Worth buying a separate DAC

[ISAC69]

My 25 pence worth is as to whether DAC's sound different or not - I had a Cambridge DAC Magic (with a Russ PSU) & three weeks ago replaced it with an Arcam irDAC after hearing one at a relatives - To say the Arcam is an improvement is an understatement, after faffing with Hi-Fi since I was 10 (1969) I have yet to hear anything that has caused such a musical improvement, it's not just slightly better it's a revelation. My other half who thinks I'm mad most of the time spending money on Hi-Fi came from the lounge & said 'I can't believe Spotify could sound that good' - That's probably the first time she has ever said that she has heard an improvement unprompted. If you think all DAC's sound the same they don't - It’s pretty fashionable to say they all sound the same but to my ears the irDAC is worth each & every penny & I’m gob smacked each time I hear it.

(feel free to shoot my down but I do have a parachute)

Glad you achived a good results with the Arcam DAC .

My point is that DAC can ba as good as CDP and that a really good DAC isn't cheaper than a good CDP so if you are using

a CDP as a main source and you aren't statisfy with it there is no point trying to improve it with a DAC just buy a new better CDP !

 

[Al ears]

My other half who thinks I'm mad most of the time spending money on Hi-Fi came from the lounge & said 'I can't believe Spotify could sound that good' - That's probably the first time she has ever said that she has heard an improvement unprompted.

Well spotted, it's that one again.

...and even my deaf dog noticed the interconnect change...

 

[ifor]

My point is that DAC can ba as good as CDP and that a really good DAC isn't cheaper than a good CDP so if you are using

a CDP as a main source and you aren't statisfy with it there is no point trying to improve it with a DAC just buy a new better CDP !

As others have tried to tell you, 1 x CDP = 1 x CDT + 1 x DAC in a single casing. If the CDT is not good you may have a point, but if the CDT is OK why replace it? The obvious solution would be to get a better off board DAC to connect to the CDP, which effectively becomes a CDT.

 

[ISAC69]

All the DACs bellow 600-700 pounds sound awful to me , the good one are in this point level price or more , In this price you can buy a good CDP

and to save money needed for the extra interconnect to the DAC .

 

[ifor]

All the DACs bellow 600-700 pounds sound awful to me , the good one are in this point level price or more , In this price you can buy a good CDP and to save money needed for the extra interconnect to the DAC .

So, it seems to me that you are saying that the DAC in a reasonable CD player, for sake of argument let's say a £700 CD player, is going to be better that a standalone £700 DAC. Is this what you mean?

 

[BigH]

All the DACs bellow 600-700 pounds sound awful to me , the good one are in this point level price or more , In this price you can buy a good CDP

and to save money needed for the extra interconnect to the DAC .

Have you heard the John Kenny, quite a few people regard it as the best under £1,000, even better than the Metrum.

So your Rotel is better than a £700 DAC?

 

[ISAC69]

All I am saying is that he should upgrade his CDP in resonable price because he is using it as a main source .

 

[BigH]

All I am saying is that he should upgrade his CDP in resonable price because he is using it as a main source .

Is he I thought he trying to improve his Denon streamer?

 

[the record spot]

My other half who thinks I'm mad most of the time spending money on Hi-Fi came from the lounge & said 'I can't believe Spotify could sound that good' - That's probably the first time she has ever said that she has heard an improvement unprompted.

I've come to the conclusion more people should audition their gear in a completely separate room and then race through when they hear a difference. This would, by extension, cover off blind testing as well so everybody's happy. :cheer:

 

[Philim]

I have an arcam a19 amp, marantz cd6003 and a denon dnp-720ae streamer and kef r100 speakers. Would I get an appreciable sound improvement with an arcam irDAC?

Or is a better solution an audio lab 8200 CD player and use the dac to decode from my streamer.

opinions please?

thanks!

No.

Improvements by order (My experience)

Speakers

pre amp

Room accoustics

Source

Power amp

Dac and cables etc. Make a neglible difference

 

[the record spot]

We're almost identical. I'd go for Speakers, speaker positioning, amp....room acoustics I discount beyond recognising they are a factor, but not one I am willing to alter and hence we're back at shifting the speakers. Works very well and you don;'t end up with a bunch of unsightly bass traps. I like my lounge to look like a lounge and not a recording studio!

Sorry, been spending too much time at the Hoffman forum. I think some American wives must be even more long suffering than their UK counterparts...!

 

[ifor]

Dac and cables etc. Make a neglible difference

I'll leave cables , but I can't agree with DACs only making a negligible difference. I don't think it's far off saying that all CD players sound the same. Surely the major differences between CD players is the implementation of the analogue section of the DAC, assuming of course that they all have a reasonable transport mechanism. Am I missing something? I've not compared many DACs, but those I have certainly all sounded very different.

I'm envious of those of you who can actually do something about speaker positioning. Mine are where they are and there's nothing I can do about it.

 

[MakkaPakka]

Digital inputs should be a standard feature on all amplifiers these days.

 

[Philim]

Dac and cables etc. Make a neglible difference

I'll leave cables , but I can't agree with DACs only making a negligible difference. I don't think it's far off saying that all CD players sound the same. Surely the major differences between CD players is the implementation of the analogue section of the DAC, assuming of course that they all have a reasonable transport mechanism. Am I missing something? I've not compared many DACs, but those I have certainly all sounded very different.

I'm envious of those of you who can actually do something about speaker positioning. Mine are where they are and there's nothing I can do about it.

I am not saying there is no difference but in my experience the impact is near the bottom. My experience comes from dacs ranging from 129 to 1250 and i convinced myself everyone made the music more magical.

 

[David Parkes]

Wow! What a range of responses. Back to the exam question........

Putting my cdp and streamer through a separate dac? Will (a) the cdp sound better, or (b) the streamer sound better? Or no effect.

if no effect will a get a better sound with a audiolab 8200 cdp? I was assuming my streamer dac was the weak link, and these days I listen to the streamer more and more now it actual works reliably!! The audiolab will also me to use it's dac as well for the streamer.

thanks all, a big difference in views :rofl:

 

[ifor]

They will both sound better if the external DAC is better than their respective internal DAC. If it isn't they'll sound worse. You need to get a DAC or two on loan from your local retailer.

 

[Al ears]

Digital inputs should be a standard feature on all amplifiers these days.

Why?

 

[ifor]

I'll be getting a two week home loan of one of these in due course.

http://www.gspaudio.co.uk/majestic-dac.htm

 

[ISAC69]

They will both sound better if the external DAC is better than their respective internal DAC. If it isn't they'll sound worse. You need to get a DAC or two on loan from your local retailer.

:cheers:

 

[damonster]

They will both sound better if the external DAC is better than their respective internal DAC. If it isn't they'll sound worse. You need to get a DAC or two on loan from your local retailer.

:cheers:

I recently traded my audiolab 8200cd in for a exposure 2010s2 dac both same price range both have a vastly different effect on my system,It cost me £300 to do it but totally worth it to me.system synergy will play an important part of any upgrade ,so i would strongly suggest demoing which ever path you choose .