Recommend me a DAC

Hi guys,

I'm considering purchasing a DAC (new or used) to upgrade my lovely Pioneer PD-705S, one of those great "put-the-disc-upside-down" silver spinners. I'd like something as analogue-like as possible. No digital nasties allowed chez Vincula.

My CD collection is quite respectable, but I don't listen to it as much as I'd love to. Maybe my analogue front end is simply too good? I wonder I think the Pioneer's a much better transport than many of today's "high-end" players.

I sold my Audio Analogue Maestro and bought this Pioneer, and to be honest I don't believe spending lots on digital makes much sense. Don't need many facilities, as my listening routines are quite straight forward. That said, I'm quite lost when it comes to DAC's, so any help would be appreciated

Regards,

Vincula

 

Er, ..... Cd's are digital .....

An M-Audio Transit (£50) on your computer should easily outperform your Pioneer.

Just rip the Cd's to the hard disk, it'll be better than 'playing' them.

JC

 

Or if you want to retain the Pioneer, try a MF-VDAC which at £150 is impossible to beat for value IMO. Sounds excellent, small enough to hide away, accepts multiple input standards and will up-sample to 24/196.

 

p.m. sent.

 

Of course! I just meant I favour a sound that leans to the warmer side of neutral, as the rest of my rig includes valves, decks, horns and AN speakers.

As English is not my mother-tongue, sometimes I get muddled. Maybe I should apologise for it. Beg your pardon, sir!

Regards,

Vincula

 

Beresford Caiman or 7520? Pardon me I may not know much, the Pioneer upside-down-disc decks are quite respectable, who knows the internal DAC may be better than my suggestion already, but either way Beresford, good vfm imo


Kenny

 

Ive been playing with DACs recently.

You may prefer a 'stripped to the bones' presentation 'aka 47 labs' or an ebay version of a similar NOS dac.

You may prefer a jitter reducing high spec machine.

You may prefer something NOS'y with added tubes - like an Audionote DAC.

From your hifi choices, you sound a little like me.

My list of ''models yet to hear but sound interesting''

currently include -
lampizator dac (google it)
Satch DAC (valved) - google DIY hifi supply, also sells them on Ebay now , a new thing.
Audionote 'kit' DAC
A used Wadia, Resolution Audio - but used as a DAC
Used audio synthesis DAC, or Chord DAC 64, or maybe a DPA.


I have heard a lot of these, and a few in my system. Like anything, you have to make some experimentation and suck-it-and-see.

I will be selling kit before re-investing it. Money is tight for spending right now, but that would be my shortlist.


Thorsten wrote an excellent article on the new buzzwords (such as 24/196, oversampling etc) on DIY hifi supply's website. This is worth reading.

Remember if you think it sounds the best, it is the best ! I know you know this already, but its good to re-read it sometimes, rather than get lost in buzzwords of technical specification..... after all, if this was your criteria for choosing equipment, it's doubtful you'd have a valve amp.

 

LOL !

Sound advice, thanks a lot. Yes, I've got a feeling I'd love your rig too!
I've always been intrigued by the zero-oversampling approach. I've listened to the old Audio Note DAC Zero, but it was a bit too soft, lacking in drama and ultimate impact and realism. Of course, it was the bottom of the range...

Could you spand a little bit on the "a 'stripped to the bones' presentation 'aka 47 labs' or an ebay version of a similar NOS dac"?

I'm not in a position of buying and reselling stuff just for the fun of it right now. I must choose my gear with care or I may be needing an attorney quite soon, she said :argue:

Regards,

Vincula

 

sure.

A mate of mine had the 47 labs, and we compared it to an ebay version (copy type). Couldnt really detect a difference.

The sound is without artifice, really 'this is how it is' - no bells, no whistles.

Wins as many friends as it does enemies. You really have to try it to see.

Its the sort of thing you can get new on ebay for not much at all -

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Valab-TDA1543...y-Version-/270627396361?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0

whether its your cup of tea, or whether you'd end up selling it again on Ebay and perhaps losing 50 euro, is another question



So far, Im liking the best valve dacs - like audionote. Have a look at hificollective for kits of these.

...quite expensive though, and you could get 'lampizator' or 'satch dac' from diyhifisupply for this kind of cash.

as always its tricky and you just have to buy used for a decent price and see if it works for you.

something about making omlettes, and the need to break a few eggs...

 

I really, really, really, want to play with one of these...

http://www.lampizator.eu/szop/L-Szop/BEST_DAC.html

 

I like the name.

 

Looks a bit OTT to me.

Why would anyone do that to a dac?

 

cos he thinks it sounds better that way 'course!

who knows, maybe he's right.

difficulty is getting one to play with to find out..

 

Hi,

There also the new dac from Rega at £500. The DAC stage comprises of pair of parallel-connected Wolfson WM8742 DAC's



There also the Arcam rDac at £300




This is the Musical Fidelity M1 dac at £400




There is also the Audionote 8200dq which looks interesting at around £500

SCIDB

 

I don't seem to be able to find any info on this one. Any links? I love Audio Note gear, and £500 seems quite affordable taking the otherwise pretty highish AN pricing policy into consideration.

I haven't listened to the Rega, but I like their silver-spinners sound. Very organic and analogue-like without getting too soft. I wonder how this one would gel with my Pioneer Stable Platter transport...

Thanks in advance.

Regards,

Vincula

 

That Arcam is very neat, and seemingly modelled (style-wise) on the mini-mac. I'm surprised that they're not the same dimensions (mac is 197mmW, rdac 160mmW), as they would look great together stacked.

 

I may be wrong, but he could quite possible mean the Audiolab 8200 series...

 

Hi,

There is a dac due as part of the series. It is due in a few months. The designer spoke about it on Pinkfish.

http://www.pinkfishmedia.net/forum/showpost.php?p=1129113&postcount=54

SCIDB