To dac or not to dac

gbhsi1

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Since reading up on the Beresford DAC review I was wondering if my current system would actually benefit from adding a DAC into the mix. I have an Arcam CD93 and Roksan Kandy L3 intergrated amplifier. I also do have a Illuminations D-60 cable that is dying to be used. Would I benefit from using a DAC between my CD player and amp or should I leave well alone as is?

Any advice for be greatly appreciated! Do you have a WHF DAC extraodinaire?
 

John Duncan

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Well I'd wait until you see this month's issue, which has a 'round up'. But tbh you're in borderline territory with the CD92, I'd have thought - not so if you want to use your PC or similar to stream music........
 

gbhsi1

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I will in the future, but at present it's just normal CD playback. I was kind of thinking the same thing, as my CD player has DAC/s built in, so adding another would complicate things and the sound would end up sufferiong. Am I right in assuming that John?
 

John Duncan

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I don't think it would suffer, no, but I don't think it would improve a huge amount. Though haven't heard either the Beresford or the DacMAgic I'm definitely buying yet, and will obviously try my Priamre D20 into it to see how different they are.
 

Gerrardasnails

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gbhsi1:I will in the future, but at present it's just normal CD playback. I was kind of thinking the same thing, as my CD player has DAC/s built in, so adding another would complicate things and the sound would end up sufferiong. Am I right in assuming that John?

All cd players have a DAC built in. The question is do you use it (ie connect to your amp using analogue cables) or do you use an external DAC (ie connect it to the external DAC using a digital cable with analogue cables connecting the DAC to your amp). If you had a £1k cd player, the chances are that the internal DAC is going to be better than something like the Beresford DAC. However, if you are planning on adding digital music via a pc, a DAC will make a big difference to just connecting straight to your amp.
 
A

Anonymous

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your cd92 is fairly costly kit, so the dac inside will be good quality.

if you became uphappy with the arcams sound, you can use a different external DAC. The arcam would then function as just a transport. It would be little more than a cd draw and laser pick-up sending its info straight out the back to your new DAC, Bypassing the arcams own dac entirely. It would be like a whole new set of electronics allmost. All the arcams charicter would be lost. You would have a beresford. A £120 beresford. It would be different, but i would be very surprised if it was better.
 

gbhsi1

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Thanks for the advice. I really appreciate it. I will save my money and spend on on things that will improve my system. Thanks again people :)
 

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