Arcam CD37 DAC or Pioneer SC-LX83 DAC?

[admin_exported]

Not sure where to post this but was just looking for comments around the best setup of the Arcam CD37 and Pioneer SC-LX83 reciever.

Setup one: Use the Arcam CD37 Wolfson 8741 DAC through its analog connection to the Pioneer

or

Setup Two: Use the optical toss out of the Arcam CD37 to the Pioneer DAC (only info on the DAC I could find was that it is 32bit)

So optical toss or analog interconnects. I only have some crappy analog interconnects at the moment but that is a whole different debate.

Total setup is:

Pioneer SC-LX83

Arcam FMJ CD37

Monitor Audio GX100

What do people think?

 

[nlanks]

Traditional (ie my) thinking would be the Cd player DAC would be better.

This though sounds like the ideal opportunity for you to do a test! Hook both up (you can get an optical for £5 from thatcable), put a blind fold on, play some music and get someone to switch between the inputs not telling you which is which.

Stick with the one you like the best 🙂

 

[ID.]

From what I can see the Pioneer uses a 32 bit Asahi Kasei DAC chip. It is a good chip, but there is much more to digital-analogue conversion than the chip itself, so definitely give them both a go and see which you prefer.

The Asahi Kasei chip seems to be the favoured chip of many Japanese manufacturers at the moment and it is popping up everywhere, but I haven't compared many products using it. I know Esoteric for one are very keen on it and using it for all their latest equipment.

 

[Overdose]

Not sure where to post this but was just looking for comments around the best setup of the Arcam CD37 and Pioneer SC-LX83 reciever.

Setup one: Use the Arcam CD37 Wolfson 8741 DAC through its analog connection to the Pioneer

or

Setup Two: Use the optical toss out of the Arcam CD37 to the Pioneer DAC (only info on the DAC I could find was that it is 32bit)

So optical toss or analog interconnects. I only have some crappy analog interconnects at the moment but that is a whole different debate.

Total setup is:

Pioneer SC-LX83

Arcam FMJ CD37

Monitor Audio GX100

What do people think?

I think that you should try for yourself.