[taylor]

Hey everyone,

I'm looking to get a new source, and did a bunch of searching to find sources in that price range, did mroe searching, and narrowed it down to a few choices. I already have a NEC CD-ROM. I was originally planning on geting a standalone DAC, but not if I can get something better for the price. I don't have any HDCDs/SACDs/DVD-As, but having the option to try it out wouldn't hurt.

DACs
Scott Nixon TubeDACKit, $230 + $50 for RCAs, enclosure, power supply
AOS Piccolo $240 + $40 for converter stuff
Scott Nixon DACKit $110 + $50 for RCAs, enclosure, power supply

CDPs
Cambridge Azur 640C $500
Nad C542 $500
Arcam CD73T $550

Universals
Sony SCD-555ES $600
Sony SCD-333ES $400
Sony SCD-222ES $200
Sony SCD-CE775 $200

Other issues:
Price matters to me, I'd mcuh rather get the DI/O or SD-4900 than the 640C or C542 unless the 640C and C542 are much better. At the Maryland meet I really liked the HD600s, but I don't think my current source is good enough for them, so I had a dilema: HD600s and low-fi source, or V6 and good source. If I could get one of the cheaper sources, then I could get the HD600s faster. But only if the cheaper source is either better, equal, or almost as good. Which is why I am leaning towards the DI/O and the SD-4900, provided the many mods available for them brings them to a performance similar to their pricier bretheren.

While not a DIY guru, I am able to do stuff like cap and diode and op-amp swaps. This gives the more moddable stuff, like the DI/O and SD-4900, an edge.

I am somewhat into PC audio. I use the music on my PC for stuff like background music, but not for serious listening. The M Audio Super DAC does have a toslink input, and I could get a soundcard with a toslink output for around $25, so that's a cool feauture that will give the Super DAC a slight advantage.

Edited a little:
Removed SD-4900 over concerns of clipping and build quality
Removed 963SA over concerns of bad reliability and tech support
Removed C521BEE because C542 is better.
Added Piccolo DAC because of good reviews it got
Removed DI/O because even with fooling around with converters, Piccolo is better.
Added Arcam CD73T because it's good.
Added DacKit because it's cheap and it's good.
Replaced SCD-555ES and SCD-CE775 with 'Sony SCD series" because I do not know enough specifics of the series to pick the best one.
Removed M-Audio super DAC because of lack of postitive reviews.

 

[darkclouds]

See if you can score a used Sony SCD-555ES for $500. It sounds great with excellent build quality to boot. Also, when upgradeitis hits, you can get it modded.

 

[taylor]

I tried to find some info on it, but it seems to be discontinued and not too easy to find, which is why I didn't include it on my list.

Any reccomendations for what to do if I can't find one?

Besides being hard to find and discontinued, the SCD555ES looks like a great player. I'd like to have a shuffle, especially one that shuffles between the 5 CDs in it.

 

[ampgalore]

Red book CD DAC's constantly become outdated. Wont the same thing happen to SACD DAC's? The 555 has already been out for a couple of years now.

 

[rhizome]

i'm in the same boat after hirsch's meet. i was originally thinking about getting new cans, but after doing some more listening i've decided a new source would do me more good. i'm looking at things in the same price range. you might also consider the ack! dack, which is $525 i believe. it was present at the meet, i thought it was sweet sounding little box. the emu and rme soundcards are also well worth considering. the emu seems to be the card of choice around here now. if you live near a guitar center they can be had for as little as $165, plus you can mod them afterwards. i'd like to stick to a pc solution for now, so i'm leaning towards selling my rme card and picking up an emu myself, then selling my senns and scraping up some more cash for the ack. the scott nixon tubedac is intriguing also, as are the aos dacs.

come to think of it, yes, a soundcard would be perfect for you... then you'd have enough money left over to buy my 600s

 

[taylor]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rhizome i'm in the same boat after hirsch's meet. i was originally thinking about getting new cans, but after doing some more listening i've decided a new source would do me more good. i'm looking at things in the same price range. you might also consider the ack! dack, which is $525 i believe. it was present at the meet, i thought it was sweet sounding little box. the emu and rme soundcards are also well worth considering. the emu seems to be the card of choice around here now. if you live near a guitar center they can be had for as little as $165, plus you can mod them afterwards. i'd like to stick to a pc solution for now, so i'm leaning towards selling my rme card and picking up an emu myself, then selling my senns and scraping up some more cash for the ack. the scott nixon tubedac is intriguing also, as are the aos dacs. come to think of it, yes, a soundcard would be perfect for you... then you'd have enough money left over to buy my 600s

Well, the're are driver and reliability issues with the EMU, and I don't really want a sound card, since I usually use CDs through my NEC CD-ROM. Don't call me technologically inept, I just don't want to go through all the trouble of ripping every CD to FLAC, which takes a long time to perfect, then go about installing tons of plug-ins and drivers. I think i'll just stick to popping in a CD and pressing play.

I did look at the Ack Dack, but I read a review comparing the two that said the Ack Dack is on a similar level to the TubeDAC, and $230 for TubeDACKit + $50 for RCAs, PS, and case, + $235 for HD600 it's still $10 cheaper than the Ack Dack.

The thing I didn't like about the AOS DAC was the optical input. My NEC CD-ROM has coax utput, ad i'll either need to buy a converter or an optical transport.

 

[taylor]

http://www5.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=75286

What about this? The guy says it's better than SCD-555ES

 

[tyrion]

There is an NAD 542 on Audiogon new for $348. At that price it leaves you extra 10 new cd's. Here is the link 542 Good luck in your search.

 

[taylor]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tyrion There is an NAD 542 on Audiogon new for $348. At that price it leaves you extra 10 new cd's. Here is the link 542 Good luck in your search.

Well, could you say anything else about the C542. I'm not interested in finding the best deals on every player on the list, I'm trying to figure out which one to get. Then once I picked one, I can try and get a good deal on it.

 

[tyrion]

You mentioned it as one of the players you were interested in and had at $500. I thought I would let you know that you can do better. I have not owned the 542 and only had the 541i for a very short time. There are plenty of discussion of the 542 on head-fi. Do a search using google toolbar, if you have it, and search the site. The search function on head-fi is down. Only trying to help.

 

[ipodstudio]

You might want to have a look at the Arcam CD73T. There are few members here who have them and all say positive things about them.

I have the Arcam FMJ CD33t. It has incredible detail without any harshness at all.

Have fun!!

 

[halcyon]

If you are interested in the Toshiba universal players, read this:

http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.mpl?...AK&r=&session=

I cannot vouch for it's accuracy and the same may not hold true for 4960.

However, if that clipping part is correct, then it's a bad flaw worth taking note of.

 

[sbulack]

Don't forget the AOS Piccolo DAC.
http://www.aoselectronics.com/piccolo.html

Check out some heavy-hitter Head-Fi feedback on this thread:
http://www5.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=62599
Especially see how the folks at Larocco compared it to a Mensa-modded ART D/IO.

With such modest stereo optical digital sources as a Sony PCDP D-321, Terratec EWX 2496 sound card, Pioneer DV-563A it outputs analog stereo audio that sounds fantastic to my ears.

One thing that I like so much about a separate DAC is how easy it is to share among various modest sources (which act as transports) with optical digital outputs. And for sources with coaxial digital outputs only, this really good-sounding coax-to-optical converter can be had for a mere $17 ($22 with shipping):
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...number=180-960

 

[rhizome]

Quote:

Originally Posted by taylor Well, the're are driver and reliability issues with the EMU, and I don't really want a sound card, since I usually use CDs through my NEC CD-ROM. Don't call me technologically inept, I just don't want to go through all the trouble of ripping every CD to FLAC, which takes a long time to perfect, then go about installing tons of plug-ins and drivers. I think i'll just stick to popping in a CD and pressing play.

though it doesn't sound like you'll be going the computer route, i believe you can simply output the nec to the soundcard's digital in and essentially use it as a dac. of course you lose the more portable nature of your otherwise small setup that way, and there are still drivers to worry about.

edit: fixed quote

 

[taylor]

tyrion: Sorry if I sounded harsh, it's just that I am currently more interested in comparing different sources, still not at the stage of searching for a good price on them.

ipodstudio: That CD73T looks really nice, it's going on the list.

sbulack: The Piccolo looks ok, confused as to why they didn't add a coax input. I can understand not having a optical, since it's harder to do, but RCA jacks are cheap? Why didn't he put one in?

rhizome: I know the soundcard could be used as a DAC for the NEC, but then i'm stuck always needing the PC on in order to listen to music, not being to listen to music away from the PC, and not being aable to listen to music if my brother is playing a game on the PC or whatnot.