DACs

[Anonymous]

My opinion is that playing wav files through a dac, betters many cd players, can only tell you my own experience, I was happy with my then award winning QS range Sony XB930 cd player but since I have purchased an external dac a beresford TC7510 it has improved the sound beyond all recognition and in addition i have the ability to randomly play thousands of songs. Now bearing in mind the XB930 retailed at over 300.00 and every aspect of audio quality to me has been massively improved, then i would think it at least betters many cd players up to 500.00 or more and yes, many people have said that external dacs will better many sub 1k cd players. However as Gerrard has pointed out, it's the amp and speakers which are critical.

I have a NAD C352 amp and BR2 speakers and with this current setup it sounds brilliant (at least to me) and obviously the BR2 are good as i find them, are only budget range speakers and there are some cracking speakers and amps you can get for the type of budget you have in mind, however it's always assuring to know you don't need to spend anything like your budget, to have a very pleasing setup.

It is all subjective (although the concensus is both the beresford and dacmagic are superb)

 

[Gerrardasnails]

eightballtom:
Gerrardasnails: This is where I see a problem. I've said this on here before so please don't think I'm knocking your equipment. The 640R is probably a very good receiver and possibly better with stereo than most in it's price range. However, it's probably the equivalent of a £200 stereo amp. I would say that the DacMagic with lossless files is the equivalent of a £1k cd player. I therefore feel that you need decent amplification to get the best out of it. I would say that you would be wasting your money unless you specifically wanted to have the convenience of lossless files and/or you might buy a seperate stereo amp in the future.

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone else can add to / expand on this point, as to be honest it's the opposite of what I've been lead to believe. I'm doing a bit of research at the moment as I'm planning on purchasing my first 'proper' hi-fi in the near future. I have a moderate sized CD collection, but currently listen to everything through my PC via foobar, a Trends external DAC and AE's Aego M active speakers. I enjoy the convenience of having my music collection stored on a HDD, but am looking to upgrade this setup to something a little more 'hi-fi' - mainly involving proper amplification and speakers. My budget will fall somewhere between £1000 (preferable) - £2000 (very top end!), depending on what I can get for my money.

In theory I see no reason why this kind of setup cannot be at least the equivalent of CD in terms of sound quality, and was therefore seriously considering not bothering with a CD player in my setup (giving me more money to spend elsewhere). However I was told that CD still beats HDD music (lossless obviously) in terms of the sound quality you get for your money. Gerrardasnails' quote above suggests that you actually get more for your money using a computer-based setup through a DAC than you would by going the more 'traditional' route.

What are others' opinions on this?

The DacMagic is now £229 (apparently - from £200 and then £250). For that money, you are looking at the Marantz 6002 or similar. I had a Denon DCD-700AE a while back which I preferred to the 6002 and also the Rotel RDC06 which I demo'd at the time. The DacMagic with lossless files, far outperforms this standard of cd player. It has very similar innards to the 740C cd player which is now over £600. When you think that with lossless files, the digital information is sent directly to the DAC in the DacMagic, whereas with the cd player the digital information has to read from a spinning disc and then passed through the cd player, you can see why the lossless files way is pound for pound better. However, it's up to you to decide.

 

[Anonymous]

Cool - thanks for the responses guys. From peoples' reccomendations on this thread and others I'll be seriously considering the DacMagic. What do people think would be a sensible amount to spend on an amp/speakers to combine it with, and can anyone make any reccomendations? Also, does it matter at all (in terms of sound quality) if I feed the DAC wirelessly (using Squeezebox Duet or something similar), compared to the USB out from my PC?

 

[Anonymous]

How big is your room? are you happy to purchase second hand? what type of music do you like

 

[PJPro]

chebby:Thanks Clare.

Yes. I have been requested not to 'promote' it.

A DacMagic would be a cracking DAC for what you need.

Eh?

Clare Newsome:
chebby:I can assure you I have no paid or voluntary affiliation to any hifi manufacturer, retailer or distributor nor any hifi industry 'entity' whatsoever.

My only contact with Beresford was the exchange of emails when I was purchasing it the same as any other online customer.

I will refrain from further comment on the performance of the TC-7520 except to say I like it.

Honestly, it's fine - go ahead!

Eh?

Clare Newsome:
JohnDuncan:chebby:A DacMagic would be a cracking DAC for what you need.

As would a Beresford

As you'd expect for a five-star product!

Has the TC-7520 already been rated then?

 

[Anonymous]

hi fi newbie:

How big is your room? are you happy to purchase second hand? what type of music do you like

Hi,

Room is average size I guess - probably a little small for floorstanding speakers (unless they were particularly compact). I currently listen to most of my music through my earphones (Shure E4Cs), and therefore would probably appreciate a system that can deliver on detail and timing, with the added bonus of a soundstage! I would consider buying second hand, but being a bit of a newbie wouldn't really know where to start with the second-hand market.

In terms of music I'll be playing, it's safe to say I'll be putting it through its paces by throwing anything and everything at it! Current listening would be Radiohead, Animal Collective, Nick Cave, Bon Iver; It'll also have to handle Squarepusher, Cocteau Twins, Joni Mitchell, and allsorts of other stuff. Helpful?

 

[Anonymous]

Oops I think we are going a bit off topic, not trying to be funny, but if you open a new thread, then i will reply properly in that one.

 

[Anonymous]

off-topic - self-edited!

 

[Anonymous]

hi fi newbie:

Oops I think we are going a bit off topic, not trying to be funny, but if you open a new thread, then i will reply properly in that one.

Actually that's a good call! Was just thinking that myself - although my questions are loosely related, the OP was quite a specific question about an existing setup. Apologies there, and I'll go ahead and start a new thread...