would a dac help improve sound

[rock15]

Hi every one , i have a rotel ra 04 stereo amp, bw 601 speakers and a cambridge audio 650 cd player and denon 260 fm tuner, im happy with this set up but am thinking of upgrading speakers to bw 685, but my question is will a dac improve the sound of an ipod touch played through my system and also are dab tuners also improved if sent through a dac, thanks ian

 

[CnoEvil]

It depends on the dac. How much do you wish to spend? What elements of your sound do you wish to improve? What music do you listen to?

The answers to these questions may help get you a useful reply.

 

[rock15]

hi, i was thinking of the cam /audio dac magic, mainly listen to rock /pop music on cd and i do have tuner on most of the day on fm radio , i recently got an ipod touch 64 gb and have been using this through the amp ,but feel sound is far from cd quality and thought a dac magic may help it and a dab tuner may be improved if put through a dac or do they have a dac in them thanks ian

 

[CnoEvil]

Yes I think a dac will improve the sound. Try also to get a listen to the Musical Fidelity V-Dac as an alternative.

 

[Overdose]

In the first instance, there is a good chance that the music files on the ipod are in a lossy format and a DAC will not bring these up to CD quality if they are already compromised by too much compression.

I don't know that moving to the 685s from the 601 is definitely an upgrade either.

As you are looking at spending around £600, my first choice would be to look at the used market and get a better (more powerful) amplifier for around £200 and use the rest on speakers. As to which ones, there are a whole load of options, but good speakers, properly driven will give you the most 'bang for buck'.

Sell your existing amp and speakers to keep the total spend down, or add it to get better kit.

 

[paradiziac]

...but my question is will a dac improve the sound of an ipod touch played through my system and also are dab tuners also improved if sent through a dac, thanks ian

It's a bit complicated, I'm afraid...

The main thing to bear in mind is that a DAC only accepts a digital signal (and converts it to an analogue signal for your amp).

If you are currently playing the iPod Touch through a phono lead into your amp, yes an external DAC would improve the sound of the iPod. BUT you'd need a DIGITAL iPod dock to get the digital signal out of the iPod into the DAC. Cambridge do one at 150 quid. Or...get an iPod dock with analogue out (which has a built-in DAC). That would improve on the phono lead, but not be as good as a digital dock plus external DAC.

Same thing with the tuner, does it have a digital output or just analogue? If there's no digital out, you can't plug it into a DAC.

Overall, it's worth noting that the DAC inside your CD player is almost identical to the DAC in the Dacmagic, so if you fed the Dacmagic from your CD player, there would be no improvement at all, in fact it could be slightly worse. Other DACs in the same price range as the DM might offer a slightly different presentation, but no night-and-day improvement.

It's a shame your CD player doesn't have an iPod input like the Marantz 6003/6004, otherwise you could just plug it in and feed the signal from the iPod to the DAC inside the CD player.

I think the main reason to get a DAC is if you want to use a PC or streamer as your source instead of CDs, or if you don't already have a reasonable CD player and want to spin discs from a DVD player (or Playstation or something!) that you already have.

 

[paradiziac]

...and a dab tuner may be improved if put through a dac or do they have a dac in them thanks ian

Yes, the tuner has a DAC in it. As does the iPod touch. The problem is that those built-in DACs aren't very good.

The easiest and cheapest way to fix the sound on your iPod to somewhere approaching the quality of your CD is probably to swap the Cambridge CD player for the Marantz. You can pick up the Marantz 6003 (discontinued) for 200 notes the last time I looked, which is a very good deal compared to a digital iPod dock that would then still need another DAC adding.

 

[CnoEvil]

It's a bit complicated, I'm afraid...

The main thing to bear in mind is that a DAC only accepts a digital signal (and converts it to an analogue signal for your amp).

If you are currently playing the iPod Touch through a phono lead into your amp, yes an external DAC would improve the sound of the iPod. BUT you'd need a DIGITAL iPod dock to get the digital signal out of the iPod into the DAC. Cambridge do one at 150 quid. Or...get an iPod dock with analogue out (which has a built-in DAC). That would improve on the phono lead, but not be as good as a digital dock plus external DAC.

Same thing with the tuner, does it have a digital output or just analogue? If there's no digital out, you can't plug it into a DAC.

Overall, it's worth noting that the DAC inside your CD player is almost identical to the DAC in the Dacmagic, so if you fed the Dacmagic from your CD player, there would be no improvement at all, in fact it could be slightly worse. Other DACs in the same price range as the DM might offer a slightly different presentation, but no night-and-day improvement.

It's a shame your CD player doesn't have an iPod input like the Marantz 6003/6004, otherwise you could just plug it in and feed the signal from the iPod to the DAC inside the CD player.

I think the main reason to get a DAC is if you want to use a PC or streamer as your source instead of CDs, or if you don't already have a reasonable CD player and want to spin discs from a DVD player (or Playstation or something!) that you already have.

That's a much better (correct) answer than mine. Brain becomes discombobulated after 11pm or a bottle of wine (which ever comes first).

 

[paradiziac]

...and I forgot to add, make sure your mp3's are ripped at 192kbps or above (or Apple Lossless) for CD quality.

At 128kbps, they sound worse. At 160kbps, it depends on your system and ears.

Those with hi-end systems may disagree...

 

[paradiziac]

@cno -- sadly I finished all my alcohol last night

 

[CnoEvil]

Brain now in a slightly higher gear. Yes, you need an iPod dock; these mostly have dacs built in, but you can also get ones that are a transport ie. It outputs a digital signal.

 

[rock15]

thanks for all the advice its a lot clearer now