USB DAC or Toslink To External DAC?

[Lasher]

Hi guys Im new here but have been doing a lot of reading and love the forum. I guess the title gives you a good summery of my question but I will try to give you a full description of what I want to do.

I want to know what would sound better a USB DAC or Using the Mini Toslink output of my IMac with the Beresford TC-7510 MK6/3 DAC? I will be connecting this to a Grado RA-1 HG(what can I say sometimes I like it LOUD

) and out to my Grado RS-1s. Any input would be of great help to me.

Thanks in advance
Lasher

 

[arterius2]

obviously toslink to beresford tc-7510 mk6/3 would be a better choice here mainly due to the fact that the beresford is one hell of a DAC to beat. and with their new release of mk6/3... just makes me wanna drool...................

 

[PhaedrusX]

i imagine that would depend entirely on which usb dac you are referring to.

 

[krmathis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhaedrusX /img/forum/go_quote.gif i imagine that would depend entirely on which usb dac you are referring to.

Exactly!
The quality of the DAC make a bigger impact of the result than the actual interface used to transfer the digital signal.

 

[Lasher]

Thanks Guys! From what I've been reading here and on some other sites the Beresford TC-7510 MK6/3 DAC is the way to go (for the money). I've been a bit of an Audio/Videophile for many years now but this is my first time getting serious about headphones. I just received my Grado RS-1's Friday and man am I Loving them

! So what do you guys think about the RA-1 HG as an amp for that setup? Is that a good choice from a Price/Performance standpoint? I know Music is more of a personal preference thing, the same here as it is with Speakers and Separates vs a stand a lone Receiver but is anyone running the Beresford/RA-1 combo that has tried different amps?

Thanks Again in advance

Lasher

 

[Maniac]

Quote:

Originally Posted by krmathis /img/forum/go_quote.gif Exactly! The quality of the DAC make a bigger impact of the result than the actual interface used to transfer the digital signal.

Indeed, but there's no reason not to use the interface that will allow your DAC to give its best, since you've already paid for the darn thing, might as well squeeze all its performance out.

 

[vincponc2610]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lasher /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hi guys Im new here but have been doing a lot of reading and love the forum. I guess the title gives you a good summery of my question but I will try to give you a full description of what I want to do. I want to know what would sound better a USB DAC or Using the Mini Toslink output of my IMac with the Beresford TC-7510 MK6/3 DAC? I will be connecting this to a Grado RA-1 HG(what can I say sometimes I like it LOUD ) and out to my Grado RS-1s. Any input would be of great help to me. Thanks in advance Lasher

Good question. I'm wondering the same about Beresford and EMU 0404USB.
Anyone have both to give me his feeling about the two boxes ?

 

[upstateguy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vincponc2610 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Good question. I'm wondering the same about Beresford and EMU 0404USB. Anyone have both to give me his feeling about the two boxes ?

I wonder if there is any difference in the optical out signal between the EMU0404USB and one of the plain jane USB to optical converters like this $49 one http://www.cryo-parts.com/pclink.html? One would think that 0s and 1s are hard to distort.

 

[vincponc2610]

Quote:

Originally Posted by upstateguy /img/forum/go_quote.gif I wonder if there is any difference in the optical out signal between the EMU0404USB and one of the plain jane USB to optical converters like this $49 one http://www.cryo-parts.com/pclink.html? One would think that 0s and 1s are hard to distort.

This one is only doing 24bits/48KHz spdif output, EME0404USB can do 24Bits/192KHz spdif output.
About optical signal quality, I don't know, in fact, I don't understand how 0 and 1 could be different, but some say that there is differences.

 

[upstateguy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vincponc2610 /img/forum/go_quote.gif This one is only doing 24bits/48KHz spdif output, EME0404USB can do 24Bits/192KHz spdif output. About optical signal quality, I don't know, in fact, I don't understand how 0 and 1 could be different, but some say that there is differences.

Do you know the KHz output of an IMac into the DAC?

And aren't CDs only 44.1KHz and DVDs 48K?

 

[Geoff Rymer]

O/T just regarding the amp, the RA-1 is well regarded by some, but there are plenty of other options available... I like my Mapletree EAR+ HD, but that is just one of many. You should check out the amps forum before pulling the trigger. Lots of good info!

 

[Lasher]

Thanks Geoff.
I've been reading in the Amp forum for a while now and man there are a lot of choices out there. I started a thread http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=269677 and would love to get some Impressions and Recomendations. Please stop in there and help a headphone noob out.

Thanks Again Guys

Lasher