Suggestions for equipment improvement

thejck

I do not have a budget yet and have to get approval from the wife.

I have a parasound HCA-3500 powering my SDA 1.2's - these things are going to stay constant the rest of it I am not sure about.

I have a Lite Audio Dac-68 with the spdif(toslink) out from my PC (lossless flacs)
It goes into a Parasound P3 pre-amp.

I have balanced connectors all the way from the dac to the amp.

I started by wanting to replace my DAC and go to a USB dac. Now I am wondering about the pre-amp.

I am looking for a USB dac with balanced connectors and I would like to keep tubes in my lineup somewhere.

Are there tube pre-amps that can double up as usb dac's too?

Initially I was looking to spend 1k for a better dac but now I am wondering if 2k would be a better upgrade.

Any thoughts? Is my pre-amp the bottleneck in my setup?

tonyb

I would say the pre and the dac....maybe cables too depending on what your using.

There's a Parasound P5 for sale on chicagos craigslist for 900. Has a usb dac and has some nice reviews.
Musical Fidelity M6 pre also has a USB input and is in your budget used.

Off the top of my head, I can't think of any tube pre's with dacs in them. Probably because tube gear in general has more noise to them which wouldn't work well with a dac in the same chassis. I'm pretty sure I've seen a few though, just can't remember before at least 3 cups of coffee this morning.

Whatcha using for cables bro ? IC's ?

thejck

i am not sure of the brand of cables. i bought my parasound equipment from a guy that was way more into audio than me. he threw in the cables.
they are all balanced interconnencts

thejck

I dont mind updating the dac now and then maybe a little while later updating the pre. I still like the idea of separates.

thejck

The Essence Audio HDACC, accepts HDMI in as well as USB.
Is one better than the other?

thejck

I had initially purchased a tube dac because I liked the idea of tubes. I guess i have not really compared tube to solid state. I dont have access to audition lots of equipment so I have to go by what reviews I read.
Is there other ways to keep tubes in the line up somewhere outside of a DAC?

What about the Cary 100t. I read some good reviews about it as a tube dac. It pricey though. Does it have the same issues cause of the tubes?

Some of the other dacs I have been looking at are
wyred4sound dac1 or dac2
benchmark dac2

i need to read up a bit more about the hdacc. have you ever tried to compare between using hdmi vs usb output from a Computer per chance?

tonyb

Your kinda all over the map here pal. Going from the Lite Audio dac to the Cary is like going from a Camry to a Corvette. You don't need to spend that much on a dac, unless you want to that is. The 100t is certainly a great dac.

So you want to keep some element of tubes in your system. Gotcha....I would suggest a tube pre and a separate dac then.

Look at Yaquin, Dared, Rogue 66, Cary aes DJH, The minimax, the list can go on and on. Depends on if you want a remote, and how many tubes you have the stomach for to roll. You can snag a very good used tube pre from 500-1000.

Dacs are more so a matter of personal taste. You want a warmer sound, or highly detailed and somewhat sterile ? How many inputs do you need ? Right now, I use a Cary Xciter dac for my computer music and love the darn thing....6 bones used, so it wasn't too bad of hit on the ol' wallet.

I'll echo Skips comments on the W4S....not my cup of tea, but doesn't mean it won't be yours. Many here use them and like them.

Is this all for just a 2 channel system or do you do HT with it as well ? Some like the OPPO 105, which used runs around 900 bucks but offers up an excellent dac with digital inputs, and of course great video and cd/sacd playback as well.

Are you just simply looking to improve the sound on your computer music ? What other sources are going to be hooked up ?

thejck

the system is in my living room. I use my computer as my only src. It has a HDMI out that runs to a Integra receiver that powers the (separate) surround speakers. I am not touching this part.

When I want to listen to music the TV and the receiver stay off and I use the seperate soundcard to send audio to the DAC. that then runs through the Parasound P3 and Hca-3500. I have foobar setup for remote control from my phone and WASAPI to output over a spdif optical connector. I was previously under the impression that the only thing better than FOOBAR with wasapi is maybe jriver. Now i want to get away from the spdif and go to USB and this is what has started the search for a new dac. (and maybe the preamp too now)

I am just trying to make sure i am getting the best out of my computer src and that is why i am wondering if there has been anything new out there that i missed when setting up your PC. I never even knew about i2s until this week.

thejck

I thought adding tubes warms up the sound. I prefer something that is warmer. I have not been looking at pre amps so I have no idea where to begin. I dont really need a lot of inputs but I prefer balanced XLR.
I would prefer to keep the hdmi out and video seperate from the audio so I dont have to have all my equipment on depending on what I am doing.

As far as the DAC i would like something that is future proof so I guess ensuring it can handle the DSD stuff? Again I have not played with this this music format yet.

tonyb

Well, no such thing as "future proof", but dacs that do DSD is going to run more coinage....and with balanced outputs to boot.

So your system is basically doing both HT and 2 channel then ? Your using the 'puter for movies into the integra....right ? How do you switch between the integra and parasound for music ?

There's soo many different ways to go here, one is getting away from the soundcard in the computer, most aren't worth much.....audio wise. Next would be getting away from using the computer altogether, except maybe for software, but the hardware part I'd nix.

The oppo 105.....could fix all you seek to. Check it out....

tonyb

I know skip, I already said a USB connection is more desirable, but seems like a pretty funky setup. Trying to save the man some coin by simplifying. A good usb connection to any Asych USB capable dac will eliminate any audible jitter.

If we were to narrow it down to just a dac and pre....the real estate there is bigger than your home state. We already threw out some suggestions for pre's/dacs....but we can go on forever without a budget for both.

Now with I2S throw in, even more of that budget will be eaten up. Just trying to figure out what we have to work with here, the goals, and the budget to work within.

I might even consider a good MF integrated for the man. Warmer sound...check, usb...check, good pre....check. HT pass thru....check.

If he can't part with his Parasound amp, then the Parasound P5 would be a one box solution for him....and has balanced connections.

erniejade

If the P3 is anything like the P5, you have a warm preamp already. Tubes does not = warm. My Audio Research sp16 tube pre is not warm. It is full bodied but the P5 i own is warmer. I am not going to make this a P5 SS vs tube ar debate but, I just wanted to say tubes doesn't = warm. It is a different sound. It all depends on how the preamp is built and voiced. Same with a Dac. Just because a dac has a tube doesnt mean its warm.

Anyway carry on!

thejck

I dont really want to try to sell anything to recoup the money I already spent. So if i keep the parasound p3 then I can spend it all on the dac. Otherwise i dont mind splitting my budget between the dac and the pre.

I guess i dont need to continue to have tubes in my setup. I want to get away from SPDIF and go with asych USB. I would like to keep balanaced IC's cause the parasound p3 and the amp have them already.

Why would you say getting rid of the PC as a source? I use XBMC for movies and its setup to use the hdmi video card. Foobar for the audio and its setup with the wasapi soundcard driver. Its just a matter of using one piece of software vs the other depending on what i am doing. I realize that PC with spdif output is not ideal. I understand that PC with asych USB is tons better. If you get the PC out of equation then how to I get to my music stored on my central fileshare server?

I am not sure if I2S is the way to go. I am just asking for an opinion on how it compares to USB. If that is going to increase the cost drastically then its not worth it. Similarly with DSD. i dont really have the time or energy to rip all my music again. and PCM is probably all right. I mentioned DSD because i am reading more and more about it and am just wondering if its wort a mention.

As far as budget I guess I would say between 1k and 2k. I might push it a little if its worth it.

thejck

I am following up on all the suggestions its going to take me some time to readup on all of them while at work and pretending to do what I am supposed to be doing :-)

tonyb

Get a used Parasound P5 then....around 900-1000 bucks. You get a decent dac, a better pre amp over the P3. Read up on Ernie's review of the P5.

Other than that, if you want to keep the P3 and just hunt for an Asych usb capable dac, the worlds your oyster.

thejck

So I never got around to buying a dac when I looked into. Ended up selling the house buying a new one and working on setting up my new house now.

I still use a computer as my source and I need a new USB dac. one that has a remote.

I was looking at the Teac NT-503-B
its a network audio player that can also double up as a usb dac. for under 1k.
I figured I can use it as a combination. Either play the music directly from it from my network storage or play it off the computer and use it as a dac.

for less than 1k is there a better dac I can get (used is fine). I dont really need the network functionality as long as I can have the USB dac. A remote is a must. My equipment will all be moving into a room off the side of my media room.

Upstatemax

http://oppodigital.com/sonica-dac/

thejck

the marantz is out cause it doesnt have balanced outputs. The rest of my rig is balanced.

The oppo looks good.
Between the oppo and the teac. Any comparisions? sonic advantages?

tonyb

thejck wrote: »

the marantz is out cause it doesnt have balanced outputs. The rest of my rig is balanced.

The oppo looks good.
Between the oppo and the teac. Any comparisions? sonic advantages?

Depends on the sound signature your looking for. The oppo is going to be a bit more forward sounding, the Teac...if it's like some of their other gear, should have a slight bit of warmth and a more analog sound to it. How that fits into what you already have, is your call.

thejck

i noticed that the oppo says this
"The USB DAC input supports PCM up to 768 kHz 32-bit and DSD up to 22.5792 MHz (DSD512)."

while the teac says
"High-performance VERITA AK4490 DACs support 11.2MHz DSD and 32-bit/384kHz PCM"

Does that make a difference? What kind of source is available that would hit that.