Audiolab D7

[Dan Booth]

Hi guys!

I’m looking to buy a DAC to use as an audio hub in my lounge. I’m looking for one with a USB input (iPad - Tidal), Optical input (TV), remote volume control, as well as XLR outputs to go to a set of active Adam Audio studio monitors.

For context, I’m a professional guitarist, and I’m a huge fan of high quality sound. I own a pair of Ultimate Ears UE18+ IEMs which I pair with an Audioquest Dragonfly Red for portable listening. I love this combiniation very much but since moving house, I’m now looking to upgrade my system from studio monitors straight out of the TV, to a proper audio set up.

I have been reccommended the Audiolab M-DAC from a friend but since researching it appears the Audiolab D7 is the newest offering, designed to replace the original M-DAC.

I just wanted to ask, before I pull the trigger on the D7, are there any other products I should be looking at that you’d all recommend?

Thank you very much for taking the time to read this! I look forward to your responses!

All the best,
Dan

 

[Juzzie Wuzzie]

How important is the XLR connection? D7 seems a nice piece of kit, but wondering whether a streamer / pre-amp from WiiM / Eversolo / etc might be worth consideration?

 

[PieterG]

The M-DAC was very well regarded at the time. Audiolab released the D7 and D9 recently. I have the D9 and find it excellent. I'm sure the D7 is too, just a bit less "sophisticated" because it has fewer conversion channels, a different power supply, and a simpler display. I use the headphone amp quite a lot and like it, and i believe it's the same in D7 and D9.

In my setup, the D9 is the main digital hub, and i stream into it with a very affordable WiiM Pro, letting the D9 DAC do the analog conversion before the signal enters the amp for the speakers. I'm fairly confident you could get equal or better performance for your money with a one box solution (streamer/DAC/preamp) like an Eversolo streamer (A6/A8) or perhaps WiiM Ultra, if you could live without balanced XLR output.

I'm not familiar with the SMSL, Topping, Denafrips DACs (only knowing about them from reviews) but someone here will probably suggest models from those brands that fit your use case. The Audiolab D7/D9 are built around very good chips, but i'm sure there are better pure DACs for less money, and similar DACs with good streaming built in, if that's what you're looking for.