Dac suggestions. Again.

[afterworks]

So I know this is a well talked about subject but I just want something that will match my system.

Ill be taking delivery of my Electrocompaniet ECI5 amp to power my Dynaudio Focus 110's in a few weeks once I'm back off tour. Excited.

Id like to get a DAC to improve my source, which is currently my Mac Pro - Focusrite Saffire Pro 26 recording interface - amp - speakers.

I can do optical out or USB from the Mac. Not sure I need a streamer as my system is based around my computer from iTunes. All my files are either 320 MP3's or WAV.

Been looking at the Ausiolab Mdac and Rega Dac. Also read about the Creek offering towards the end of the year.

Anyone want to chime in with more ideas? Am I best using USB or Optical?

M-Dac seems like a good bet at only £600 etc? Will try and demo obviously but would like the opinions of more experienced Hi-fi heads if possible.

I won't be buying just yet, maybe in a month or so. Would like time to settle into my amp first but I've already got the bug to start getting the source sorted 🙂

Thanks!

Ben

 

[afterworks]

Also, and this may sound like a silly question. The bit rate that DAC's can play is confusing. Can these thigs not do 320 MP3's as they all seem to go up to 192?

 

[Andrew Everard]

Also, and this may sound like a silly question. The bit rate that DAC's can play is confusing. Can these thigs not do 320 MP3's as they all seem to go up to 192?

Not silly at all, but '320 MP3' is an indication of how many kilobits per second (kbps or kb/s) of data the compressed music uses, whereas 192kHz is a sampling rate, and not at all the same thing. A 192kHz/24-bit track uses a data-rate somewhere up to 9600kbps; an MP3 file almost always uses 44.1kHz sampling.

 

[kungula]

@afterworks, I have the Dynaudio A 110 also and I use a Nu Force HDP Dac. USB or coax sound quite similar. I am very pleased with the sound quality. There are Dacs which produce a better sound via USB, others like the Atoll DAC 100 sound poorer.

I had the Arcam rDAC before, but I sent it back after a few days. The Nuforce has everything I need for the little money I paid.

I can only recommend it with the A 110.

If you want to spend more money have a look at the WADIA 121 or the NUForce DAC 9 which are a touch better.

 

[shooter]

How about a pre-owned Electrocompaniet ECD1. Supposed to be a nice musical DAC though will cost around the £750 mark which is more than your suggestions. Do you have a budget in mind?

 

[CnoEvil]

How about a pre-owned Electrocompaniet ECD1. Supposed to be a nice musical DAC though will cost around the £750 mark which is more than your suggestions. Do you have a budget in mind?

Nice thinking!

Aside from that, I would recommend a Linn Sneaky (if budget can stretch); failing that, MDac, MF M1 Dac or Rega Dac.

There needs to be synergy with the Electro and the Dynaudio.

 

[Electro]

You could go for the Abrahamsen V6 dac which is almost identical to the Electrocompaniet ECD1 but a lot cheaper at £320 brand new !

It is made by Per Abrahamsen of Abrahamsen Audio Norway who was one of the founders of Electrocompaniet before they were bought out a few years ago .

It can be bought mail order in this link .

http://www.store.abrahamsenaudio.no/

It should be a perfect match for the Electrocompaniet ECI5 sonically and pretty close visually 🙂

 

[Overdose]

I would suggest you make a choice based on functionality requirements. You have a budget, but I would treat it as more of a ceiling, than a target.

There are some very capable DACs at not very much money, price increase gives more functionality, better build and perhaps better aesthetics, but certainly no guarantee of better sound.

This link is worth a read for some ideas

http://nwavguy.blogspot.co.uk/

 

[oldric_naubhoff]

you might also try out shiit audio gungnir DAC or bifrost DAC if you're too impatient ( I know it'll appear as EDITED, but the link should work correctly). personally I'd wait for Gungnir.

I'm keeping an eye open on creations from this company because they make things the way it strikes right chords inside me. first of all they use no negative feedback in analog amplification stage. everybody normally uses negative feedback in order to reduce harmonic distortion but if you have a good enough design that is very linear from the start off you need no feedback. this is always a good sign when manufacturer don't revert to using negative feedback to make amplification stage more linear. second of all they don't use up-/ oversampling. they only allow for the original digital signal to be converted in it's native sampling frequency (this is called no oversampling (doh!) DAC, hence NOS DAC). the biggest advantage of NOS DACs is that they produce no digital artifacts normally associated with using digital filtering, like pre- and/ or post ringing of signal. people unanimously report that NOS DACs sound more "natural" or less "digital". but there's a drawback too. you won't have ruler flat frequency response from 20Hz to 20kHz. you need to remove aliasing content from converted signal and analog filtering does not offer such steep cutting off as digital filtering (which you'll find in oversampling DACs). anyway, that's not a huge problem IMO as you'll get only some -3dB at 20kHz. 30-40 year olds will most certainly have problems hearing above 18kHz anyway.

ATM I'm not looking for any DACs. I'm perfectly happy with my CDP - Pathos Digit, which BTW uses no negative feedback as well 🙂. but if I were looking for one this Gungnir would most certainly be on the top of my list, due to price/ technological solutions used in design ratio. other than that EAR 192 DACute 🙂. but this one's way more expensive.

 

[shooter]

MF M1 Dac

I'd like to listen to one of these myself, its right up the top of the ladder regarding measurments, state of the art and a good price.

 

[AlmaataKZ]

in 'the active speakers club' thread there are also several dacs listed (most with vol control so very handy when used with your Dyns 110as)

 

[afterworks]

Mine are the passive Dynaudios.

I guess I'm just going to have to demo a load. I'm interested in the Abrahamsen, seems like a good bet and a decent price. But the Gungnir sounds interesting too. I'm not in a massive rush, I'm going to give myself some time to get used the the ECI5 first and reap the rewards from that upgrade first.

 

[afterworks]

So it looks like the Schiit Audio Grugnir is out>

http://schiit.com/cart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=0&products_id=11

Waiting for some reviews then will start to look at trying a few out and getting one.

Exciting!

 

[shooter]

How about using the 15 days money back guarentee?

Don’t like your Gungnir? No problem. Call us for an RA and send it back for a full refund, minus 5% transaction fee, within 15 days of receiving your DAC. When was the last time you spent a couple of weeks in an audio store? With your own equipment? Thought so.

Their words not mine 🙂

Let us know how you get on, always good to hear about these new products,

 

[Overdose]

Id like to get a DAC to improve my source, which is currently my Mac Pro - Focusrite Saffire Pro 26 recording interface - amp - speakers.

Anyone want to chime in with more ideas? Am I best using USB or Optical?

M-Dac seems like a good bet at only £600 etc? Will try and demo obviously but would like the opinions of more experienced Hi-fi heads if possible.

Thanks!

Ben

You might be as well to try a DACmagic Plus alongside the M-DAC, but also compare with your existing audio interface.

I use the optical input on the Pro 24, although I don't know if it is in any way better than the Firewire connection. The Firewire mainly provides the power to the unit.

Were it not for the excellent price that I got the Pro 24 for, I might have gone the DACmagic Plus route myself.

 

[Anonymous]

I developed the Bushmaster TC-7530DC DAC specifically upon request from customers who didn't need USB and so preferred if I spent the savings on a reduced retail price. So if you intend to use TOSLINK of Digital Coax then consider giving the Bushmster a try. Without the USB stage the DAC was less expensive to design and build, which is reflected in the lower reatil price.

Mind you, the lower price has placed it a bit out of sight of customers looking to spend a lot more in the believe that the Bushmaster won't sound as good as something more expensive. It is a two edged sword for me. I am not into artificially bumping the price up just so that I can attract buyers who want to pay more. It's more about the performance for me.

 

[Marie Antoinette]

I developed the Bushmaster TC-7530DC DAC specifically upon request from customers who didn't need USB and so preferred if I spent the savings on a reduced retail price. So if you intend to use TOSLINK of Digital Coax then consider giving the Bushmster a try. Without the USB stage the DAC was less expensive to design and build, which is reflected in the lower reatil price.

Mind you, the lower price has placed it a bit out of sight of customers looking to spend a lot more in the believe that the Bushmaster won't sound as good as something more expensive. It is a two edged sword for me. I am not into artificially bumping the price up just so that I can attract buyers who want to pay more. It's more about the performance for me.

Just let me state, I have nothing to do with Stanley B, or his company, I am just a customer who has previously started out my Dac journey with a Beresford TC 7510' moved on to a much higher priced Theta Pro Progeny A Dac, with it's aftermarket anti jitter device, and upgraded PSU, and thought it was the dogs wotsits.

Now, as I mention elsewhere, the wife, who is not into Hifi at all, expressed a wish that I reduce the box count for an aesthetic POV, which resulted in me trying my Touch without a Dac, and consequently flogging the Theta as I couldn't genuinely hear a difference sans Dac!

however, at this time I had been watching a lot of enthusiasm re a new dac from Beresford called The Bushmaster, and noted one guys thoughts on how it blew his own much, much more expensive Dac out of the water, and having just sold my £1700 Theta, decided to take a punt.

By the way the above mentioned guy has had many Dacs, and some of them costing over £2 k a piece, and if he was impressed, it was certainly one to try!

I was amazed, the combination of the SB Touch and Bushmaster was sublime, I could only describe it as holographic, and thought to myself how could a Dac that cost around 1/9th of the cost of the Theta sound this good!

truth is, it excelled over the Theta, and has to be the best pound for pound upgrade anywhere.

Now, that's 50 p you owe me Stan! Lol!

 

[WishTree]

I generally take it with a pinch of salt when some one says things like DAC design is easy and it should not cost so much etc I have not heard the specific DAC that was discussed above.

With all the buzz on the forums I have ordered Grant Fidelity TubeDAC-11. I wanted a simpler cheaper DAC and was kind of convinced that all DACs are same (from AVI forums) and the big brands charge more for the same which can be done for less more with no compromise in quality

Well, TubeDAC-11 was.. a bit of mixed feelings. The sound is OK but the worst is that the transformer buzzed crazy. When I contacted Grant Fidelity, they say that I should ship back at my expense and if they find it faulty then they will ship another one and not then I have to pay for the shipping back (I think it is to USA or Canada). When I pressed a little more they admitted that transformer buzz is normal.

So I sold it on eBay and lost half the money (I wonder if the DAC is that good, then I should have not lost much )

That would be the last time I encourage new companies especially on distant buying.

Coming back to the regular DACs.. I had Arcam rDAC, MF M1 DAC, Audiolab M-DAC, PS DLIII amongst the sub 1000 pound market. Out of the lot PS DLIII was the most musical and easy to accomodate DAC. The rest had their quirks.