Quote:
Originally Posted by adam_eu /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Hi,
I was ready to buy STX as a DAC last but I've heard a lot opinions that stand alone dac would be better source. HP amp in STX is not my point because I'm going to use external amp with my k701.
STX in my country is 250$ (local pickup) so is there a better stand alone DAC in this price range (want to buy used)?
So what to do? Buy stx and amp, dac and amp or dac/amp combo?
adam
|
I have a pair of 701's and a pair of Grado 325i's and since I wanted the best sound possible out of them (that I could afford) so I bought a Cute Beyond and Supplier HP amp and power supply. In my opinion the Cute Beyond is very nice for the money and after swapping the stock op-amp out for two OPA627's on an adapter (cost $37) the Cute now sounds like a more expensive amp.
I bought the Asus STX a couple weeks ago (it replaced a Prelude 7.1) and I'm extremely pleased with it's performance. I use it in my office system and run it straight into my preamp and listen to either B&W 805's or their CDM 1NT's along with a Velodyne.
When I switch over to HP listening I've been using the HP amp on the STX instead of the newly upgraded Cute Beyond. I'm not saying that it's better than the Cute (I don't believe that it is) but it's clean and drives either set of phones easily and sounds a whole lot better than I'm use to hearing from a sound card.
My plan is to keep using the HP amp on the STX for a while longer and if I continue to enjoy it then I'll move the Cute Beyond and "Supplier" to my bedroom night stand. This was my hope with I bought the STX, that it would free up the Cute to be used in another room without having to buy another HP amp.
Just this past Saturday I brought in a pair of Magnepan 1.5's and swapped the 805's out for the Maggie's, using the STX as the source sounded fantastic with those speakers as well. The sound stage extended far beyond the side walls and the music seemed the go much deeper than the wall behind the Maggie's.
I find the STX to be incredibly clean sounding, the music jumps out from a dead silent background and images seem to have a lot of space/air around them.
I listened to several CD's over the weekend but one by Alison Krauss (Alison Krauss & Union Station - New Favorite) was at times down right spooky with how it sounded as if the singer was right there in the room. I love her voice but Bluegrass/country isn't my favorite type of music but I found myself leaving the CD in and ended up listening to it several times over the weekend.
There's a lot of good gear out there, I originally was going to buy a stand alone DAC as well but now I'm glad I didn't and instead went with the STX. Digital sources are getting better and better all the time so for "me" the STX made the most sense, especially since it comes with the built in HP amp.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do.
