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<100USD standalone DAC for Cambridge Azur 650A + B&W DM685 + LG BD390

post #1 of 11
6/26/10 at 8:00am
Thread Starter 

Hello.

Title says it all. Need a cheap DAC to use with LG BD390 blu-ray player as source, Cambridge Azur 650A receiver and Bower and Wilkins DM685 speakers. It should (atleast) be as good as Nuforce uDAC ($ 100), but I do not want a AMP/DAC combo.

I'm going to use a LG BD390 blu-ray player as audio source.

Thanks!


Edited by todda7 - 6/26/10 at 8:02am
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post #2 of 11
6/26/10 at 4:37pm
Thread Starter 

Ok then.
Is my audio source (blu ray player) going to be a problem?
I looked at the ZERO DACs, but AFAIK they have a high failure rates and includes an AMP which I don't need.
Maybe I should strecth my budged and go for a Purepiper DAC A-1?

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post #3 of 11
6/27/10 at 11:30am

I would never use a blu ray player as a source. transports and dacs can get quite expensive. Why not stretch your budget and look into an entry level one box cd player such as the Marantz CD5003 msrp at $349?

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post #4 of 11
6/28/10 at 10:41am
Thread Starter 

What you mean by transports? Whats wrong with a blu-ray player as source, as long as I have an OK DAC? Already got the blu-ray player, and my parents are going to have a heart-attack of they get another remote (it's not my audio system). Besides, DACs like the Caiman and DacMagic still beats $500 CD players in my humble opinion, even with PC as source.

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post #5 of 11
7/2/10 at 12:22am

To get the most out of any external dac, you need a good transport and a good digital cable. A transport is basically anything capable of sending a signal to an external dac. There are many different kinds of transports: cd players, blu ray players, dvd players, pc, etc... A dedicated transport is a transport that is built specifically to send signals to an external dac. Most dedicated transports use cd's, but there are some that can use dvd's as well. It's basically a cd or dvd player without a built in dac.

 

The dac is only as good as the transport that's feeding it. I'm sure with a good quality transport, the DacMagic could sound better than some $500 cd players. But if that DacMagic is connected to a mass market cd player or blu ray player, I'll bet the $500 cd players would sound better. Nothing is wrong with using a blu ray player as a source if that's all you have. Just don't expect to get the most out of a dac if using a blu ray player.

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post #6 of 11
7/2/10 at 8:21am
Thread Starter 

Thats all right, now I need a DAC for it in the 50-150 USD range.

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post #7 of 11
7/9/10 at 8:27am
Thread Starter 

bumb

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post #8 of 11
7/9/10 at 1:10pm

If you looked at the Zero DAC, check out the Maverick Audio DAC. Similar product but with better quality, reliability and features. It's $199 but an upgraded Zero could reach that. Info is in my sig.

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post #9 of 11
7/11/10 at 3:15am
Thread Starter 

As said, I don't need nor want an Amp. Only want a DAC.

Thanks for your help though.


Edited by todda7 - 7/11/10 at 3:17am
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post #10 of 11
8/12/10 at 10:53am
Thread Starter 

What about http://cgi.ebay.com/Mini1793-SPDIF-DAC-Board-PCM1793-DIR9001-Aluminum-Box-/290405887763?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0 or http://cgi.ebay.com/HI-FI-Mini-DAC-TDA1543-DIR9001-NOS-DAC-Incl-power-ADP-S-/120571925333?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0?

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post #11 of 11
8/12/10 at 12:44pm

Both are good... You can check http://cgi.ebay.com/DIR9001-PCM1793-OPA2134-24BIT-192KHz-MINI-DAC-/380213856012?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item588683070c&afsrc=1#ht_1687wt_911 more info about it: http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/493801/interesting-little-dac-optical-coax-input

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