DAC help.

[admin_exported]

I'm visiting this excellent forum again looking for some help with DAC's. my current setup is a Marantz PM6002 and two Wharfdale 9.4s. however I play my music from my PC hence the DAC I use lossless audio and have an extrememusic x-fi card.

is this the sort of thing I'm after?

and what sort of setup would I use (digital out from the sound card to the DAC then RCA to the amp?).

Thanks for any help.

Murray.

 

[Anonymous]

mtruelove: is this the sort of thing I'm after?
Yes, but I'd be surprised if that represented an upgrade over the stereo out from your soundcard. You'd be as well connecting it directly to the amp with a jack to phono lead.

mtruelove:and what sort of setup would I use (digital out from the sound card to the DAC then RCA to the amp?).

Yeah, that would be the setup. I'd suggest you'd want to be looking at the usual suspects to make it worth your while though, i.e. Beresford or Cambridge DacMagic at around the £200 mark.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the reply - I was told on here last time that I should get a DAC as I'm streaming from my PC.(my last thread)http://community.whathifi.com/forums/t/210934.aspx

At the moment I just go from the sound card to the AMP with one of these - http://www.richersounds.com/product/phono-leads/cambridge-audio/azur-reference-0.75m/camb-azur-ref0.75m

I was looking at the cambridge dacmagic but they seemed expensive - how much improvement can I expect to hear, would it be worth the £200+?

Thanks.

 

[John Duncan]

I do think it's worth getting something that will take your audio away from the very noisy innards of a laptop (especially when plugged into the mains), though I'd be wary of generic ones like that one on eBay. You'd be better off with an external USB sound card (which will server the same purpose, though not to such a high standard as the DACMagic or a Beresford) from a reputed maker like Creative or M-Audio.

 

[John Duncan]

Sorry, didn't answer the last bit. My DACMagic is worth its weight in gold - beats my 800 quid CD player when fed with lossless files. But note that that's only IMO, the split is about 70/30 on here in favour of it being that good - some have reported less satisfactory results.

 

[Anonymous]

Okay, just checked back to the old thread. I'm glad you liked the PM6002.

The issue then is whether you will hear a significant improvement by spending £200+ on an external DAC over what your soundcard is doing. I can't really answer that question, I'm afraid, as I have no experience of computer soundcards. My best guess is that you would note an improvement, but perhaps not one that feels like £200. I would suggest you contact Stanley who makes the Beresford DACs and ask his advice. I understand that he offers a home trial on his DACs, i.e. if you don't feel it is a worthwhile upgrade, you can send it back for a full refund.

The other obvious alternative, the Cambridge DACmagic, is not generally available for home trial, although I know that on at least one occasion someone from Cambridge Audio came on the forum and told a forum member that he would personally arrange a "like it or your money back" trial. There would be no harm in contacting them either. The worst that they can do is say no.

Hopefully some other forum members will add their opinions.

 

[Anonymous]

Thank you JohnDuncan and tractorboy for your fast replies.

I'm still tempted by the dacmagic, further reading of reviews and forums have swayed my opinion in their favour however I may need to wait till my next pay day.

I will do as tractorboy suggests and contact Stanley and cambridge just to see what they think. A home trail would be a perfect solution befor eI make up my mind.

Once again this forum serves as an excllent source of knowledge. Thank you all.