PS Audio Digital Link III

chandler9a

Hey guys, just wanted to ask some advice on this DAC. I have been doing some reading on which DAC I would like to buy, I have never had one before, and this seems to be a good one to get my feet wet.

My budget is around $500, give or take a few. I will be using my Blueray player for CD's as I have sold my NAD CD player and figured a nice DAC would be better than buying another player. I use Pandora a lot played through the Blueray for casual listening but its not that great by itself, I'm hoping the DAC will improve that. I guess I will use my computer but not so much so its not that big of a concern.

The system: Speakers- Polk SDA 1C with RDO's, upgraded caps with Sonicaps, mills, Solens. Larry's Rings, Armecell, upgraded IC cable, and spikes.

Amp- Adcom GFA-555

Receiver- Sony DA555ES:redface: I know, not a proper pre but it is doing the job until I can get a good pre to fit the bill. I have decided on the Adcom GFP-750 since I have heard so many good things about it and could always sell it down the road if I wanted to try something else. Waiting for tax money to purchase that one.

Samsung Blueray player.

Cables- Audioquest King Cobra (preamp- amplifier) Sidewinders (not in system until new components are bought)
Speaker wire-Audioquest type 4.

I realize this is not a high end system and has its weak links but it does sound good and I believe it can sound a lot better with the proper upgrades.

I just wanted to get some advice on a DAC since you guys have more experience than I.
Is the PS DLink III unnecessary? Should I be spending less? Are there other DACs I should be considering first? I plan on going the Squeezebox route eventually.

Advice, criticism, other ideas all welcome.

SolidSqual

You may want a more conventional DAC setup, but for about $500, I would recommend this DAC hands down. http://www.apogeedigital.com/products/duet2.php

I've used the Apogee Duet2 in my system with supreme results. I also know a lot of guys big into compute audio who will confirm that this DAC is better than the Wyred4Sound DAC2. The DAC2 is widely considered better than the PS DLIII. If you are interested, I could tell you where to get cables to make the DAC plug and play in your system.

Mike

chandler9a

Very interesting, I will have to do some research on that one. Is this something I can use with Squeezebox? Sorry, I'm not much of a computer guy so some of this stuff will take some time to learn

Anyone else??

SolidSqual

Yup you could definitely use it with a SB.

chandler9a

Thought so, Thanks

brianle

I think the PS Audio DL III is excellent for the money. I'm using it with Squeezebox Touch and connecting it to my int amp via XLR with excellent results

chandler9a

brianle wrote: »

I think the PS Audio DL III is excellent for the money. I'm using it with Squeezebox Touch and connecting it to my int amp via XLR with excellent results

Brianle, have you had experience with other DACs in this range? like I stated above, this would be my first go for an external DAC and just trying to get a feel for it all before I buy. From the reviews I have read, it seems like people are happy with it for the money which is fine but in my experience with audio, there may be something out there that is comparable or even better for cheaper. I would not mind spending a little more for something worth while.

I guess its all in the fun of trying new things too...

thsmith

I had a dl3 for awhile. It is a warmish sounding but with a kk dl60 digital cable it was a match made in heaven in my system.

Power cable upgrade should be considered.

Make sure you understand what you want now and the foreseeable future.

You could do worse than the dl3.

Take a look at at the frostbit, one above and others.

tonyb

The DL3 is a good dac. You do have choices in that price range but honestly, as a first dac, it's an excellant choice imho. Others like Cambridge Dac Magic, Audio GD, Peechtree, Musical Fidelity, and a ton of others. A flavor for everyone. The DL3 has thunderous bass and is a tad on the warm side so if your system is already on the warm side, it may not be a good fit. Don't forget a good cable too when you decide how your going to hook up.

brianle

chandler9a wrote: »

Brianle, have you had experience with other DACs in this range? like I stated above, this would be my first go for an external DAC and just trying to get a feel for it all before I buy. From the reviews I have read, it seems like people are happy with it for the money which is fine but in my experience with audio, there may be something out there that is comparable or even better for cheaper. I would not mind spending a little more for something worth while.

I guess its all in the fun of trying new things too...

Here are experiences from my past DACs:

Benchmark DAC: Transparent and detailed but can be hot/bright on some systems
Eastern Electric Minimax DAC: A bit warm in tube mode. Lots of details as well but no XLR connection

SolidSqual

Here's a good question, how do you plan on connecting your SB? Do you plan on using other sources as well?

chandler9a

thanks for the info guys. I am not sure how I will be doing the SQB, haven't gotten there yet but I would like to be able to get all of my music files on my computer into lossless audio formats (those that can be) and transfer them to the SQB and have that running to the DAC and then to my preamp. I will still play CD's from time to time but I find myself doing that less and want to make my music sound better. Playing my music library from my computer to my preamp alone has got to end...

So using my Bluray player for CD's, SQB for internet radio and general music, and maybe my computer for whatever else might come up. And cables, they will def need to be addressed as well.

chandler9a

Also, for now I do not see myself using the XLR connections

tonyb

Tell ya what, get a SB Touch, and you won't be using the blu-ray player to spin cd's. Download all your cd's to your computer in a lossless format and put all those cd cases away out of sight. Subscribe to Rhapsody, and you may never buy a new cd either. Plus the SB will be your radio tuner also with stations from around the world. Don't sweat the XLR connections, when more coin becomes available, get a good used dac for a couple hundies and forgetaboutit.

thsmith

+1^^^^^^

Drenis

tonyb wrote: »

Tell ya what, get a SB Touch, and you won't be using the blu-ray player to spin cd's. Download all your cd's to your computer in a lossless format and put all those cd cases away out of sight. Subscribe to Rhapsody, and you may never buy a new cd either. Plus the SB will be your radio tuner also with stations from around the world. Don't sweat the XLR connections, when more coin becomes available, get a good used dac for a couple hundies and forgetaboutit.

Just not local stations... at least they are not accessible with my unit.

tonyb

They should be Drenis, if you can't find a station on the SB, you can just get the URL and add it manually. Just look up the url on the internet.

Drenis

Hmm... mine are blocked out. I can access but the SQB wont play anything from them.

Anyways, my bad for the derail, carry on with the discussion.

chandler9a

tonyb wrote: »

Tell ya what, get a SB Touch, and you won't be using the blu-ray player to spin cd's. Download all your cd's to your computer in a lossless format and put all those cd cases away out of sight. Subscribe to Rhapsody, and you may never buy a new cd either. Plus the SB will be your radio tuner also with stations from around the world. Don't sweat the XLR connections, when more coin becomes available, get a good used dac for a couple hundies and forgetaboutit.

This is good advice. One question, would the sound from the SQB to my preamp be acceptable? I was going to get the DAC first (as well as the new preamp when tax money comes) but I guess I could just start the process with buying the SB Touch like you suggested.

tonyb

The internal dac on the SB is decent enough to compare with most average cdp's. So yeah, get the SB first, then down the road get a dac and never get off the couch to spin a cd again. Remember, you need to use a lossless format when downloading, mp3 isn't going to cut the mustard.

chandler9a

Alright, this helps a lot. A little bit of a change from the original plan but thats fine. Unfortunately I purchased a good amount of music from Itunes but I will use a lossless format from here on out. I don't mess with mp3's much

thanks again guys

tonyb

You can use Itunes own lossless format, when downloading just set it up that way, it's simple. Plus make sure error correction is on, it may take longer to download, but it's worth it in the long run.

chandler9a

Got it, thanks

dragon1952

Here's another good choice. The Channel Islands Audio VDA-2 DAC / VAC-1 power supply combo.

http://app.audiogon.com/listings/ciaudio-vda-2-dac-with-vac-1-power-supply-customer-trad

chandler9a

dragon1952 wrote: »

Here's another good choice. The Channel Islands Audio VDA-2 DAC / VAC-1 power supply combo.

http://app.audiogon.com/listings/ciaudio-vda-2-dac-with-vac-1-power-supply-customer-trad

Just checked this out, thats a cool little DAC.

dragon1952

I'm currently using that DAC minus the P/S with my Touch. It's really amazing sounding.

heiney9

http://www.acoustic-fun.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=29

Here is an excellent unit that plays far above it's price point. I have the USB version and it's surprisingly sweet. Very well built and designed and they use top notch parts and high quality connectors, wire and pcb's. You can buy direct from Ebay.

Highly, highly recommended for a nice dac that won't break the bank and actually performs better than the garden variety dac.

H9

chandler9a

heiney9 wrote: »

http://www.acoustic-fun.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=29

Here is an excellent unit that plays far above it's price point. I have the USB version and it's surprisingly sweet. Very well built and designed and they use top notch parts and high quality connectors, wire and pcb's. You can buy direct from Ebay.

Highly, highly recommended for a nice dac that won't break the bank and actually performs better than the garden variety dac.

H9

I saw this in another thread and checked it out a couple of weeks ago, definitely like the price point for sure. As you have mentioned, it seems to play well above its price point which is an aspect I love to find in audio.

I wish I could try out the Channel Island VDA-2 with the power source that dragon pointed out in comparison to this one. I would not mind spending the extra coin if it were that much better, if it were better at all. Seems like people are pretty happy with both of these choices from what I have read.

heiney9

Channel Island designs nice stuff too. Nice thing with the Keces is the power section is with the unit and it's designed really well. The only thing I didn't care for with the CI stuff is the fact that it is two pieces. Sure you can run the dac w/o the linear power supply but I believe the Keces is a better unit as a stand alone. ELNA Silmic, Nichicon Muse caps and Dale precision resistors as well as the highly regarded LME49710 op amp's, fully balanced DC output circuit. Some very nice parts in there.

It takes a lot to impress me, espcially since DAC units have really become a dime a dozen. I've owned and listened to quite a few and while they all were pretty good, the Keces and the Audio GD are the two lower priced units that I really have enjoyed, a lot, and are easy to live with.

Both the CIA and Keces seem to be popular so if you did a comparo by purchasing both units and flipping the one you liked least you probably wouldn't loose too much. It's hard though when you buy the gear new, it takes a depreciation hit even if they are minty.

Most of the recommendations here are very good, solid choices that should work out.

H9

P.s. Where the Keces wins is in the soundstage and air around instruments and taught deep bass. It's amazing to hear that kind of ease and depth from a budget piece.

dragon1952

I'd like to compare the VDA-2 and the Keces also. It might save me some money over buying the P/S. I don't really like the asthetics of the Keces much though.

chandler9a

yea I actually like the looks of the VDA-2 myself and the Keces might not be much to look at but it comes down to sound in the end for me. I am leading toward the Keces since I could also get the SQB a lot sooner and get the system on its way. I could always try something new later on and this will be my first DAC so I gotta start somewhere.