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Headphone DAC baseline request

post #1 of 4
3/16/10 at 4:39pm
Thread Starter 
What is the effect of using the DAC in an inexpensive Blu-Ray player?

Would the results of these combinations be similar or is one heads and tails over the other?

Sony Blu-Ray playing original CD’s (DO) => Audio GD Fun => HD650’s

Sony Blu-Ray playing original CD’s (AO) => Gilmore Lite (or WA6) => HD650’s

I realize the DAC circuit in the Blu Ray is no DAC1 but it is Dolby HD but I’m not sure how it stacks up to some entry or mid grade DAC’s

Just trying to get a baseline to put together a system
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post #2 of 4
3/17/10 at 1:32pm
Well, hard to tell without knowing:
* Which Blu-Ray player you use (they are not all the same).
* What you feed the Blu-Ray player into.
* ...
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post #3 of 4
3/17/10 at 3:20pm
Thread Starter 
Blu-Ray player will most likely be a SONY BDP-S300 as it is what I currently own. This was one of Sony's most inexpensive models.

I'm trying to decide on my first HP system. I am trying to stay conservative (middle of the road soundwise) and hopefully not want to upgrade within a few months and stay between $1,000 and $1,200 if at all possible.

The above setups are what I'm throwing around in my head (along with the thousands of other DAC/amp combos) that I've read about in the last few days.

I'm willing to sacrifice a little in detail for a comfortable sound that doesn't wear me out but want to hear details that I don't with my current full size speaker system....Denon ARV, Boston Acoustics HD8's HD9's.

The more research I do the more I'm realizing that I will need a descent (there's a vague term) DAC...not the one in a inexpensive blu-ray or CDP.

My main problem is that I live in a rural area so I am unable to try before I buy. Second problem is that except for my current full size system (which is fair but not great) I don't have much experience listening to hi end stuff so I'm afraid I would be lost testing descent phones anyway.

So now I'm looking at 450 for phones, 500 +/- for an amp and 350-???? for a DAC that I've never heard which is a little more than scary.
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post #4 of 4
3/17/10 at 3:28pm
My experience with BD players and DVD players in general is that their CD output is not very dynamic, and dont quite have a completely black background, and lack true extension in the ends. They will sound decent when not scrutinized, but have shortcomings when compared to dedicated CDP's and DAC's.

I'd say it depends on how important this setup is for you, since you say its your main rig and you want the most from it, I wouldnt use the BD player as source, maybe as a transport into a DAC or a dedicated CDP. You can get pretty decent CDP's for not so much nowadays, but DAC's offer more flexibility. If you are purely gonna use this rig for cd's though, you can get some decent CDP's in the 300-400$ range. Else there are a few options DAC wise in the same range.
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