[AT0MAC]

Me and a colleague had a talk yesterday about witch solution should theoretically give the best sound:
 
One Wolfson WM8741 DAC chip as in my Arcam rDAC
or...
Two Wolfson WM8740 in serial as found in the upcoming DACMagic Plus from Cambridge Audio?
 
 
Another thing, what is the benefit by putting two DACs after each other, in serial?

 

[leeperry]

dual mono always beats stereo in the audio world, but don't get too hung up on the DAC chip model number as its output stage will make far more audible difference.
 

 

[germanium]

Quote:

Me and a colleague had a talk yesterday about witch solution should theoretically give the best sound:
 
One Wolfson WM8741 DAC chip as in my Arcam rDAC
or...
Two Wolfson WM8740 in serial as found in the upcoming DACMagic Plus from Cambridge Audio?
 
 
Another thing, what is the benefit by putting two DACs after each other, in serial?

You cannot run them serially unless you have an ADC between because a second DAC has no way to proccess an analog signal input. you can use them in parrallel or in a push pull mode, one running the positive phase & the other running the opposit phase & the summing them in the analog domain before sening them out the analog output jack. This last way improve the signal to noise ratio somewhat but most good DACs anymore are already good enough in this respect that you will never hear the difference. It's ONLY  important in the SPECS RACE. 
 

 

[MaciekN]

Well, I'd choose wm8741, selectable filter types and rolloffs ftw, great improvement over wm8740. But you are not listening to the chip only, obviously, design & components ftw, so sadly this discussion is pointless.

 

[analogue 3]

Bumping because I'd be interested to hear any more input. I was considering the ibasso d12 dac/amp combo with dual wm8740 chips vs the practical devices' xm6 dac/amp which has the option of upgrading to a single wm8741 chip. Mainly interested since I already have a desktop dac with dual wm8740 so I figured that if I decide to purchase a portable dac/amp (esp once usb audio out for android is finally officially enabled), it would be great if were also be an upgrade/replacement for my desktop DAC.
 

 

[AT0MAC]

Actually I have kind of answered my own question...
 
I ended up buying the Cambridge DAC Magic PLUS and sell my Arcam rDAC - so for a little while I used both in the exact same setup.
 
The Arcam, with it' s one WM8741, sounds very natural, warm and easy - a really musical DAC .. on the other hand the Cambridge with it's two 8740 in dual differential mode sounds so much more open, super detailed like a knife on a window crystal clear and spacious. I prefer the Cambridge because now I hear details I never heard before, sure my bass is not the same because it's a lot brighter, but my bass is slightly more punchy because it's not as warm, so it's a tradeoff I am willing to take.
 
As others have said, the DAC it self is only half the story, the build can make a huge difference too so maybe others have other opinions about this...

 

[analogue 3]

^Thanks for the update and providing a detailed comparison between dual WM8740 vs single WM8741. The post was perfect since my desktop DAC is also a Dacmagic (not the plus version though) with dual WM8740s. I'll hold off on getting a portable dac/amp until there's something like the amp/dac inside the ibasso dx100 available. Ideal would be something for android/windows/usb which is comparable to that expensive 32bit fostex HP-P1 device for apple...but hopefully more reasonably priced.
 
From the DX100 thread, people are saying that it (with ES9018 DAC chip) sounds better than the iBasso DB2(dual WM8740s DAC)+PB2(balanced headphone amp), so it looks like a single ES9018 can sound better than dual WM8740s if it's implemented well. Not sure when, if ever, the ES9018 will be seen in a portable headphone DAC/Amp combo device.

 

[cyberalpha11]

Is it true that the Wolfson DAC chip for WM8740 is higher performance than WM8716?
Please comment.