To Dac Or Not To Dac

[admin_exported]

Hello All,

This is my first post and I'd be grateful for input from those who are wiser than myself on the following subject.

I recently chucked out my early 90's Technics Hifi and replaced it with a Cambridge Audio Azur640a amp and Wharfdale 9.1 speakers, overall I'm very happy with the sound (much better than my old Technics), but I'm curious about a Dac I've been reading about - the Beresford TC-7520.

I listen mostly through my pc that has an Asus Zonar DX card connected to my amp with bog standard RCA cables, my question is would the Beresford Dac be a good buy considering my amp and speakers are they high spec enough to be used with a dac via usb? Would I notice a big improvement?

Thanks for any help,

Rob.

 

[Overdose]

I am using an old Pentium 4 Pc with even older Soundblaster Live budget soundcard. The sound quality is acceptable and matches that of my OPPO, either through the OPPOs own internal DAC or my DIY DAC.

Take from that what you will, but there is no discernable difference to my ears between the three and the sound is more than acceptable. Consider also, that your soundcard is probably in a completely different league to mine and your Pc is more than likely a lot quieter too.

If there is something that you find may be lacking, I think you will need to spend a fair bit more cash for any real performance step up, so my advice would be to save the money and when you have enough, go for a speaker upgrade.

If your interconnect cables are the standard supplied items, you could upgrade these to something a bit sturdier.

A DAC, if you are set on buying one, should be auditioned first, so try to borrow one to listen to in your system before purchasing.

These are obviously just my opinions, but I have at least done some research and listened to various DACs in my system to come to such conclusions.

 

[CnoEvil]

If your interconnect cables are the standard supplied items, you could upgrade these to something a bit sturdier.

A DAC, if you are set on buying one, should be auditioned first, so try to borrow one to listen to in your system before purchasing.

These are obviously just my opinions, but I have at least done some research and listened to various DACs in my system to come to such conclusions.

This is good advice - a dealer worth their salt will let you borrow one.

Other DACs to consider are the Musical Fidelity V-Dac (my choice) and Cambridge Audio Dacmagic.

A dac usually brings a worthwhile improvement.

An upgrade of i/c cables, as said above, can also help...avoid silver plated ones though, as things can get a bit bright...IMO

Cno

 

[Anonymous]

Hello chaps,

And thanks for your replies.

I will first upgrade my pc to amp rca interconnect (which is very bog standard) to a decent one and see how that effects performance.

I've cooled off a bit on the idea of a dac, I also posted the same question on another site and got similar replies back. My impression is that it's a 50/50 chance whether or not there's any real improvement, I'd rather not pay the £150+ and find out it marginal at best. And also there seems to be a common opinion that a dac won't do much for mp3's (they perform much better with flacs).

Thanks,

Rob

 

[CnoEvil]

Hello chaps,

And thanks for your replies.

My impression is that it's a 50/50 chance whether or not there's any real improvement, I'd rather not pay the £150+ and find out it marginal at best. And also there seems to be a common opinion that a dac won't do much for mp3's (they perform much better with flacs).

Thanks,

Rob

Rob

Thanks for reporting back.

Not wishing to re-kindle the whole debate again.....but will no dealer let you borrow one, say the MF V-dac (both my local ones will), to try for yourself. The reward can be big and IMO the odds are better than 50/50.

Cno

 

[Anonymous]

Hello CnoEvil,

I've since discovered that the opamp on my Xonar DS sound card is upgradable, at the moment it has a 55320 JRC 8017c chip that to me sounds ok, but if it can be beaten by a £3.50 LM4562NA chip from ebay? A lot have people (I have read) who have upgraded the opamps on their Beresford 7520 to these chips have been impressed by the results. For £3.50 it has to be worth a try!

I've made a couple of enquiries about a home trial at some local dealers (actually not that local, I'd have to travel) and they will do an home trial but the dacs they have are more than double the price (such as arcams and some others I've never heard of) and the max damage to my wallet I can tolerate is about £230 for a dacmagic.

Thanks,

Rob

 

[pattowning]

Hi, i'm using a 7 year old Apple iBook running iTunes, a Firewire WD 500Gb HD, Cambridge Audio DAC Magic connected by USB to the laptop, Chord Crimson Audio cable to a Cambridge Audio amp and some Eltax speakers and the sound is excellent. The DAC and quality cables makes a HUGE difference ! I bought the DAC Magic of Ebay for £170, best buy ive evermade. Also use the DAC with my Roku Sounbridge via optical cable into an old school Denon amp and Mission speakers and sounds awesome. This streams by WiFi from a iMac and WD NAS disc.

So Yes a DAC and decent cables etc does make all the difference if using a PC or streamed music !

 

[Anonymous]

Hello All,

And thanks for your help.

I changed my RCA interconnet to an Ixos £12 one and it has (I'm surprised to say) made a difference. There is more detail and depth, the difference isn't massive but it is noticeable.

I thought my soundcard the Asus Xonar D1 had upgradable op amps but it doesn't, I was going to change them and see what kind of a difference it made. My eye has now fallen on the Chinese made ZeroDac, lot's of good reviews and is dirt cheap.

Rob