[ampgalore]

I have the Benchmark DAC1, an external DAC that garnered rave reviews in stereophile. Has impecable jitter measurements, the stereophile reviewer actually purchased the demo unit.

Benchmark DAC1

 

[taymat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ampgalore I have the Benchmark DAC1, an external DAC that garnered rave reviews in stereophile. Has impecable jitter measurements, the stereophile reviewer actually purchased the demo unit. Benchmark DAC1

But it's $1000! Do you know how much quality you could get from a proper full size separate dac for that kind of money?! I'm jsut not convinced of all of this 'pc better than separates' stuff. I mean the pc wasn't concieved for it, you've got emi/rfi issues, power and space problems whatever you put in a pc isn't going to work as well. Well we'll see anyway, I'm going to buy one of these rave reviewed lynx studio ones or similar and see how they compare to the rotel, etc.

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

I don't know who Mr 2 posts here thinks he is, but myself and several others at the so-cal meet heard it for ourselves. Yes, the best of soundcards (especially when modded) can compete with and best some high-end CDP's. Enough of this "soundcards can't compare" BS, because that is just what it is, BS. Until you actually compare the components you are making these statments about, you have no ground to stand on.

Sorry if that was a bit harsh, but I really am sick of this stereotypical audiophile view that soundcards are no match for CDP's, especially after I heard it with my own ears and gear.

 

[ampgalore]

I don't have that much experience with standalone DAC's. It was a spur of the moment purchase. Compared to my old Yamaha home CD deck, there is no comparison. Before the Benchmark purchase, I was thinking about purchasing new speakers. With the Benchmark, I am putting the speaker purchase on the back burner for now.

But still, technology changes very fast nowadays, I don't know if it is worth it to keep such an expensive DAC around.

 

[taymat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iron_Dreamer I don't know who Mr 2 posts here thinks he is, but myself and several others at the so-cal meet heard it for ourselves. Yes, the best of soundcards (especially when modded) can compete with and best some high-end CDP's. Enough of this "soundcards can't compare" BS, because that is just what it is, BS. Until you actually compare the components you are making these statments about, you have no ground to stand on. Sorry if that was a bit harsh, but I really am sick of this stereotypical audiophile view that soundcards are no match for CDP's, especially after I heard it with my own ears and gear.

So what you're saying is that into the same amp and/or speakers, at the same volume and in a blind test, most people preffered a $200 sound card to a $2000 cdp?! It just sounds crazy to me. Maybe I've been spending too much time on hi-fi forums, but I can't believe a little card can be that good. Maybe if you purely compare the headphone ouput of a cdp to a sound card, because cdp headphone outputs/amps are mainly crap.

 

[Mr.Radar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by taymat So what you're saying is that into the same amp and/or speakers, at the same volume and in a blind test, most people preffered a $200 sound card to a $2000 cdp?! It just sounds crazy to me. Maybe I've been spending too much time on hi-fi forums, but I can't believe a little card can be that good. Maybe if you purely compare the headphone ouput of a cdp to a sound card, because cdp headphone outputs/amps are mainly crap.

I wasn't there but I belive it was fully hooked up through amps. Yes, this card is THAT good.

 

[richx]

Would anyone know how an ESI Juli@, Waveterminal 192L and Waveterminal U24 match up? They're priced around the same region as the EMU1212 I believe ...

 

[Jasper994]

Quote:

Originally Posted by taymat So what you're saying is that into the same amp and/or speakers, at the same volume and in a blind test, most people preffered a $200 sound card to a $2000 cdp?! It just sounds crazy to me. Maybe I've been spending too much time on hi-fi forums, but I can't believe a little card can be that good. Maybe if you purely compare the headphone ouput of a cdp to a sound card, because cdp headphone outputs/amps are mainly crap.

Well, for $165+ tax you can find out for yourself. I'm one of the ones that was there and I was truely impressed with how well the E-MU and RME Hammerfall stacked up to some very nice stand alones.

I personally bounced back and forth between the stock Hammerfall and the Meridian 588 and while I felt the Meridian was better it was by a small margin.

I was using a balanced Gilmore BTW and either the R10's or HD650's sorry, I'm really tired at the moment an my memory fails me.

 

[ooheadsoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr.Radar I wasn't there but I belive it was fully hooked up through amps. Yes, this card is THAT good.

I don't remember exactly which meridian was hooked up to which amp, but you could probably find out from the meet pictures. The headphone amps in that room were quite pricy and quite good.

 

[Slim_Shady]

Hey, no thread stealing!
I've asked, if the EMU 0404 is as good as the 1212m in audio quality or it isn't?

 

[TimSchirmer]

Meridian? Bright? Harsh? You must've been using CD3000's or AKG's. I thought that CDP was too soft sounding with stax or HP-1000's.

Also, there's nothing wrong with having two posts.

 

[Mr.Radar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slim_Shady Hey, no thread stealing! I've asked, if the EMU 0404 is as good as the 1212m in audio quality or it isn't?

The 0404 is still new and I don't think anyone here has one. I do not believe it's analog outs will be as good as the 1212m just from the spec sheet, however it should still sound great.

 

[Edwood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TimSchirmer Meridian? Bright? Harsh? You must've been using CD3000's or AKG's. I thought that CDP was too soft sounding with stax or HP-1000's. Also, there's nothing wrong with having two posts.

I found the Merdian 508 to be harsh. The 588 was not.

-Ed

 

[Jasper994]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edwood I found the Merdian 508 to be harsh. The 588 was not. -Ed

Welcome back Ed, and I agree.

 

[sygyzy]

What are you guys feeding the 1212m? I am thinking compressed audio, right? If that's the case, you are comparing it to a CDP which surely is using an audio-cd. In that case, how could it possibly sound better?

Which brings me to another question - At what point is a computer sound card too good? If you feed it anything compressed at all, then it's already degraded. If you feed it pure audio cd's (raw), then why not just play it through a cd player?