I want to try my SPDIF output, but have some n00b questions.
- Thread starter Firegod
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lol
Don't biwire, put the money towards something different. Hell, spend the money on beer, that'll make it sound better =)
How would the DACmagic compare to the Asus Xonar STX?
Soldato
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lol, agreed
(see i knew we would on something!)The only reason bi-wiring would make a difference is that you are doubling the thickness of cable and unless you are using bad cable to start with it's really not going to help.
Interesting point about the STX though, there's no reason that a decent PC sound card can't compete with a good quality DAC as they do on higher end cards. Given the price of the STX I would hope it would compete with the likes of the dacmagic and Beresford otherwise it's going to be a bit of a pointless card.
Well that's a nice attitude.
I've come on here to ask for help, thoughts and opinions and this is what you get. So just because I'm not clued up on the subject like everyone else?!
I never said a DAC would not make a difference. I said is it worth the money? And it was others that seem to suggest no. Have a re-read through the topic.
Jeez, you may as well not ask questions around this place as if it's against what everyone else thinks you get shot down for it!
This thread will be better off without you.
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Soldato
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It's not for bi-wiring, it's for bi-amping.
Ok cool. Just read up about bi-amping. Seems like bi-wiring is not worth it in comparison and it's better to drive the woofer seperate to the tweeter with another amp. I can get a similar amp (same make, but just the A5) for £119. That's cheaper than the DAC. Would this be the smarter choice for better sound quality compared to going with the DAC? It's certainly a cheaper option!
Soldato
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Ok cool. Just read up about bi-amping. Seems like bi-wiring is not worth it in comparison and it's better to drive the woofer seperate to the tweeter with another amp. I can get a similar amp (same make, but just the A5) for £119. That's cheaper than the DAC. Would this be the smarter choice for better sound quality compared to going with the DAC? It's certainly a cheaper option!
imo - no, I don't think you would see any benefit at all. The only benefit I can see in bi-amping is where you have speakers that are particularly difficult to drive and I doubt your amp is struggling.
...
You asked for advise, it is given, but you ignore or don't agree, fine, the 25 years experience I have in playing with audio probably counts for nothing !!
As all audio, go do the demo ..... use YOUR ears, not choose by forum debate and bad information off the Internet....
Re bi wiring and bi amping..... sorry your all missed the point or reason.
Bi wiring is about the crossovers intersection to the power amp stage, Bi amping gives much better control, separation and dynamics.
But at this level neither are worth it, until the front end is sorted out.
Putting an excellent DAC on a PC card is not the end of the story. A PC is a hostile environment for audio/analogue. Full of noise and interference. Plus the Power Supply in a PC is hardly audio grade.
I suggest to borrow a DAC, and see what you think in your system.
An awful lot of people are failing blind tests between high end CD players and PC's with decent DAC's connected digitally, the whole thing seems to be bringing to light who the snake oil sales men are.
Yep... there's no reason why there should be any difference between the digital data coming out of a CD transport and the digital data coming out of a PC playing lossless files. In fact the PC will most likely be a bit better because it doesn't have to read the CD in real time.
After that it's just down to the DAC, and there are some very good external DACs out there. Nevertheless there are still a lot of 'audiophiles' who can't accept that a computer can produce as good a sound as an expensive CD player.
After that it's just down to the DAC, and there are some very good external DACs out there. Nevertheless there are still a lot of 'audiophiles' who can't accept that a computer can produce as good a sound as an expensive CD player.
I really worry if some have any idea what there talking about !!!!.... mixing and confusing digital outputs with analogue, data streams and conversions ..... Sure the DIGITAL data out of PC may be good compared to some CD/Transport...... BUT we are talking about DAC's "DIGITAL to ANALOGUE CONVERTER"..... So compare the analogue out of a PC with it's DAC and an external DAC.......
At the end of the day some have listen and posted positive answers, others have not listened !!!!!
At the end of the day some have listen and posted positive answers, others have not listened !!!!!
Soldato
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Indeed - I did mention that I see no reason why a PC could not potentially be a good source when equipped with a high end sound card like a lynx two but I believe everyone else was talking about the use of a PC as a transport.
I have seen no evidence to suggest that a PC would be outperformed in terms of acting as a transport, other than if you are reading direct from the CD then there are obvious issues in that PC drives are generally noisy. If your CDP is outperforming it I would suggest there must be something wrong with the way the PC is setup.
It's an interesting area. Getting bit-perfect digital audio out of a PC isn't as simple as outputting lossless files over SPDIF, so we're led to believe. Some people use a media player with an ASIO plugin to output to the soundcard directly without going through the Windows mixer. They say it improves sound quality, but I've never been able to tell the difference personally.