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Do many people use a DAC? - Page 3

post #31 of 65
11/28/05 at 11:36am
Or a DSD DDC with a lmnop option.
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post #32 of 65
11/28/05 at 12:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by immtbiker
Or a DSD DDC with a lmnop option.
You just made my head fall off. Whazzat?

Anyhow, I plug my glass optical cable into my external DAC (DAC-AH), and the other end goes to my computer's soundcard, and whee it sounds better than the analog out of my soundcard. Therefore, I think it was worth the cashola. Then, rumor is 1911 is hooking me up with a Toshiba 3980 (maybe, bah) and that can serve as a poor man's transport to run coax digital to the DAC-AH. As mentioned before, an external DAC can help you run a number of devices to just one DAC, and therefore guarantee a certain level of audio goodness. I still remember JPelg's Panasonic PCDP's digital out feeding his Apgoee MiniDAC as a transport at a NYC meet, and that being one of the better rigs I heard that day.
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post #33 of 65
11/28/05 at 1:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Emon
Call my cynical, but I'm betting DACs aren't the magical devices people make them out to be. I wouldn't doubt if you couldn't tell the difference between a high end PC audio interface, CD player, etc., and a DAC1.
Trust me - while my amplifier, tube combination and headphone are imo way above passable, my source is a MAJOR weak point.

I used to be content with my 1212m. Then I heard the Cyrus CD-6. I'm saving up for a CD-8X or a DP-67/77 now.

What did I know? I was young(er) and foolish, thinking I could get away with a cheapie soundcard source since everyone in the the computer-based forum here said I could.

An unfortunate side-effect of 'having my eyes opened' is that I'm now hardly listening to my rig. Each time I do, I think to myself - gosh, I could do so much better, and whatever enjoyment I have is greatly diminished. I've also more or less stopped visiting the computer-based forum here.
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post #34 of 65
11/28/05 at 2:44pm
Please discuss oversampling. I'm interested in peoples thoughts

I'm contemplating the Echo Layla 3G primarily because I'm after a recording interface that supports Linux. An interesting piece from the Sound On Sound Audiofire review:

These particular converters use IIR (Infinite Impulse Response) filters .. Much research has been carried out to determine why many people hear an improvement in digital audio quality at 96kHz and higher .. and many experts now seem to agree that it's not the extended frequency response that provides the audible improvements, but the gentler high-end filtering, resulting in better impulse response with less 'time smear' and cleaner transients .. The only disadvantage is this ultrasonic noise, if this is a disadvantage — you can't hear it ..
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post #35 of 65
11/28/05 at 3:20pm
I'm actually big on the non-oversampling DACs. my DAC-AH has a nice warm tone to it that seems to be missing from the more "polished" sound of oversampled DACs - like when I compared the Scott Nixon tubeDAC (non-OS) to the Benchmark DAC1, and when I compared the DAC-AH (non-OS) to the Zhaolu 1.2.
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post #36 of 65
11/28/05 at 3:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by adhoc
I used to be content with my 1212m. Then I heard the Cyrus CD-6. I'm saving up for a CD-8X or a DP-67/77 now.

What did I know? I was young(er) and foolish, thinking I could get away with a cheapie soundcard source since everyone in the the computer-based forum here said I could.
It all depends what's your threshold of acceptability. There's something nice about a soundcard or a CD player. There's no SPDIF jitter to deal with.

I like using DACs because I don't use CD/DVD players. But I don't like SPDIF to them.
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post #37 of 65
11/28/05 at 5:27pm
I listen to my DAC oversampled to 192 KHz, but I do not hear the difference when I bypass down to 48 KHz (the actual digital out of my soundcard).
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post #38 of 65
11/28/05 at 5:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by adhoc
Trust me - while my amplifier, tube combination and headphone are imo way above passable, my source is a MAJOR weak point.

I used to be content with my 1212m. Then I heard the Cyrus CD-6. I'm saving up for a CD-8X or a DP-67/77 now.

What did I know? I was young(er) and foolish, thinking I could get away with a cheapie soundcard source since everyone in the the computer-based forum here said I could.

An unfortunate side-effect of 'having my eyes opened' is that I'm now hardly listening to my rig. Each time I do, I think to myself - gosh, I could do so much better, and whatever enjoyment I have is greatly diminished. I've also more or less stopped visiting the computer-based forum here.
Ditto'd to a T!

fjf : 48kHz and 192kHz are both oversampling if you're listening to Redbook, which is natively 44.1, unfortunately.
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post #39 of 65
11/28/05 at 6:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by akwok
Ditto'd to a T!

fjf : 48kHz and 192kHz are both oversampling if you're listening to Redbook, which is natively 44.1, unfortunately.
yepyep, the DAC in my 0404 is an oversampling DAC as well. it's very nice but i do prefer my DAC-AH.
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post #40 of 65
11/29/05 at 10:26am
Quote:
Originally Posted by allan-of-ca
Do many people use a DAC and do you really notice a difference?


Thanks
Allan
yes

yes
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post #41 of 65
11/29/05 at 2:58pm
No and No.

I auditioned the Benchmark DAC1 and a Meridian G08 at a meet and was strongly unimpressed. To give you an idea what this means, my "usual" DAC is the one on the $20 Chaintech AV710. The DAC1 was nice and all.. I'd say $200-300 is a good price for it.

Given the interest in DACs now it's pretty clear to me that they are not yet a staple in audiophile circles.
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post #42 of 65
11/29/05 at 3:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Publius
No and No.

I auditioned the Benchmark DAC1 and a Meridian G08 at a meet and was strongly unimpressed. To give you an idea what this means, my "usual" DAC is the one on the $20 Chaintech AV710. The DAC1 was nice and all.. I'd say $200-300 is a good price for it.

Given the interest in DACs now it's pretty clear to me that they are not yet a staple in audiophile circles.
Meet impressions aren't always the best place to make concrete impressions. The difference between the AV710 and my E-MU0404 is very, very big. I have a AV710 in my HTPC, and comparing the Wolfson DAC to the E-MU the difference is significant. The Benchmark is supposed to be a lot better than the E-MU
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post #43 of 65
11/29/05 at 4:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Publius
...I auditioned the Benchmark DAC1 and a Meridian G08 at a meet and was strongly unimpressed.
Bit of clarification - are you saying that you weren't impressed by the DAC1 compared to the G08 or that you found both of them unimpressive?

Thanks,
Beau
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post #44 of 65
11/29/05 at 5:00pm
Both of them were unimpressive. I don't mean to say they were bad - they sounded fine - but I didn't get any new meaning, or improvement in clarity, or much of anything different from what I already had. I listened pretty critically to each one, but yeah, it was at a meet. At the time, I could not really find fault with either of them, but afterwards it was like "what? People spend $1000 for that?"

Enough people have claimed night and day differences with components of that caliber, who have only experienced them at meets, that I am very skeptical of anybody who claims I need to spend more time with them.
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post #45 of 65
11/29/05 at 5:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Publius

Enough people have claimed night and day differences with components of that caliber, who have only experienced them at meets, that I am very skeptical of anybody who claims I need to spend more time with them.
How loud was the meet? At a small minimeet we had, the differences between amps were obvious, and a micromeet we had the DACs were too. But at the full blown NYC regional meet, man, our DAC shootout sucked - it was SO loud, honestly, the Cute DAC sounded just as good as the Grace m902 lol!

DACs are sources - they are at the whim of a good listening environment. Amps do have a sweet spot for listening too, but at a meet you can at least crank it up and get an idea of how it sounds - cranked up hehe. Microdetails and subtlety are not going to shine at a meet. That's why I think portable amps are really the things to compare at a meet - that's their element! Otherwise I'd just stick on a pair of isolating/sealed cans and groove as best as possible.
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