is it worth getting a dac for my setup

celsius

celsius

celsius

Associate
Joined
11 Nov 2009
Posts
22
i have the following setup

ipod classic 120gig
yamaha rx-n600d network av receiver and ipod dock
monitor audio r90hd speakers
my pc is connected to the yamaha via an optical cable
i use the ipod more than anything else and the yamaha might be overkill for what i use of it but after a visit to a hifi shop and listening to an ipod via a beresford caiman dac think i might be missing out.my budget is approx £250
 
Some people will and some people wont, ask if you can buy it with the option to return it, every system is different, the fact that you already have a digital connection to you av receiver and its using that dac instead of your soundcards is already a big plus but there will always be an improvement from a dedicated dac but it could be a small improvement or a big improvement and is impossible to tell.

I have a dacmagic and I love it, it is much better than my av receivers built in dac.
 
Similar question, but more OPAMP based

Hi there, I've finally upgraded to a set of headphones that exceed the ability of rest of my setup. Getting reasonable results with the setup below but interested to see what people experiences are with OPAMPs and the best route to go from here.

Headphones: Sennhesier HD650
Soundcard: Auzentech X-Meridian with removable LM4562NA OPAMPs (Link) Image
Headphone amp: PAV2 LM4881 OPAMP
Integrated amp: Rotel RA04
Speakers: B&W 686
Source files: High quality MP3s through ASIO or iTunes, or CDs through a Rotel RCD05

My first question is, if I can upgrade the OPAMPs on the soundcard, is there still much benefit from an external DAC? The analogue output from the Meridian is extraordinarily loud, the S/N ratio is meant to be good and has always been well recieved in reviews.

The Portable Headphone amp PAV2 is an okay portable amp that gets frequent use with an iTouch/Senn HD25 setup. I can't hear any benefit over my desktop setup. It certainly distorts far earlier than the output of the Rotel RA04 or the Meridian with the HD650 phones so discounting it from my desktop setup plan.

Ideally I'd like a desktop setup that has a pass-through to the Rotel and a headphone output nearer the PC. Based on this the concept of the ZeroDAC is good. But seems like a cheap compromise all-in-one box.

So, would a good solution be to upgrade the Meridian's OPAMPs and output via analogue to a headphone amp with a passthrough to the Rotel + Speakers?

Or sort out an external DAC before anything else?

Cheers
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom