onboard or external dac

[simonthesaint]

Hi!

I'm trying this once more:

I'm looking at these options:

Advance Acoustic MAP-305 DA II amp (with built-in DAC), at roughly £833 or

the MAP-305 II (without DAC) at roughly £600-650.
This means a price difference of roughly 2-250.

How would an external dac perform compared to the onboard dac in the MAP 305 DA II? Would it be more rational to buy the MAP 305 DA II than the one without dac (in which case I would probably buy a DacMagic)?

There's also the Advance Acoustic MAA-402 power amp + MPP-202 preamp Black series system at a lower cost than the former, however this alternative resembles my existing integrated amplifier (MAP-105) in the specs. This options would cost me less and allow me to put more money on a sonos/squeezebox and a dac?

What would you go for?

Cheers!

 

[idc]

Hi Simon. What is the upgrade for? Do you want to integrate your PC into your Hifi with a DAC? If so the DAC in the amp is a very high spec 24bit one. The chances of someone having compared it to the DACmagic is slim I am afraid.

Or do you want to stream music wirelessly about your house with Sonos or Squeeze box?

 

[simonthesaint]

Hi idc,

I want to upgrade from MAP-105 (2x75 w, 8 ohm) to MAP-305 DA II (2x100), MAP-305 II (2x100) or any other amp to gain better control of my Tangent Clarity 8 speakers.ÿ

Yes the idea is to connect pc with hifi system in one way or another, and I assume that a dac would improve the sound quality.ÿ

What I would like to know is whether it, in terms of versatility, quality and disregarding any finacial savings made, would be better with an onboard dac compared to an external one?

Regarding music streaming I'm currently considering two options; either streaming music wirelesly (correct spelling?) directly from PC via a squeezebox/sonos setup,

or a wired interconnection including a music server (nas, HDD, or hdd cd-player) and the hifi system.

I guess the wireless option would add more flexibility to my setup, but I find the Sonos i little expensive, while Squeezebox on the other hand have issues with bugs etc Squeezebox (according to other users).ÿ

Cheers!

 

[idc]

Practically speaking the MAP305DA has enough coax and the one optical connection to allow you flexibilty for future changes. You may need a USB adapter to connect a PC as many just have USB, but that is easily provided for.

An off board DAC may have a USB to make connecting to a PC simple. It also allows you more flexibility for further upgrades. There is no reason why off board should sound better than a DAC with an amp. There are many amps with DACs, particularly for headphones and it is not an issue. Just make sure the off boad DAC has at least the same specifications as the one in the MAP305DA.

If you dont need to wirlessly stream, then I would go with wired. Would you use a server instead of your PC? I did not know about HD CDPs.

 

[simonthesaint]

Thanks for the input, mate

Here's the MAP 305 DA II spec:

POWER OUTPUT 8 Ohms 2 x 100 W

FREQUENCY RESPONSE (-3 DB ) 10 Hz - 60 kHz
DISTORTION < 0,15%
S/N RATIO = 90dB
CHANEL SEPARATION = 100dB
INPUT IMPEDANCE 10 KO
IN LEVEL AMPLIFIER 1,2 V
INPUT IMPEDANCE PHONO (MM/MC) 47 kO / 100 O
IN LEVEL (CD,AUX) < 550 mV
IN LEVEL AMPLIFIER 1,2 V
IN LEVEL PHONO MM / MC 2,5 mv / 0,2 mV
CONVERTER 24 bits X 192 kHz
AC INPUT 115 - 230 V
P.CONSUMPTION MAX < 500 W

TRANSFORMER NUMBER 1 (600 VA)

I can see that it's a 24 bits /192 kHz dac, but other than that I'm not sure on how to compare it to the DacMagic, and what to make of the tech language.

REgarding HD cd-players, I'm actually only aware of one - Cambridge 640H, but it's been around for a couple of years and I believe that it is no longer beeing manufactured.ÿ

Are there any sonic downsides with wireless streaming comparing it with a wired solutions? If I go for a wired solution I would probably add a nas to still be able to play music from a music library in my hifi. Having cables from pc to hifi 'cross the floor is not really an option, as my girlfriend would probably cut the cables off.

Cheers!

 

[idc]

The DAC magic has the same 24bit 192khz specs as in the MAP305DA. Can you audition both? If you cant there is an obvious argument to keep boxes separate so as to make it easier and cheaper in the long term to continue upgrading.

Wireless vs wired, the same for SQ. Wirless can be more unreliable, but I ran a NAS through my router to my laptop for a short time with no issues.

 

[simonthesaint]

Hi,

You wrote;

"there is an obvious argument to keep boxes separate so as to make it easier and cheaper in the long term to continue upgrading"

Do you by this mean that it would be better to buy an external dac in the sense that it would make my system more flexible for future upgrade?

(I'm asking just to assure myself I got it right. I'm Swedish, you see.ÿ

Cheers

 

[idc]

Yes, I mean it is an advantage to have the amp and DAC separate as you can upgrade them separately one at a time. Put all your money into the amp/dac and come upgrade time, should that happen, which one do you upgrade and how considering connections?

That is not necessarily a disaster. My amp came with a DAC, but the emphasis was clearly on the amp with the DAC as an add-on. It was simple for me to upgrade the DAC. But it does now mean I have a spare DAC as such doing nothing. It also limited my connection options to one USB, which is not the case with the amp/DAC you are looking at.

 

[simonthesaint]

Yes, the MAP-305 lacks usb connections.

From a sound characheristic perspective, it would be interesting to know how different dac's affects the sound.

The AA amps are rather lively with emphasis on strong base and energy, so if i pick a dac which highlights details, would it make the MAP-305 more detailed?

Strange question perhaps, but for a hifi idiot like myself it would be interesting to know.

 

[idc]

More detail in, more detail out, in theory anyway. But then 'synergy' comes into play and the mysticism of hifi starts. Matching products is part knowledge, part art and part luck. I added the brighter more dynamic Fubar USB DAC and got a brighter more dynamic sound thean using the Musical Fidelity inboard USB DAC. But the differences are subtle. I would say the put bright, dynamic headphones or speakers on the other end of the amp and you will get far more difference.

There are a number of USB to coax digital converters from £15 to in the hundreds, so no USB is not a major problem.