DAC Advice

[Jason36]

OK after deciding to sell my Caspian CDP (through non use) I am looking to add a DAC to my Caspian Pre / Power Amplifier. However I am completely lost in the area and not sure with regards to conectivity and flexibility regarding future proofing.

Initially this DAC will be used between a Digital iPod Dock and will be used in place of the CDP to play my Apple Lossless Music. So any recommendations on the best Digital Dock to buy.....Pure / Onkyo / Wadia??

At a later date I want to look at using the DAC to stream music from either my laptop or a dedicated NAS.....Now this area I have no idea about whatsoever and not sure what I need or how I connect the laptop to the DAC to allow this and what else if anything I need.

I know there are one box solutions available and have looked at these in the Past Naim Uniti / New Cyrus one / Marantz MCR603.....but are these likely to compare with my Caspian Pre / Power??

Pleas help someone as I am completely confused

 

[El Hefe]

Jason,

What is your budget for the DAC?

As for the digital dock, I am using Wadia 170i and I find it to be very good. Apart from a fiddly remote, the dock is superbly built. I did an A/B comparison between an iPod and CD connected to the same DAC, I cant find any sound quality loss in between them.

Streaming music via DAC:

1. You can either connect yr laptop to a DAC via USB or if you are using Mac, an optical cable can be used as well.

2. If you are thinking wirelessly streaming to the DAC, you can either use ARCAM rDAC or if fund permits, you can wait till early July for the launching of Musical Fidelity CLiC Universal music controller.

 

[Jason36]

Jason,

What is your budget for the DAC?

As for the digital dock, I am using Wadia 170i and I find it to be very good. Apart from a fiddly remote, the dock is superbly built. I did an A/B comparison between an iPod and CD connected to the same DAC, I cant find any sound quality loss in between them.

Streaming music via DAC:

1. You can either connect yr laptop to a DAC via USB or if you are using Mac, an optical cable can be used as well.

2. If you are thinking wirelessly streaming to the DAC, you can either use ARCAM rDAC or if fund permits, you can wait till early July for the launching of Musical Fidelity CLiC Universal music controller.

Up to about £500.00 for the DAC El Hefe, so believe that will cover most of the main stream ones up to the new REGA DAC (also not adversed to buying second hand). I want to try and get as many inputs as I can on the DAC though to allow for future proofing as much as I can.

As for the iPod dock, before you bought the Wadia did you try the Onkyo ND-S1 as well....I have heard that this is just as good and cheaper than the Wadia.

I suppose my only concern is, would the Rega DAC and iPod (Apple Lossless) be comparable to the Caspian M1 for music playback??

If I decide to stream music wirelessly to say the rDac or MF CLIC would I need anything else at all.....i.e. does something need hardwiring into my wireless router?

Not in a major hurry to change or buy the DAC so I am able to hold out for the MF CLIC or alternatively a more expensive DAC second hand.

Anybody else have any suggesstions on DACs?

 

[Anonymous]

I suggest you trying the Audio-GD NFB-2 DAC.

Don't know if you can find a retailer that will let you demo one, but you can try to contact the company and ask them if they can send you one.

I've read so much positive reviews and opinion that I'm about to order one.

Don't know how it compares to the Rega DAC, though.

Give a try to the Beresford Caiman too, as I have a TC-7510 and sounds great, I bet their top product smokes my DAC 🙂

 

[El Hefe]

The reason I didnt go for the Onkyo was because there was no confirmation that it could work with an iPhone 4. The Wadia has no issues with any iPod or iPhone models.

For 500 quid, rDAC would be the only option for wireless streaming. If you are streaming from a laptop, I think you would need on of the USB dongles from ARCAM. The website should have that info. I used to own the non-wireless version so had no experience on how the wireless version fair with other DACs. However, rDAC was a dissapointment to me so I sold it off after 6 months. I stick to M1 DAC but planning to upgrade to CLiC as I too am looking for more digital inputs. For rDAC you dont need to to wire it to wireless router as you connect to the unit directly.

As for sound quality between your CDP and onkyo or wadia, you just need to do the A/B comparison. Thats what I did and didnt find much different between them.

 

[ID.]

Not tried the Wadia. I found the ND-S1000 Onkyo digital dock to be an improvement over the ND-S1. I think it is a good alternative priced between the two, but as with much hifi, there is the law of diminishing returns and some may question whether the little improvement is worth the outlay.

 

[audioaffair]

The Musical Fidelity M1 DAC is a good choice. Easy to connect to your computer via USB cable and includes 3 other separate digital inputs (optical, coaxial RCA and XLR AES/EBU). Coax/optical can be used to connect to most iPod docks with a digital output of either type.

At your price I'd also recommend the Shanling DAC50 on the simple basis it offers a warm smooth sound, but doesn't have as many inputs. We're also quite excited by the upcoming Audiolab 8200DQ but its likely to be a little more expensive.

All things considered the M1 DAC is a very good choice for your requirements.