PC audio and DAC advice needed

[chrisj2]

[size=3>Hi all,

Im just starting out down the computer audio route thanks to my nad cd player giving up on me and at the same time moving to a flat where, try as I may, I can’t fit my cd’s in. To be honest there is a lot of information out there and having read a lot of it im still slightly confused so I was wondering if anyone had any advice.

My current starting set-up is the Realtek Audio HD card in my PC connected via 3.5mm jack to a 320bee nad amp then onto Quad 11L speakers.

Ive got two questions really:
Hi all,

Im just starting out down the computer audio route thanks to my nad cd player giving up on me and at the same time moving to a flat where, try as I may, I can’t fit my cd’s in. To be honest there is a lot of information out there and having read a lot of it im still slightly confused so I was wondering if anyone had any advice.

My current starting set-up is the Realtek Audio HD card in my PC connected via 3.5mm jack to a 320bee nad amp then onto Quad 11L speakers.

Ive got two questions really:

 

[Alec]

I'll have a stab and then those more qualified and articulate might weigh in.

The benefit of a DAC is simply that it should make things sound, well, better; more like listening to a decent CD player than a PC (a kind of Jack of all trades).

As for the second question, I can't speak for the Behringer, but I had an old version of the Beresford and it was well worth the money at the time, though I think the current model is more expensive.

Your PC will need an optical or coaxial port (depending which DAC you go for) to connect to a DAC.

 

[Andrew Everard]

al7478:Your PC will need an optical or coaxial port (depending which DAC you go for) to connect to a DAC.

...Or a USB socket, again depending on the DAC...

 

[Andrew Everard]

al7478:Your PC will need an optical or coaxial port (depending which DAC you go for) to connect to a DAC.

...Or a USB socket, again depending on the DAC...

 

[Anonymous]

Standard USB with the VDac works fine for me, hidden behind my amp. But indeed there are cheaper options. Think if you want to connect a headphone also (I did not like the NAD320 output at all). Nuforce also has an interesting offer.

 

[Alec]

Andrew Everard:

al7478:Your PC will need an optical or coaxial port (depending which DAC you go for) to connect to a DAC.

...Or a USB socket, again depending on the DAC...

Good point. Sorry about that, OP!

 

[AudioPlaya]

It will make a pretty big difference, the DACS on most (if not all) internal PC soundcards are woeful. The inside of a PC case is filled with electrical noise which makes it a bad place to create a clean analogue signal, thus there are no real "hifi" pc components, even the high-end £300 cards major on recording rather than replay, they sound average when playing back music through a decent seperates system.

I would steer clear of the UCA202, it's not really meant as a hifi source, just a little device of convenience, although by going outboard it does get around the aforementioned interference issues. Your system deserves better.

Most of the DACS between £100 and £300 have great reviews, both in whathifi and on the forums. I have a HRT streamerII (£140ish) and have heard a DACMAGIC also, both sound great with lossless files. All will be streets ahead of the Realtek sound thats for sure.

Spending a decent sum gets improvements such as 24bit / 96khz / upsampling / less jitter / better signal to noise ratio / less crosstalk / less total harmonic distortion, more inputs etc. It's not all about the specific DAC chip. Any device costing £30 is going to be cutting a serious number of corners.

 

[rymidd]

dac will produce a bigger smoother sound than most sound cards in computers and laptops. but what about replaceing the broken nad cd player with a new nad cd player with usb in which can be used as dac. or a ca dacmagic is a good choice and would bring out the best in the nad 320 amp

 

[Anonymous]

the stereo jacks not gonna be great.

Im assuming ur amp doesnt have an optical in (if it did -just getting something like an audigy 4 soundcard with optical out would be good) - otherwise ur gonna need some sort of dac to get the best out of ur pc.