Dac info wanted
Comments
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I have owned a Benchmark and listened to a DacMagic and Arcam's latest DAC's...in a shoot out they both lost to a Museatex (used) Bitstream. The Bit-box did well against the Mark Levinson no. 512, I preferred the ML's tighter focus while a buddy preferred the bass response of the Museatex. My Bitstream has been heavily modified but non-modded bit-box's are within your price range.
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Cambridge Audio DAC Magic. It's better than the Adcom's I've heard. H9's DIY suggestion isn't a bad idea at all if you want to get into that area.
Definately a good value for the money."The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg." --Thomas Jefferson -
anonymouse wrote: »Has anybody tried the Buffalo II DAC? Would love to hear some comparisons with commercial offerings. http://www.twistedpearaudio.com/digital/buffalo.aspx
Twisted Pear makes good stuff. But with that comes a steep DIY price when you add up all the modules. Plus they are always out of stock on all modules
all the time."The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg." --Thomas Jefferson -
anonymouse wrote: »Have you tried this DAC? Yes they are always out of stock, which seems to be a function of their popularity I suppose.
Not at home. It was at a head-fi meet. Most of the head-fi/Head-case guys
think they are great. It sounded good to me, but I really didn't get a chance
to put it head to head against other units."The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg." --Thomas Jefferson -
Depending on the source, also consider the Music Streamer+ series USB dac. I have their cheaper one and it runs circles around a couple of other sources I've used. The reviews apparently were telling the truth!Lovin that music year after year.
Main 2 Channel System
Polk SDA-1B,
Promitheus Audio TVC SE,
Rotel RB-980BX,
OPPO DV-970HD,
Lite Audio DAC AH,
IXOS XHA305 Interconnects
Computer Rig
Polk SDA CRS+,
Creek Audio 5350 SE,
Morrow Audio MA1 Interconnect,
HRT Music Streamer II -
There a ton out there. Way to many to have heard more than a couple.
Who knows what giant killers lurk. I'm using a simple Pico DAC I got on sale.
I'm pretty happy with it. The Dacmagic still gets my attention because then
you can compare PC audio to your CDP via DAC. And the balanced/single ended
outputs means always being able to use it. It's really a swiss army knife of reasonably
priced DACs. I've seen them sell for $350 shipped used. Here's one Audio adviser at a discount.
http://home-audio.audioadvisor.com/search?w=dacmagic"The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg." --Thomas Jefferson -
I have been using TPA dacs for a while and find them to be a very good value and sound. At about $500 with the placid ps and 4 inputs its a great sounding dac. I just upgraded the output stage on the BuffaloII to the legato output. The dac uses the ESS ES9018 chip which many think is the best available today. I've been lucky to get one every time I wanted one. They do sell out every time they put them up for sale. If you want to diy they are a great company to deal with.Main system: Lyngdorf TDAI 2170 w/ Pioneer 42" plazma-> Polk LSiM 703 w/Tivo, Marantz tuner, BRPTT: Nothingham Spacedeck-> Pioneer PL L1000 linear arm-> Soundsmith DL 103R-> SUT->Bottlehead ErosDigital: I3 PC w/ Jriver playing flac -> Sonore Ultrarendu -> Twisted Pair Audio ESS 9028 w/ Mercury IVY Vinyl rips: ESI Juli@24/192-> i3 PC server
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Boy, for a guy that's looking to get a DAC in the future...after reading this thread, I think I'm more confused than ever!? :eek:
There seems to be so many options out there, so many different ways to convert the signal and so many opinions on what the latest and greatest is, that it's tough to see what stands out. Well, when the time's right, I guess I'll start a thread with my equipment and my price range to see if it gets any clearer. But for now, I don't want to step on the OP's toes. This is his thread...
Carry on please, I'm still learning......... ><////(*> -
I will start another thread about the TPA dac in the DIY section. The Dac Magic sounds like the easy way. Good luck, its never easy!Main system: Lyngdorf TDAI 2170 w/ Pioneer 42" plazma-> Polk LSiM 703 w/Tivo, Marantz tuner, BRPTT: Nothingham Spacedeck-> Pioneer PL L1000 linear arm-> Soundsmith DL 103R-> SUT->Bottlehead ErosDigital: I3 PC w/ Jriver playing flac -> Sonore Ultrarendu -> Twisted Pair Audio ESS 9028 w/ Mercury IVY Vinyl rips: ESI Juli@24/192-> i3 PC server
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I love this thread .... the responses have been great
