HRT Music Streamer II VS my current DAC
Mar 30, 2012 at 12:44 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 13
xxlap1xx

xxlap1xx

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Hey guys, I currently have a ~10 years old Yamaha RX-V800 receiver. And it's connected through my computer by toslink, so I'm using my receiver's built-in DAC for my audios. Anyways, I've been looking for some upgrades recently but I'm not sure if it'll consider as an upgrade or not. I'm currently interested in the HRT MS II (not the + version) and I'm curious if I'll be gaining any improvements over my receiver's DAC. Can anyone shed some lights on me and tell me what kind of DAC does my receiver have? Any help will be appreciated.
 
Spec of the RX-V800
 
Mar 30, 2012 at 4:54 PM Post #2 of 13
I doubt that Yamaha ever printed specifics of where the silicon came from - TI, Wolfson or wherever - but that's much less important than implementation. Your receiver is optimised for movies - big explosions and surround sound processing - some have a 'direct' mode for music, but my point is that Yamaha's primary motivation in building your receiver was not 2-channel music playback. If it does a good job usiing, I assume, your 2 rear speakers then you are fortunate, but the MSII was designed from the ground up to do one thing and do it well. The internals are nothing special - again, its the implementation that sets this budget DAC apart. If you want pristine levels of detail, you need to spend more money, but for an engaging and very enjoyable experience for minimal bucks, this DAC has made me very happy for almost 18 months. Highly recommended. 
 
Dont get too hung up on the Head-Fi obsession with silicon - sure, you dont build a fast car with a lawnmower engine, but I have enough faith in the people who build good kit to accept that they know that. If it was as simple as soldering chip XYZ to a board and calling it a 'killer DAC', LG and Samsung would have flooded the market with killer DACs years ago, and you could pick one up at K-Mart for $59.95. 
 
Mar 30, 2012 at 5:41 PM Post #3 of 13


Quote:
estreeter said:
I doubt that Yamaha ever printed specifics of where the silicon came from - TI, Wolfson or wherever - but that's much less important than implementation. Your receiver is optimised for movies - big explosions and surround sound processing - some have a 'direct' mode for music, but my point is that Yamaha's primary motivation in building your receiver was not 2-channel music playback. If it does a good job........................
 
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. I now have a better idea of which route I should take. I also wanted to ask, would it be better if I go for a MSII+ and still be using my current receiver for amplification? What I'm afraid of is the bottleneck I'll be getting from my current receiver.
 
But if I were to go for an upgrade for my amp, which two channels amps do you recommend at around $500 range? Sorry I'm very new at these stuff.
I'm currently interested in the NAD C 326EE. Do you think if it's worth it for spending $500 on this for upgrading from my current amp?
 
Mar 30, 2012 at 10:58 PM Post #5 of 13


Quote:
skidood said:
I am familiar with Yamaha RX-V800 ...I bought one for my mother.   I dont think that upgrade is worth the 500, unless the NAD is rated at more than 35W per channel and you would like more power.
 
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I see, I'll probably pickup a MSII+ first since it has many good reviews out there. But regarding about the NAD, it says "2 x 50W Continuous Power into 4 ohms and 8 ohms". Isn't this mean that it has 50W per side, left and right?
 
Mar 30, 2012 at 11:36 PM Post #6 of 13
First off does your computer have an HDMI output?
One option is to sell off your current receiver and use the cash you were going to use to get the DAC and get a new A/V receiver.
Yamaha RX-A700 will sometime go on sale for $325.
This Yamaha comes with 24/192 Burr-Brown DACs
The HDMI is the best way to send digital audio from a computer to an A/V receiver.
 
Mar 31, 2012 at 1:26 PM Post #8 of 13


Quote:
purpleangel said:
First off does your computer have an HDMI output?
One option is to sell off your current receiver and use the cash you were going to use to get the DAC and get a new A/V receiver.
Yamaha RX-A700 will sometime go on sale for $325.
This Yamaha comes with 24/192 Burr-Brown DACs
The HDMI is the best way to send digital audio from a computer to an A/V receiver.
Click to expand...



Yes, from my video card lol. I did a bit of research and the RX-A700 is pretty popular for budget built considering the power it has.
 
 
 
Mar 31, 2012 at 2:31 PM Post #9 of 13


Quote:
xxlap1xx said:
Yes, from my video card lol. I did a bit of research and the RX-A700 is pretty popular for budget built considering the power it has.
Click to expand...

The RX-A700 is on close out (price drop) to make room for the newer RX-A710.
The Yamaha RX-A700 (3 year warranty) & RX-V667 (2 year warranty) are 98% the same.
The Yamaha RX-A700 & RX-V667 are the cheapest Yamaha receivers with the better amplifiers,
and they have full Blu-ray audio support.
They come with Silent Cinema, which is surround sound for headphones.

 
 
 
 
Mar 31, 2012 at 3:43 PM Post #10 of 13


Quote:
purpleangel said:
The RX-A700 is on close out (price drop) to make room for the newer RX-A710.
The Yamaha RX-A700 (3 year warranty) & RX-V667 (2 year warranty) are 98% the same.
The Yamaha RX-A700 & RX-V667 are the cheapest Yamaha receivers with the better amplifiers,
and they have full Blu-ray audio support.
They come with Silent Cinema, which is surround sound for headphones.

 
 
 
Click to expand...


But the thing is that my hdmi can't carry anything over 24/44(or 48) tho.. but my optical out can do 24/192. So that's my problem. What makes hdmi good at carrying audios? I'd thought all digital outs are the same, it just depends on whether if the DAC is good at converting the signals.
 
 
Mar 31, 2012 at 6:33 PM Post #11 of 13


Quote:
xxlap1xx said:
But the thing is that my HDMI can't carry anything over 24/44(or 48) tho.. but my optical out can do 24/192. So that's my problem. What makes HDMI good at carrying audios? I'd thought all digital outs are the same, it just depends on whether if the DAC is good at converting the signals.
Click to expand...

What make and model video card are you using?
Where did you see this limit (24/44/48) to the HDMI?
HDMI can carry 24/192 audio
HDMI is the only way to send Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, optical can not.
 
 
 
 
Mar 31, 2012 at 6:53 PM Post #12 of 13


Quote:
purpleangel said:
What make and model video card are you using?
Where did you see this limit (24/44/48) to the HDMI?
HDMI can carry 24/192 audio
HDMI is the only way to send Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, optical can not.
 
 
 
Click to expand...


I see, my card is a gtx580. The limit is from my playback devices settings in Win7, under the "Advanced" tab.
 
 
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