop, not much to do but turn it up. An outboard DAC would probably have a higher output.

Yeah, you're right. I'm pretty sure my laptop's sound card is nothing special (can't check at the moment, I'm on a library computer ). When I bought it, I was just getting into computers and bought it based on the processor and memory. As I said before, I'm looking at the Music Streamer II.

I think I read that somewhere. You think an external DAC would bring the output level up to that of my CDP?

 

[stirfrizzle]

The standard built-in audio out on virtually any run of the mill PC (incl. laptops) is definitively not the best source for audio. In my case, putting in an ASUS Xonar DX in my main workstation lead to some very noticeable improvements sound-wise. Better resolution, tone, texture, imaging... all from an inexpensive sound card, compared to the on-board audio hardware. (Wishing I could afford a Xonar Essence STX...)

So, connecting an external DAC to your laptop will indeed improve what you hear. You might be very pleasantly surprised by the result. The HRT unit is a good option -- though, go for the "pro" version, if you can.

You might also want to consider the Benchmark DAC1 USB, if you can afford it.

Cheers.

p.s.: if you can, do re-rip your music from lossy (MP3, AAC, etc.) to lossless (FLAC, ALAC, etc.). You will be happy you did.

Yeah. I realize my soundcard is likely lacking. However, it's a laptop, and I'd much rather buy an external DAC than save a few bucks on a new card and have to try to install it in a laptop. Know what I'm saying?

Sadly, the Benchmark DAC1 is pretty far out my price range.

When I first purchased my speakers and receiver, I started work on re ripping and downloading my music to 320kbps, but if I buy the DAC and notice a substantial difference, I will most definitely convert to loseless. Prior to a few months ago, I was a huge internet pirate, but now I've realized the value of owning an album (better audio quality mostly). So now I'm on a mission to "buy back" my library, in hopes of having loseless copies of everything.

Onward to audiophilia!

 

[Hammie]

Keep in mind that your computers USB port may be locked to a specific clock rate. I believe my Mac Mini's USB port cannot pass anything higher than a 16-bit, 44.1kHz stream, which is fine for most ripped CD's. However, if you get into higher resolution digital files like 24-bit 48-192kHz files, then you may not benefit. I know even my optical out is limited to 24/96kHz, but this is a limiting factor of the Mac OS X AudioCore implementation.

However, either way, you should hear an improvement over your computers internal DAC which is currently processing everything out the 3.5mm port.

YMMV...

 

[stirfrizzle]

Keep in mind that your computers USB port may be locked to a specific clock rate. I believe my Mac Mini's USB port cannot pass anything higher than a 16-bit, 44.1kHz stream, which is fine for most ripped CD's. However, if you get into higher resolution digital files like 24-bit 48-192kHz files, then you may not benefit. I know even my optical out is limited to 24/96kHz, but this is a limiting factor of the Mac OS X AudioCore implementation.

However, either way, you should hear an improvement over your computers internal DAC which is currently processing everything out the 3.5mm port.

YMMV...

I see. Is there any way to find out?

EDIT: Find out what the clock rate is.

 

[John James]

I'm using the Musicstreamer II out of my several years old DELL laptop and noticed a big difference. Somewhere on this forum there are instructions on how to make configuration changes in the software in the laptop that will clean things up a little more.

 

[Hammie]

I see. Is there any way to find out?

EDIT: Find out what the clock rate is.

I do not think that there is a DAC under $1000 that will support anything higher than 16/48kHz over USB. I also think the limit on TOSLINK optical is 24/96kHz. Digital Coax will support up to 24/192kHz.

However, the software/drivers may limit the output capability of the ports in order to run within the recommended specs (memory, temp, etc.) of the unit.

I have been looking at a bunch of units. I may have narrowed it down to the PS Audio Perfectwave DAC with Bridge. The Bridge adds music streaming from a network attached server (NAS) as well as allow other 2-channel devices to connect to it.

 

[stirfrizzle]

I do not think that there is a DAC under $1000 that will support anything higher than 16/48kHz over USB. I also think the limit on TOSLINK optical is 24/96kHz. Digital Coax will support up to 24/192kHz.

However, the software/drivers may limit the output capability of the ports in order to run within the recommended specs (memory, temp, etc.) of the unit.

I have been looking at a bunch of units. I may have narrowed it down to the PS Audio Perfectwave DAC with Bridge. The Bridge adds music streaming from a network attached server (NAS) as well as allow other 2-channel devices to connect to it.

Okay thanks. :thmbsp:

I'll ask another question here, rather than start a whole new thread: Any recommendations for RCA cables?

 

[Hammie]

Okay thanks. :thmbsp:

I'll ask another question here, rather than start a whole new thread: Any recommendations for RCA cables?

Monoprice and Blue Jeans Cables offer nice inexpensive cables. You can start to move up the food chain with other brands -- Calabrine, Transparent, Nordost, etc. However, I would avoid Monster Cables. They are overpriced for what you get. I'm not saying they are poor quality, but their prices and business practices steer me away from buying their cables.

 

[stirfrizzle]

Monoprice and Blue Jeans Cables offer nice inexpensive cables. You can start to move up the food chain with other brands -- Calabrine, Transparent, Nordost, etc. However, I would avoid Monster Cables. They are overpriced for what you get. I'm not saying they are poor quality, but their prices and business practices steer me away from buying their cables.

Definitely. I lost any respect I had for Monsters after all the hype around Beats by Dre.

 

[voltcontrol]

+1 on Monoprice "Premium 3.5mm Stereo Male to 2RCA Male 22AWG Cable".

like this on;
http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10218&cs_id=1021804&p_id=5598&seq=1&format=2

here's the entire category, scroll a bit down to get there
http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10218

 

[Hammie]

Definitely. I lost any respect I had for Monsters after all the hype around Beats by Dre.

BTW, I use the following cables:

- Blue Jeans Cable (HDMI)
- Emotiva (XLR, Power cords)
- Acoustic Research (Toslink cable -- for TV out)
- Monoprice (Toslink cable -- for Mac Mini audio streaming, Cat6 Ethernet, in-wall speaker cables)
- Vintage Audio Labs (Speaker cables)

My speaker cables were the most expensive out of all the cables I own. Each speaker run was about $125. However, the cables are THICK...

Here they are in comparison to a Blu-ray disc and a quad-core 12AWG Monoprice speaker cable.

 

[stirfrizzle]

http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10218&cs_id=1021803&p_id=2864&seq=1&format=2

These look pretty nice.

 

[Rockyhill]

Also looking for a DAC

Great timing for this thread. I too am looking for an external DAC. I'm building a small bedroom system and have considered getting an inexpensive CDP and connect it to a DAC. Of course that would require analog in. Any suggestions about a small (like uDAC or HRT) that has both USB and RCA inputs?

If I change my strategy and decide on just using my laptop, I've considered the uDAC. The uDAC-2 is 24 bit and it's only $129.00. As the OP asked, would I still realize improvement with the older uDAC @ 16bit? I would only be playing CD's, I don't rip. If I can source a refurb uDAC at $64 I'd prefer that option.

http://www.nuforce.com/hp/products/iconudac2/
http://www.nuforce.com/hp/products/iconudac/

Thanks

 

[stirfrizzle]

Great timing for this thread. I too am looking for an external DAC. I'm building a small bedroom system and have considered getting an inexpensive CDP and connect it to a DAC. Of course that would require analog in. Any suggestions about a small (like uDAC or HRT) that has both USB and RCA inputs?

If I change my strategy and decide on just using my laptop, I've considered the uDAC. The uDAC-2 is 24 bit and it's only $129.00. As the OP asked, would I still realize improvement with the older uDAC @ 16bit? I would only be playing CD's, I don't rip. If I can source a refurb uDAC at $64 I'd prefer that option.

http://www.nuforce.com/hp/products/iconudac2/
http://www.nuforce.com/hp/products/iconudac/

Thanks

I'm no expert, but I've heard iffy things about NuForce as a DAC. Every other person I've talked to seems to have the same opinion, "works good until it starts hissing." :S How long have you been looking at the NuForce?

 

[bill1956]

Lexicon Alpha....It was recommended to me a few days ago.....I have not gotten it yet...but i am.