uberburger101 0 Report post Posted June 8, 2009 Already knew all that, but thanks anyway. It is possible to go the DAC route at a cheaper cost than the CDP route, even after all the footers, powercords, interconnects. Don't worry, I know how to do my homework. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hellfire112 0 Report post Posted June 8, 2009 Already knew all that, but thanks anyway. It is possible to go the DAC route at a cheaper cost than the CDP route, even after all the footers, powercords, interconnects. Don't worry, I know how to do my homework. cool. if i got space i would do that. the dac can be use for my laptop if i lazy to use my cdp plus my laptop has quite a few albums which i dun have the cd. just curious, what the average cost of a cd mat? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
uberburger101 0 Report post Posted June 8, 2009 cool. if i got space i would do that. the dac can be use for my laptop if i lazy to use my cdp plus my laptop has quite a few albums which i dun have the cd. just curious, what the average cost of a cd mat? IF I get a DAC, it would be stacked on top of the CDP. Footers under both. The carbon CD Mat costs $100 IIRC. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hellfire112 0 Report post Posted June 8, 2009 (edited) IF I get a DAC, it would be stacked on top of the CDP. Footers under both. The carbon CD Mat costs $100 IIRC. i asked stanley about placing footers under my amp which is stack on top of my cdp and he told me to seperate them and put footers. I think footers on top of your cdp and under your dac might not be as effective as seperating them. think you should consult the pros on this issue. oh my the cd mat is quite costly, looking for cheaper cd treatments/tweaks stuff. the problem with buying second hands cds is that the condition are not that good and i am looking for stuff to improve them either physically/mentally. Edited June 9, 2009 by hellfire112 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kachui 0 Report post Posted June 8, 2009 @Uberburger. Knowing you, I am sure you have done your homework. How much is DA100 siganature going for now? SGD1,500? It is certainly a very versatile DAC with five inputs. If you plonk your money into a Stello DAC, will you be upgrading your CDP to a Stello CD transport as well? Read that the mismatch between the clocks in the CD transport and DAC can cause some problems of lost of details and smearing of sound. Anyway, having a good DAC will go to waste with a mere CDP since the purpose of seperating transport and DAC is isolate the mechanisms to cut jitters and resonance, no? Not an expert here, must seek the wisdom of Sith Lord iCal, Sith Lord Kidult, or Sith Lord Jig on this. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ical 0 Report post Posted June 8, 2009 (edited) @Uberburger A lot of people got the wrong idea that adding a DAC to cdp will improve performance. Cdp will always be the weakest link. Even if it does improve, it not going to be day and nite. Moreover, most good DAC is not cheap. Separate transport and DAC is not that simple as you think. And matching them is ALWAYS the problem. I always advice to get from the same brand to avoid this problem. Also there'll be more cables needed and you'll need to get them matched as well. And the digital cable between them is the most important so you've to get a real good one. That's meant more problem and more cost. It very costly to get it right which is why it turn me off. So my advice again is to keep it simple and stick to your cdp. Upgrade to another when you're ready. Edited June 8, 2009 by ical Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jojo_b2 0 Report post Posted June 8, 2009 (edited) @Uber I agree with Cal on this. Simple is better. But you also have to rationalize usage. For me Very happy having them separate. like now. Working from home. No time to change CD. I'm using my Dac sourced from my Laptop via foobar. My CD collection all updated on lassless. The efficiency in my setup is a buy factor for me. Working at home till now due to my allergies. If you plan to use a PC as source and you listen thru your PC most of the time then it's a good buy. But if your main source is a CDP the better CDP will win price vs performance. Just my thoughts. @Hellfire Cheapest tweaks fror the System w/c cost less than a CD mat is a few pieces of QR8s and Telos Platinum RCA Caps. I find they give you the immediate effect. The CD mat isn't as bad either. But I find it doesn't give you good results on Badly recorded CDs. Edited June 8, 2009 by jojo_b2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nofing 0 Report post Posted June 8, 2009 Wow uber you're progressing fast. Was it the marantz or nad you were interested in the other time? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lazyboy 0 Report post Posted June 8, 2009 (edited) Uber, I've joked with ical about going digital but I have decided to go digital years ago. I have ripped all my Cds and movies into digital format and streaming them off my NAS (6 terra bytes of it) or Mac/PC. I recently did get a DAC to upgrade my Denon DVD/SACD player rather than getting a new CDP for music only. IMHO, it did make the type of difference I was looking for. I knew what I wanted to change sonically and I went for one that may give me that effect. My Denon DVD player now sounded a little better (I would not say night and day difference), a little warmer (that is what I wanted) and a little more separation and air between notes and slightly better soundstage. Certainly sounded less digital to me now. By no means a big upgrade like getting a new CDP but a DAC does give me more flexibility as I can connect multiple sources to it (CDP, Ipod, PC) and play them through my system. I do have to say the DAC I got wasn't cheap and the amount itself could have been spent on an excellent CDP. As I am quite some ways into digital format, my DAC will likely see more mileage than my CDP ....eventually. However, I am still getting a new CDP though for critical listening. In summary, consider what you're trying to change or upgrade (am sure you do) and determine whether a separate DAC will get you there. Personally, a separate DAC was a good investment. Edited June 8, 2009 by Lazyboy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eric Chia 0 Report post Posted June 8, 2009 uber i think u should get rega cdp for yur rigs....the dac is mostly versatile and most ppl used it for multimedia and pc source.... i dont have any space for cds that y i choose a better dac as a substitute for cdp.... In short, think bout extra investment u planning for getting a dac....powercord, interconnect and coaxial or toslink cables......$$$ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
peanutbutterjam 0 Report post Posted June 9, 2009 uber i think u should get rega cdp for yur rigs....the dac is mostly versatile and most ppl used it for multimedia and pc source.... i dont have any space for cds that y i choose a better dac as a substitute for cdp.... In short, think bout extra investment u planning for getting a dac....powercord, interconnect and coaxial or toslink cables......$$$ Like eric said. Also, don't go into digital, cause once you get used to opening foobar and just click! and access the equivalent of few hundred cds, you won't want to go back anymore Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ical 0 Report post Posted June 9, 2009 (edited) You should listen to turntable. Then you'll understand why some don't mind all the trouble just to listen to one LP. Btw, I thought uber moved from PC to cdp? Does your computer look like this? Edited June 9, 2009 by ical Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
direcow 0 Report post Posted June 9, 2009 Like eric said. Also, don't go into digital, cause once you get used to opening foobar and just click! and access the equivalent of few hundred cds, you won't want to go back anymore actually I think once I get a good CDP I won't go back to PC... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lazyboy 0 Report post Posted June 9, 2009 You should listen to turntable. Then you'll understand why some don't mind all the trouble just to listen to one LP. Btw, I thought uber moved from PC to cdp? Does your computer look like this? Yes. if you open up the case, pry out your hard drive, open it up, you'll see it Amazing how small the LPs get now and they change the name from LP to hard disk platter Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ical 0 Report post Posted June 9, 2009 (edited) You can keep dreaming. Edited June 9, 2009 by ical Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
