Existing Dac or new Dac, advice please.

Viking

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Hi there. I have a Nad CB356BEE but it's the model without the Dac. I'm using a Brennan JB7 to play music through it which has a Dac already in it. My question is, would it be worth buying and installing the Dac for the CB356BEE and if so does it 'overide' the existing Dac? If the music has already gone through a Dac before it reaches the amps Dac then what effect does this have on the sound. I'm new to this and a bit confused. Help please!

Thanks.
 

matt49

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It would only make sense to buy a new DAC if your Brennan had a digital output, and I don't think it does (though happy to be corrected).

And even then I reckon the benefits would be marginal, though it would depend which format your music is stored in: if the music is in 320kbps or better you might hear some benefit.

Matt
 

Viking

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Thanks for the reply. The Brennan only has an aux in & line out. I use the headphone socket from the Brennan via a 3.5mm to rca cable which is connected to the amp. Using the headphone socket on the Brennan turns off it's inbuilt amp, so I can steer the sonnd with the Nad. I load CD's to 320kbps or uncompressed, so they are as good as the Brennan will cope with. Just wondered if adding a Dac to the amp will improve the sound?

Thanks again for helping.
 

Viking

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Just another thought on this. I understand that CD players, computers etc have dac's (of various qualities) already in them. So, as the Brennan is connected to the amp in the same way as these and people have stated that the sound would be improved by the addition of an external dac, then surely it stands to reason that the Brennan's sound could also be improved. Is this correct? If not, when and where in the set up is a dac useful............placed before the Brennan, after the Brennan, after the amp..........where?

Thanks again.
 

DocG

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Hi Viking,

A stand alone DAC would make sense in a set-up without a Brennan. For a DAC to be useful, you need to feed it a digital signal. Many CD-, DVD- players and streamers have a digital out (most often SPDIF, be it electrical or optical). There an external DAC sometimes has its place. But the digital out is a must for this scenario.
 

Viking

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OK thanks for your help here. I think I'll save my money then and go with what I have for now. I guess if I want a better sound quality then it's going to be an alternative to my Brennan, I've put another post on the forum asking if anyone has any idea as I can't find a good solution or upgrade to the Brennan.

Thanks again.
 

DocG

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Viking said:
OK thanks for your help here. I think I'll save my money then and go with what I have for now. I guess if I want a better sound quality then it's going to be an alternative to my Brennan, I've put another post on the forum asking if anyone has any idea as I can't find a good solution or upgrade to the Brennan.

Thanks again.

You're welcome. I saw your other thread, but I don't have any sensible suggestion there. Good luck with it.

And in the mean time, while considering upgrades, don't forget to enjoy your music!

:cheers:
 

Viking

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Have no fear! I play music most of the day, nearly every day as I got rid of TV about 12 years ago! Plus I've been playing guitar for 25 years or so, so I'm always enjoying the music!

Thanks again.
rockout.gif
 

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