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Originally Posted by rappsy /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Hi:
Still confused about the 131 with the modified ops against the 151. Seems to be that Maniac is saying that overall, the 131 sounds better and with the modified OPS the machine is a current as the 151 even though it is an earlier machine.
I originally started looking to better my CD player, but have come to the conclusion that getting a DAC is the way to go. I also realize that the 131 would work fine with the digital out of my player. Seemingly, this is the way to go, BUT, and you knew that there would be a but, that the future is computerized music and I have been loading my CD's onto a computer as well as picking some up ttracks with downloads. So to be prepared for the eventuality of having my computer playing all my music, I need to have a USB input on my DAC.
So do I opt for the better sound on an older CD player with the 131 or use the computer which I am leaning to and then I have to use the 151 for the USB input? The 151 doesn't go as high (96 instead of 192) so what will I be missing? Is there a way to convert with a cable a USB out of the computer to the SPDIF cable or is there a USB/SPDIF cable and then would I still get the benefit of the 131?
I am leaning to these DAC's as the seem to have the sound I am looking and hoping for, but I also am looking at something like the Musiland MD10 which has every input, but is there a noticeable different between the Musiland and KECES?
Thanks very much.
Lenny...
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Well, a few points about the difference between the two.
DA-131 and DA-151 are both the same generation of KECES DAC, but DA-151 is geared toward computer user that is looking to go beyond entry level without spending too much. While DA-131 is designed to be one step above that.
DA-151's supported sample rate is 16bit 32/44.1/48KHz, and it does extremely well playing back musics from CD quality recordings. I feel it is safe to say that it will give a lot of similarly price product a good run for the money. As for what you would be missing, unless you are using recording that already have much more data (Like those ones from Linn Record downloads), then you might miss something. But if all you do is CD playback, you won't miss much other than the inherent advantage that DA-131 have over DA-151.
DA-131 can be viewed as a completely different beast, as it does not have most of DA-151's limitation, such as the sample rate is up to 24bit/192KHz, and the signal path contains no coupling capacitor or DC Servo.
If you need to use your computer as source, you can also consider getting a high quality digital output card like EMU 1212M or RME's card. When paired up with DA-131, they perform extremely well, and you can support much higher sample rate than otherwise possible.