[KettyKrueger]

Hey all,

Please forgive my barrage of threads on the subject, I'm just trying to educate myself before pulling the trigger on a DAC.

I'm going around in circles between the Cambridge Audio DacMagic, the iBasso D2 and basically whatever is available on e-bay. I want something to bridge the gap between my Macbook Pro and my cheapo Song Av Receiver (the STR-DG910).

I was almost committed to the iBasso but then I wondered if it would be suitable. Please forgive my ignorance with the technical stuff, but would a portable DAC but enough to drive my home speakers (Mission 733 floorstanders). I'm not sure if the Ohms match, or if they need to....

I'm confused! Does the DAC JUST purely convert the signal?

Or should I opt for a desktop box, like the DacMagic, is that designed to drive big speakers, as opposed to the iBasso??

I think that iBasso would be more suitable for me, I could use it on the road with my iPhone, and on holidays, etc. and it's cheaper.

All that said, I'm still unsure whether I will be able to hear a difference with a dedicated DAC. Having never auditioned for dedicated DAC, should I hear an appreciable difference in SQ? Or is my hard earned better spent on speakers, cables, sources, etc?

Thanks for bearing with me on this thread, your help is ever-appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[transient orca]

I think the conventional wisdom on equipment investment priority here at head-fi is headphones> source (i.e. DAC, internal sound card, CD player etc...)> amp. Whether you should spend a lot of money on cables is a rather controversial topic. I don't think you need to worry about that right now.

For DAC's, the only difference size make is portability. A tiny DAC can sounds great if it is well designed and uses high quality electronics. The driving ability of a setup really depends on the amp you use. The DacMagic is most likely going to sound better than iBasso, but if you are looking for portability, iBasso is a better choice. there is also a build-in headphone amp in the D2. There are many products similar to D2. You should be able to find more information from the portable amp forum.

If you want to drive speakers, DacMagic + a proper amplifier is a better option

 

[khaos974]

Before you break something by connecting what should not be connected, let's clarify the different functions from the digital signal to the speakers/headphones.

1. a DAC converts a digital signal into an analog one (hence the Digital to Analog Converter acronym), and nothing else!!!
2. an amplifier amplifies and analog signal to a "bigger" analog signal so that it can be played loud enough. It can be either a headphone amp OR a speaker amp.
3. A volume control is often present, as well as a source selector: this part is called a preamplifier.

To sum up, functionally you have:
DAC => Volume Control => Speaker Amp => Speakers
Or DAC => Volume Control => Headphoner Amp => Headphones

Now that the functions are clarified, let's see the hardware side of the equation:

1. The most common rig is a separate DAC, then a VC (Volume control) + Amp = integrated amp combo, two boxes
2. There are many DAC + VC + Headphone amp combos, one box
3. Actually any combination can be found, speaker amp + headphone amp in one box, DAC + VC in one box...
4. A receiver is a DAC + VC + headphone Amp + speaker amp, wonderful little thing, isn't it?

What is left is to see if you boxes match the functions needed. For information, a DacMagic is functionally a DAC, nothing else, an iBasso D10 is a DAC + VC + Headphone Amp.

PS: There is no reason any DAC would be able to drive home speakers since an amp does the job, not a DAC. And never forget that you receiver is a DAC, at home simply use it to do this job, on the road you may buy another DAC (such as the iBasso) to get a better result. As for the quality of the DAC in your receiver, I don't know, but listen to it first, it might surprise you.

PPS: I re read your post and concluded that I thought you more confused than you really were, hence my somewhat back-to-the-basis post. But you have to admit that saying that a DAC drives speaker does not help your case.

 

[KettyKrueger]

Thanks for the replies. Yes, I do appear more confused than I actually am. I just got temporarily thrown off by the fact that the iBasso has an amp built into it.
I’m probably now more conflicted than before! I’m not sure if I’m being picky and my receiver is actually doing a better job than I think. It would be nice to borrow a DAC to see if they are worth investing in. I suppose I could be a uDAC, to get my feet wet, so to speak. That’s said, it might be more beneficial to get a new receiver with a better DAC and better internals. It’s no secret that my receiver was cheap and suited my needs at the time.

 

[khaos974]

There is an interesting thread (use the search function, I am a bit lazy today) about receivers.

To sum it up, the amp in a receiver is often a resistor circuit out of the main amp's circuit. Which means that it has basically the same signature as your speaker outputs which were presumably well designed. It should also be powerful enough since are something like 2*100W without the resistor circuit.

More precision in that thread I mentioned.

On the other hand, I'm not going to put a receiver on my desktop, hence the headphone DAC/AMP.

 

[Lex2]

To my ears, at least, most built-in DACs from the recent crop of mid to high end DVD / SACD players are very good to begin with. Even the Yamaha S1800BL is on sale now for $80.00 at Amazon, and that comes with a well regarded Burr Brown DAC. Perhaps a dedicated CD source is what you need?

 

[AmanGeorge]

Keep in mind that the uDAC (and I believe the iBasso) only have USB inputs, so unless the PS3 you are using outputs audio through USB, neither one of them will be usable.

 

[Il Mostro]

^^^^^^
Yes, D2 is USB input. D10 is the iBasso model with all the flexibility, for now.