[tight_budget]

The Denon 2910 is my primary source, hooked up via analog to a Firestone cuteamp. Headphones are HD600s.

Are there any Denon 2910 owners here who have compared it with and without an external DAC? Would I need to invest in an expensive DAC in order to surpass the built-in Denon DACs, or would a budget one (like the Fubar / Zero) improve upon the Denon?

 

[Oliver :)]

Judging from my 2900, trying to truly surpass the built-in DAC of that unit with a DAC cheaper than the player itself will be a tricky endeavour. It may not be the last word in overall design/build quality, but it is a very well sounding player for the money, for both Redbook and SACD (and jolly good DVD picture too!). That's why it is still here

Nevertheless, you can still experiment all the way you want, maybe you like the Zero's sound better, who knows?

 

[soundfreq]

same brand, different model:

i'm using a denon dvd-758, aka dvd-1940ci as a transport, feeding to a ps audio digital link 3 dac.

 

[howiebrou]

Have my Denon 2930 hooked up to a PS Audio Ultralink Dac. Night and day difference

 

[zippy2001]

I have the Denon DVD-2910 and it is a very good player in it's stock form.
It has 192kHz/24-bit Burr-Brown DSD-1791 audio DACs, which to me sound very good. I did try to hook up a Entech 203.2 but preferred the stock DAC.

 

[Bones13]

I would think that your player has a much better internal DAC, with better controlled power supply that your Firestone.

Now on the other hand, you might like the sound character of your external DAC better (especially if you have done some op amp rolling), and if so, you should stick with it.