DAC

[lengcm 0]

Hi all, any good recommendations for a DAC?

[tee 0]

Please consider trying North Star Design M192. It offers upsampling of upto 192kHz and sounds creamy smooth and rich across almost the full spectrum of audible frequency range. You will hear better decays in the bass / string instruments, while vocal midrange will yield gently with that vaporising touh to make female singers sound warm, transparent and musical. Likewise for acoustic music. For orchestral works, the dynamics are well controlled with good ambience feel, particularly when you listen to symphonies. So far my only negative comment is the lack of remote control. Go to Bretz audio for audition.

[lengcm 0]

Please consider trying North Star Design M192. It offers upsampling of upto 192kHz and sounds creamy smooth and rich across almost the full spectrum of audible frequency range. You will hear better decays in the bass / string instruments, while vocal midrange will yield gently with that vaporising touh to make female singers sound warm, transparent and musical. Likewise for acoustic music. For orchestral works, the dynamics are well controlled with good ambience feel, particularly when you listen to symphonies. So far my only negative comment is the lack of remote control. Go to Bretz audio for audition.

How is the price like? Would it be suitable for my current setup of NAD 541i, Sudgen Headmaster and HD600?

[tee 0]

i think it was about S$1.4 - 1.5k when brand new, but you may be able to buy it from secondhand market at about S$800. For matching purpose, please do an audition with your actual player at Bretz (boss Terrance is a nice person )

[lengcm 0]

Do we need a DAC for a SACD or DVD-A player?

[Northern Oak 0]

Getting abit confused here, are you referring to playing normal CD on a SACD/DVD-A player or are you referring to playing an SACD/DVD-A disc on the respective player?

 

As you may have known, all CD players comes with a built-in DAC, unless you are talking about CD transport here. The basic would be a 16 bits/44.1kHz sampling rate and you would only need a DAC if you wish to upsample/oversample over what you currently have. What's available : 16/48kHz??? 24bits/96kHz, 24bits/192kHz

 

SACDs do not use this sampling, instead it uses DSD, where the disc spins at a much higher speed, sampling reaching the Megahertz range to read off the 1-bit stream, so no traditional DAC needed.

[Blues 0]

hey oak, new avatar eh?

how dya enjoy the dt880?

would you mind if you write some impressions comparing your akg k501 to the beyer?

wish to see the review

 

[evil-zen 0]

doubt any SACD players can output dsd streams. there are but you have pay a lot for proprietory designs for their transport and dacs. normal dacs do not accept dsd streams.

dvd audio uses pcm stream i think? same as normal cds. some dacs do support dvd audio.

 

have you heard of the ART DI/O? it has been reviewed favourably by many on net. very cheap dac but has 1/4 inch jacks instead of RCA and has 7volts output. normal cd players output 2v. most people mod them and there are modding services on net too.

[lengcm 0]

Getting abit confused here, are you referring to playing normal CD on a SACD/DVD-A player or are you referring to playing an SACD/DVD-A disc on the respective player?

 

As you may have known, all CD players comes with a built-in DAC, unless you are talking about CD transport here. The basic would be a 16 bits/44.1kHz sampling rate and you would only need a DAC if you wish to upsample/oversample over what you currently have. What's available : 16/48kHz??? 24bits/96kHz, 24bits/192kHz

 

SACDs do not use this sampling, instead it uses DSD, where the disc spins at a much higher speed, sampling reaching the Megahertz range to read off the 1-bit stream, so no traditional DAC needed.

Thank you very much your post has cleared lots of my doubts. My aim is to upsample over what I have. Intend to connect the optical out or digital out to a DAC. I was considering the Chord DAC 64. However the price is rather steep.

 

Right now I do not know what to upgrade first. Should I change my CD player (NAD541i) or get a multi for player (e.g. Pioneer DV-755Ai) or get a DAC to upsample my current CD player?

 

Any suggestions?

[Mackie 0]

lengcm:

 

Before undertaking an upgrade to outboard dacs, there are a few significant issues to contemplate.

 

First and foremost, cost and choice of digital cable from the coaxial output of cdp to dac. I cannot stress enough to employ the coaxial route over optical as it's sonically better. Unless U wanna go into exotic cables, I find a Belden 1694A 75-ohm coaxial cable terminated with Canare RCA plugs is sufficient. This should cost U less than $20 for a 1m length.

 

Next comes a major issue....increased jitters from different clocks on the cdp and dac. Unless U own a cdp and dac of the same model range, it's very unlikely the clocking freqs will be in sync completely. Increased jitters contribute to more distortions and one way out of this is to insert a DiP, eg. Monarchy DIP 24/96 in between these 2 units. This will help to synchronize the cdp and dac but remember an extra pair of coaxial cable will be needed to link up the whole chain.

 

Besides the extra cost, take note that upsampling doesn't always guarantee a better sound as it could become more analytical and artificial.....esp 24/192. So careful auditions for different dacs are required. Tee's recommendation of a North Star is a fine gear which I concur.

 

If U're bent on buying a dac, try MF X-24K which should cost somewhere between $400-450 in the used market. Of course there are the Thetas and others in this price range but I personally own the MF to partner my decade old Pioneer cdp which has a mother of a solid transport. I've tried this dac with a more contemporary Marantz CD6000ose cdp but the Pioneer fits my sonic taste better. Hence, transports do contribute to the resultant sound. In this respect, I wouldn't recommend buying a dvdp and dac to replace your NAD as it's not economical. Also, a clean upgrade to a better cdp in the range of $1000-2000 can yield better sonic returns and last longer before the next upgrade beckons.

 

If agreeable, try Marantz CD17MkIII, Consonance Opera 2.2 (24/192 upsampling), Audiomega Obsession, Exposure 2010 and Rega 2000 cdps as they fall into the $1000-2000 range. U may also target used players priced at this price range as their original prices would be in the $3000 range. Used MF A3CD or 3.2CD (both with 24/96 upsampling) were sold at $1400/1750 at Adelphi recently.

 

In the sub $1000 range, U can try Marantz CD19a, Rotel 1070 etc. If I were to be in your shoes, I would upgrade the cdp, interconnect and power cords (Belden 16934 cords will give better sound if U're still using the stock cords) and perhaps at a later stage, the cans (see sticky power buy for DT880 ). My criterion in every upgrading move is always:- balance, synergy, longevity and value for money. This is to max out the money spent without a begging need to upgrade in the months or years ahead. My last upgrade was done after a 5-year hibernation.

[tee 0]

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[tee 0]

Hi N@Z, could you kindly help me on the text....seems all have been distorted ?

 

Hi lengcm,

 

I was saying that i agreed with Mackie's view on the sonic advantages of coaxial cables over optical ones. On the digital interconnects, i have come across other choices : Kimber Kables, MIT and Auidoquest which sound good to me. Their prices range from S$200 to 600+, so please audition them carefully before buying.

 

While the ultimate sonic signature of your desire is very much a personal taste, the generic attributes such as wide soundfield (or soundstage for the case of speaker systems), good clarity & transparency , refined tonal quality, expanded dynamics, and balanced musicality should all serve as your initial pointers for assessment or critical listening. Hence, there is no better test than actual matching and listening on the system before making that key purchase decision.

[lengcm 0]

Thank you all for the detail analysis. I have just upgraded from the X-cans V2 to the Sudgen Headmaster. The sound quality did improve with more details and punchier bass. However female vocals do not carry as much emotions as the X-can v2. I guess that is the difference between the SS and the tube amps. The reason for sourcing a DAC was to HOPEFULLY give more emotions to the vocals. I guess right now I have kind of regretted buying the Sudgen.

Edited May 14, 2003 by lengcm

[Northern Oak 0]

I guess the Sugden may be too detailed and analytical, thus losing the richness and smoothness of the vocals.

[lengcm 0]

I guess the Sugden may be too detailed and analytical, thus losing the richness and smoothness of the vocals.

Well that seems to be the case, all the vocals seem so "dead". However, classical music does sounds really good on it especially sound tracks such as The Lord of the Rings. Not too sure now what to do with the Headmaster. Should have stayed with the good old x-cans v2.