[Sentral Dogma]

i've been surfing and reading about the new niche market move towards non-oversampling DACs, like those offered by audio note and 47 labs. and its intriguing, but they're way out of my price range for a source now. also, being a newb, i wouldn't wanna plop that much cash down right now anyway, even if i had it. so, would the smooth NAD 541i provide a similar "feel" to these DACs? are there any other sources, in the price range of the NAD, in a single box or a outboard DAC, that would feel like non-sampling units?

there's the TNT DIY non-versampling design, but i i'm not a DIY'er. maybe I'll PM JMT and the like.

any other suggestions?

thanks

PS. shigabaki ceramic components look so cool.

 

[bundee1]

Check out the Music Hall mmf cd25. DAmned smooth and detailed.

 

[JohnR]

I've compared my c541i to a friends AudioNote DAC1.0 (using another transport aswell as the NAD as the transport).

The AudioNote has a much more full sound, is more detailed, and I think is overall alot more realistic than the NAD. Some might say it's a little rough in certain areas, probably due to the non oversampling design. If you're after "weight" in the sound then I think the AudioNote is the way to go.

I'm not sure about this move to no oversampling your talking about. The most popular recent move in cd players seems to be upsampling

Maybe the Cambridge Audio D500SE is in your range, from what I've heard, it's a bit more full sounding than the NAD. Listen to as many different players as you can...

 

[pigmode]

Quote:

Originally posted by JohnR I'm not sure about this move to no oversampling your talking about. The most popular recent move in cd players seems to be upsampling

That sounds logical.

 

[RickG]

I've got "realistic and detailed" with the upsampling of my Philips 963...now I'm about to explore the "warmth and musicality" of the NAD C541i...

 

[pigmode]

Quote:

Originally posted by RickG I've got "realistic and detailed" with the upsampling of my Philips 963...now I'm about to explore the "warmth and musicality" of the NAD C541i...

I have no notion of this "realistic and "musicality" being refered to above, but try the Shigaraki DAC. You will be amazed.

I speak of refinement in terms of tone and it's presentaion--the leading and trailing edge of notes. Most enjoyable...

 

[RickG]

Thanks, piggy...I'll do my best to check it out!

 

[Sentral Dogma]

pigmode and johnr, you're recommending the exact DAC's that i said i can't afford. thanks anyway for the reply.

yea, the large group of products is moving towards upsampling, but many think that that just makes cd's sound more metallic and tinny. the non over sampling dacs (niche market, like i said)supposedly sounds more fluid, musical, warm, closer to vinyl. oversampled and upsampled values are just values created by the chip, so when people "hear something that wasn't there before", they actually are hearing something that wasn't there before, created by a computer.

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