Which Dac/file player with AirPlay ?

[Bartez1975]

Hi,

I want to enable AirPlay on my main system.

Which dac/file player or dac + file player with AirPlay should I consider?

My system Quad Elite pre/amp + B&W CM8.

Thank you in advance.

Best regards

Bartek

 

[the record spot]

Well, what do you need to play over airplay? If it's just internet radio and Apple based our Apple friendly formats then an Apple TV will do the job. If you need other file formats or more functionality, it won't and you'll need to look at other options. What is it that you need to do and for how much?

 

[Bartez1975]

1. Play everything from iPhone, iPad, iTunes.

2. Connect it via RCA to Quad preamp.

I heard that appl TV doesn't have a good dac.

I heard about Arcam airDac so perhaps something on that level.

Bartek

 

[the record spot]

I have the Apple TV and it's absolutely fine. I stream Spotify and my own WAV files across. Failing that an Airport Express. Benefit is you know it's going to integrate seamlessly, plus you get other services with the ATV too. Great bit of kit. Heartily recommended.

 

[davedotco]

In this case functionality is pretty much everything. The ATV will integrate seemlessly but you will need a dac, if I am not mistaken.

This makes the airDac an attractive proposition price wise but I can offer no insight into it's performance.

 

[Overdose]

An Airport Express will do all that you need and more.

 

[John Duncan]

And more to the point, an Apple TV will not as it only has an optical digital output, so you would need - as RS suggested earlier - a DAC to plug it into your amp.

 

[Rethep]

And the DAC from an Airport Express or an Apple TV is not bad at all!

 

[BMFDrums]

Whilst I don't disagree at all with what has been said above, I think that you can do better than just the analogue output from an Airport Express (AEx), especially given how much you have (probably) spent on your system already. I would suggest that you could use an AEx to feed a reasonable DAC, but that there are a number of other options that you could consider, too.

The main advantage of the Airport Express is that (especially for people with other Apple products) they just work - no faffing, plug it in, 5 minutes to configure, and it will (generally) work well without any messing about. They are also not excessively expensive, at about £100 new (or, as always, cheaper second-hand). They have a number of disadvantages, though, notably that they suffer with high levels of jitter, and only have an optical digital output, meaning that sound quality can suffer, or even cause some DACs to constantly 'lose lock' and drop out. I have 3 AEx units, and the newer (gen 2, i.e. not the very latest) unit is much worse in this regard, such that I cannot use it with my Audiolab 8200CDQ - I have to use one of the older gen 1 AEx boxes with that DAC.

If you want to investigate other options to get the music to another room/location in your house, there are many options that will work, as currently being discussed on the multi-room thread. You may not be interested in multi-room, so not all will be relevant, but the general principles apply:

http://www.whathifi.com/forum/hi-fi/the-multiroom-music-systems-thread

I have chosen to ditch my AEx devices in favour of a generic streamer (in my case, the CuBox i2Ultra) using the Volumio software because it offers a number of advantages, including:

1) I can use the USB output to my DACs, such that the DAC then controls the timing of the digital data - both of my DACs are asynchronous USB devices. I have found this to produce a better sound quality, especially with lower-frequency (bass) sounds. Just to provide a balanced response, others on the forum have not noticed a difference, so it may be down to the specifics of your system:

http://www.whathifi.com/forum/hi-fi/usb-vs-toslink-feed-to-dac-a-personal-perspective#comment-2941913

2) It is able to stream hi-resolution files meaning that it is "future proofed" to the extent that it can be. Airplay and AEx units are limited to 16/44;

3) It can be coupled with a NAS so that you can stream music straight to the DAC without your main computer being on and still be controlled via the Volumio app, although that it is not (currently) as 'slick' as iTunes (or Remote).

None of these may be particularly important to you, in which case please ignore this post and go with th AEx - it is a functional and relatively capable device that I have enjoyed for many years now. If you choose to go with the AEx, I would urge you to also buy a better DAC (with an optical input!), such as the Beresford Bushmaster, (or Arcam irDac, or chose from many others), as I have found that I achieved a more natural and 'organic' sound with a separate, dedicated DAC than with the analogue output from the AEx alone.

I hope that this has been useful for you.