Spec me a DAC

[rjd]

God, yes! Av amps contain fairly poor dacs generally, though av processors tend to be much better. Think about what you're paying for with an av amp like the yamaha. £600 or so buys you 7 channels of fairly powerful amplification, dolby, dts and hdmi licensing as well the chips for processing, a large chassis with a massive array of connections, video scalers, and 8 DACs for 8 channels of sound. So these are going to be pretty cheap DACs compared to standalone stereo DACs with only two channels of sound. At the end of the day you get what you pay for.

Hi ugly ferret
I didn't realise AV amps had '8 DACs for 8 channels of sound'.

I assumed that as you can only use one source at a time only one DAC was used to process the sound as PCM (stereo) through to 7.1 DD DTS etc. depending on the input coding.

Can you provide the make and model number for the AV Amp with 8 DAC's i.e one for each channel?

 

[wolvers]

Well my sound card has one DAC per channel so I would assume that's how my AV amp is built.

 

[rjd]

Well my sound card has one DAC per channel so I would assume that's how my AV amp is built.

Hi wolvers69

You may well be correct but I always viewed a DAC as an IC Chip which converted a digital signal into PCM (Stereo) through to 7.1 DD DTS etc. depending on the DAC and the input coding.

I know that some 'high end' CD players and external DACs use a separate (stereo) DAC for each channel but was not aware this also applied to AV amps.

Can anyone throw some more light on this?

 

[wolvers]

I'm pretty sure that PCM is a digital signal.

 

[rjd]

I'm pretty sure that PCM is a digital signal.

Yes it is.

 

[wolvers]

What are you on about then?

I always viewed a DAC as an IC Chip which converted a digital signal into PCM

 

[9designs2]

Think I would take a fairly "Black and White" view on this subject.... In that for a low cost solution, where you have a PC and an AV amp, simply hook the two up with either Optical or Coax SPDIF cable.
I would agree with what Ugly Ferret said, the DAC's could be "cheap"....(all DAC's are, it's how you implement them that counts) but it's all relative. No point having a High End DAC, if you still plan to use the same "compromised" amp....

If you want better sound than this, and I suggest we all do )..... Then get into streaming the data from the PC over a network into ideally a Linn Sneaky DS or a Squeezebox etc. This frees up any issues with clocking data over a SPDIF or USB cable, and gives a better control and access options. Plus you will have much better SQ, short of blowing big bucks... relatively speaking

 

[rjd]

What are you on about then?

Hi wolvers69

You need to read the whole sentence.

'You may well be correct but I always viewed a DAC as an IC Chip which converted a digital signal into PCM (Stereo) through to 7.1 DD DTS etc. depending on the DAC and the input coding.'

AFAIA there are two types of DAC. Stereo and Multi Channel.

I was therefore surprised to learn that there is an 8 channel AV amp using 8 DACs (not sure if each DAC is Stereo, Multi Channel or a mix of both).

Sorry if I didn't make myself clear earlier .

 

[wolvers]

Right, I see. In the specs for my Yamaha DSP-AX863SE it says 'Burr-Brown 192kHz/24-bit DACs' which suggests multiple DACs. No idea how many though.

 

[9designs2]

In the grand scheme of things does it matter ???? Does it sound any good is all you need to worry about

 

[rjd]

Hi wolvers69

Nice amp.

I've got an older Yamaha DSP-A5 (with Yamaha NS1000m front speakers and AR22's for rear) and like the sound it produces so yours must sound really good.

As 9designs2 says, it's how it sounds that matters.

Do you connect your sound card to your amp via digital out?

I recently tried ripping some CDs to FLAC files, played them using XMplay (via digital coaxial) and my system now sounds even better.

I know it's subjective but it sounds more 'airy' and 'velvety' and I'm playing more music rather than watching video/TV.

If you haven't tried it I recommend giving it a go.

 

[wolvers]

In the grand scheme of things does it matter ???? Does it sound any good is all you need to worry about

Yeah it sounds fine, well to my dodgy lug holes anyway! I was just trying to help rjd's question about DACs in AVamps.

Hi wolvers69

Nice amp.

I've got an older Yamaha DSP-A5 (with Yamaha NS1000m front speakers and AR22's for rear) and like the sound it produces so yours must sound really good.

As 9designs2 says, it's how it sounds that matters.

Do you connect your sound card to your amp via digital out?

I recently tried ripping some CDs to FLAC files, played them using XMplay (via digital coaxial) and my system now sounds even better.

I know it's subjective but it sounds more 'airy' and 'velvety' and I'm playing more music rather than watching video/TV.

If you haven't tried it I recommend giving it a go.

I've been meaning to try out FLAC vs MP3 for sometime. It's a job for a rainy day me thinks.

 

[jbloggs]

Will do...

The Audio-GD DAC-19MK3 (also see Here & Here) arrived with me a few days ago...

This dac requires at least 400 hours of burn in time, so another few weeks before I begin to see the best of it.

First impressions:

SqueezeBox->Audio-GD DAC-19MK3->Marantz PM7001->Kef iQ1s

The quality of materials used and construction is excellent.

A lot of detail coming through, very good separation between different instruments and vocals, nice wide soundstage. Instruments sound quite neutral, bass is tight and controlled.

I found the ZeroDAC to be better than the DACMagic, however, the 19MK3 is 2 to 3 notches above the ZeroDAC, all in all most pleased with it...

Will post a photo or 2 in time...

 

[Yamahahahahaha]

I've modified my Beresford 7520 into a Caiman (Special edition, whatever) and it blows the socks off the DACMagic, it's a completely different ball game.

I'm also testing a VALAB NOS DAC and a ZeroDAC at the moment.

That Audio-GB looks like a nice, big hefty piece of kit. I'd have to give it a listen before I dared form an opinion about it, but it looks like a lot of the weight is down to the chassis and extensive power regulation - not a bad thing!

 

[marscay]

I've modified my Beresford 7520 into a Caiman (Special edition, whatever) and it blows the socks off the DACMagic, it's a completely different ball game.

Yeh it's quite a decent DAC huh, the bass depth alone versus a normal 7520 is night and day.

CA DACMagic is pretty overated, the only reason it gets praise is because it looks decent and has XLR outputs ...but when some of the detail is lost anwyay what does that matter

Hard to get opinions of Audio-GD stuff ....i'm not a fan of head-fi in general (various reasons) and that seems to be the holy grail for their stuff.

 

[Yamahahahahaha]

The standard 7520 uses 5532 opamps, which are 'ok' but nothing to write home about.

If you want to save yourself £30 get the 7520, get a pair of LM4562NA opamps for about £5 each (HA is the metal version, apparently better but about £20 each, I'd have to listen to be convinced), cut the MCL 5/6 capacitors on the opamp board. None of this requires soldering and providing you get the opamp the right way around. Take a photo of where the notch is on the chips and drop it in with the same orientation, or look at the website 'modifications' section. Tools required, flathead screwdriver, smallish wire clippers to cut one of the capacitor legs. (You can solder it back if it takes your fancy then).
This will give you a very nice headphone amp / DAC, which can be further upgraded by some fiddly soldering to replace the PCM1716 with a WM8716.

I'm enjoying the ZeroDAC, it's not on par with the Caiman though.
VALAB is still running in :]

The DACMagic is a cheap solution if you want balanced outputs, but as you say, a little pointless.
I've not heard any Audio-GD stuff so I couldn't possibly comment. Head-fi are a funny bunch, not in a bad way, they just tend to get carried away by certain models / products.

 

[jbloggs]

i'm not a fan of head-fi in general...

Head-fi are a funny bunch...

Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater...

 

[9designs2]

I hope these latest bunch of DAC's are better than the Monica2 I tried/have...???

 

[marscay]

If you want to save yourself £30 get the 7520, get a pair of LM4562NA opamps for about £5 each (HA is the metal version, apparently better but about £20 each, I'd have to listen to be convinced), cut the MCL 5/6 capacitors on the opamp board. None of this requires soldering and providing you get the opamp the right way around. Take a photo of where the notch is on the chips and drop it in with the same orientation, or look at the website 'modifications' section. Tools required, flathead screwdriver, smallish wire clippers to cut one of the capacitor legs. (You can solder it back if it takes your fancy then).
This will give you a very nice headphone amp / DAC, which can be further upgraded by some fiddly soldering to replace the PCM1716 with a WM8716.

I'm enjoying the ZeroDAC, it's not on par with the Caiman though.
VALAB is still running in :]

Yep i am well familiar with the 7520, tried about 5 different opamps with it and it's a great little DAC once the 5532 is replaced - i had good success with TH4032 and LT1366 wasn't bad either.

I had it for a few mths but had no hesitation snapping up a Caiman for the Wolfson DAC and trying various opamps with this now.

 

[Yamahahahahaha]

I've finished trying out lots of different opamps.

Nothing beats the 2x 4562NA sans MCL 5/6 caps. The Wolfson DAC is a good upgrade too.

There are a few other things you can do to increase the punch of the 4562 because of it's slightly ponderous slew rate, but apart from that it's a bargain for the price.