New to computer based music - what DAC?

[subseastu]

Thanks for the comments folks. To be honest I'm thinking about these two DAC's - Nuforce udh-100 & W4S MPre, though I'm leaning more to the Nuforce I think.

 

[Overdose]

For just a DAC, try Epiphany Acoustics E-DAC. Less than £100

In terms of performance, you are not going to improve a great deal at any price. More money though, willl get your better connectivity and more features.

 

[subseastu]

Had a look at that and it doesn't really forfill what I want. If performance doesn't improve a great deal with price in relation to DACs then why is there such a spread of prices? Surely everyone would be buying £20 ones off ebay.

I want a DAC that will play at the high resolution rates because I'm ripping my CD's in FLAC. Do DACs inpart their own signitures on the music?

 

[Alantiggger]

Hi all I've decided to give computer based music ago using a Acer laptop I have going spare at home. i'll be using EAC to burn my CD's and something like Foobar for play back. Music files will be stored on an external hard drive for portability / flexability.This will be replacing an ageing NAD Cd player. So basically i need a DAC, I've got up to £600 to spend on one so suggestions are very welcome. Also if anyone has any other ideas suggestions for my proposed set-up would be most welcome. For information I intend to buy some Sonos gear later to provide house wide music. Thanks.

Can you connect your PC to an amp ?

Use the dac in the amp ?

 

[Exoticsounds]

The difference betwwen budget dacs and expensive ones are not as big as they used too be. Now you can get great soundig dacs at very reasonable prices.

Different dacs will have different sonic signatures, so be sure to demo potential candidates in your own system prior to buying one.

Some quality dacs worth a listen:

Rega DAC, Cambridge Audio DacMagic Plus, Micromega MyDAC, TEAC UD-H01, Arcam rDAC, Musical Fidelity M1 DAC and Audiolab M-DAC.

 

[Overdose]

Had a look at that and it doesn't really forfill what I want. If performance doesn't improve a great deal with price in relation to DACs then why is there such a spread of prices? Surely everyone would be buying £20 ones off ebay. I want a DAC that will play at the high resolution rates because I'm ripping my CD's in FLAC. Do DACs inpart their own signitures on the music?

CDs ripped to FLAC are CD resolution, ie 44.1KHz/16 bit. The DAC linked to will play them just fine.

Not all things are equal and really cheap DACs may well not perform as well as expensive ones, but the difference between them all is not as large as you may think. The DAC I linked to is a very good DAC and is just about audibly transparent, ie it should not impart a sound of its own.

The key to any piece of equipment is in its design, not its cost. DAC components are incredibly cheap (in fact most electronic components). The difference in price is more closely related to the cost of the bling attached and extra features, eg. More inputs, volume control (sometimes remote), analogue inputs, preamp section, nice case and a brand name.

If you want to spend a lot of money, then get yourself a Benchmark DAC 1. It is a reference quality DAC and its real terms audible performance will not be bettered, regardless of claim, as it is truly audibly transparent.

If you read up about the DAC I linked to, you will find that the designer built and tested it against the Benchmark, with favourable results. There is something like a 9 times price differential.

 

[Pete68]

I have been doing a fair bit of research latley about which DAC to to get to go with a Sonos. Interesting candidates are

Sonos Connect modification - Basically a reclock making the Sonos a real peice of HiFi (£499)

HJC Reference Series 24 bit DAC - I have read good things about these from people who have them (£395)

NOS Mini DAC Octave - Also read good things about this being a DAC that can match DACs at the very high end of the pricing scale

I think it's worth spending money on a DAC if you go down the Sonos/digital route as for a lot of people it soon becomes there primary source of listening.

 

[subseastu]

Had a look at that and it doesn't really forfill what I want. If performance doesn't improve a great deal with price in relation to DACs then why is there such a spread of prices? Surely everyone would be buying £20 ones off ebay. I want a DAC that will play at the high resolution rates because I'm ripping my CD's in FLAC. Do DACs inpart their own signitures on the music?

CDs ripped to FLAC are CD resolution, ie 44.1KHz/16 bit. The DAC linked to will play them just fine.

Not all things are equal and really cheap DACs may well not perform as well as expensive ones, but the difference between them all is not as large as you may think. The DAC I linked to is a very good DAC and is just about audibly transparent, ie it should not impart a sound of its own.

The key to any piece of equipment is in its design, not its cost. DAC components are incredibly cheap (in fact most electronic components). The difference in price is more closely related to the cost of the bling attached and extra features, eg. More inputs, volume control (sometimes remote), analogue inputs, preamp section, nice case and a brand name.

If you want to spend a lot of money, then get yourself a Benchmark DAC 1. It is a reference quality DAC and its real terms audible performance will not be bettered, regardless of claim, as it is truly audibly transparent.

If you read up about the DAC I linked to, you will find that the designer built and tested it against the Benchmark, with favourable results. There is something like a 9 times price differential.

I know what you mean about paying extra for the bling and name of the product but I was lead to believe that a dac that could use 194Khz would be better for music reproduction? I'll have another lok at the DAc you linked to though.
Thanks for information.

 

[subseastu]

I have been doing a fair bit of research latley about which DAC to to get to go with a Sonos. Interesting candidates are

Sonos Connect modification - Basically a reclock making the Sonos a real peice of HiFi (£499)

HJC Reference Series 24 bit DAC - I have read good things about these from people who have them (£395)

NOS Mini DAC Octave - Also read good things about this being a DAC that can match DACs at the very high end of the pricing scale

I think it's worth spending money on a DAC if you go down the Sonos/digital route as for a lot of people it soon becomes there primary source of listening.

I've seen the Sonos mod beofre but I'm unsure about it due to some limitations that it may bring into the system

 

[johnnyboy1950]

Don't laugh at the moment I have a maplin USB wireless audio unit streaming my PC content to my amp and speakers. This cost £40 yes £40! and I'm struggling to find a difference in sound quality compared to my Arcam 7 Cd player. Amp is Arcam 7 and speakers are TDL RTL floor standers. The Audio Pro WF100 sound interesting ( within my budget) but I'm still not convinced I would hear a difference.

 

[MajorFubar]

Ah that's a useful post ^^^ I forget which thread, but someone was asking on here only the other day if anyone had experience of the Maplin's DAC and nobody had.

 

[ngibbs]

I have been doing a fair bit of research latley about which DAC to to get to go with a Sonos. Interesting candidates are

Sonos Connect modification - Basically a reclock making the Sonos a real peice of HiFi (£499)

HJC Reference Series 24 bit DAC - I have read good things about these from people who have them (£395)

NOS Mini DAC Octave - Also read good things about this being a DAC that can match DACs at the very high end of the pricing scale

I think it's worth spending money on a DAC if you go down the Sonos/digital route as for a lot of people it soon becomes there primary source of listening.

I've got the Metrum Acoustics Octave DAC (mark 1 - see sig.) and it's a great piece of kit. The trouble is it's so transparant and honest that it doesn't make the Sonos sound that great. I've never rated the Sonos that highly for sound quality to be honest. I've always wondered if there was something I was doing wrong...

 

[Overdose]

I've got the Metrum Acoustics Octave DAC (mark 1 - see sig.) and it's a great piece of kit. The trouble is it's so transparant and honest that it doesn't make the Sonos sound that great. I've never rated the Sonos that highly for sound quality to be honest. I've always wondered if there was something I was doing wrong...

The common complaint from some quarters is that the Sonos suffers from jitter. A good DAC should be able to mitigate this problem, perceived or otherwise, so if the Sonos doesn't sound great through your DAC, it probably says more about the shortcomings of the DAC than of the Sonos.

 

[Machinemessiah]

I know I'm joining this one a bit late but I spent a lot of time listening to DACs before I bought my PS Audio Digital Link 111 and used an ipod and Sonos as sources (both with WAV files). There is no doubt to me that a DAC greatly improves the Sonos sound. Other than the PS Audio (difficult to find and mine is now discontinued) I thought the Arcam rdac sounded pretty good. The Rega was also good, as was the MF but of what is readily available out there I would go for an Audiolab M-Dac if you feel that the difference in price over the Arcam is justified.