[ChrisII]

Hello all,

I'm an new member about to pull the trigger on some brand new speakers, but also am interested in upgrading my source.

Most of my music is encoded in 192kbps WMAs (Napster To Go).

Here is what I currently own:

Xitel Hi-Fi link pro
Roksan Kandy MkIII
Focal-JMLabs Chrous 707S
Black Rhodium Interconnects
PS Audio "Prelude" Speaker Wire.

Now, I'm upgrading the speakers to some Dynaudio Audience 62s or Focal 816Vs.

The main problem

How should I go about upgrading the source? As far as I know, the Xitel is capable of passing through the audio signal via it's coaxial or optical inputs; I'm currently using it's onboard DAC for obvious reasons (no digital input on integrated amp)

As far as I have read here, the choices are:

-USB DAC
-Soundcard + Conventional DAC *
-Squeezebox

I'm worried about the USB DAC: even though special drivers exist (ASIO?) I'm concerned that I won't be getting the absolute best quality.

However, I'm only listening to 192kbps WMAs... good but maybe not "reference quality".

Thanks for help, it's most appreciated... not to many knowledgeable people in the various hi-fi shops I've visited.

Budget: 750USD MAXXXX

* I could also replace my current Xitel for something better, and then use a conventional dac: I'm not sure if it has any impact on the quality, but I've read that some external USB soundcards are limited by the fact they're only USB 1.1

 

[agile_one]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChrisII /img/forum/go_quote.gif ... Most of my music is encoded in 192kbps WMAs (Napster To Go) ...

There is your limiting factor. Have you considered lossless formats or higher bit rate encoding? Worth a test, if you have not previously compared. Many claim they can not hear differences, but many of us can and do hear improvement going to lossless.

With your current hardware lineup I would say you are right at the cusp of being able to hear improvement going to higher bit rate or lossless music. As you improve hardware from here, it will be the music files that are holding you back.

To answer your question, though, you are on the right track in seeing the dac in the Xitel as the weakest hardware link. For $750, I would be looking for an Apogee mini-Dac or Benchmark DAC1. You can likely find an Apogee with USB connection for that, but will probably need to settle for a Benchmark without USB. A Squeezebox would also be a fine solution, but you would ultimately want a better dac than its built in one.

Good luck, and have fun.

 

[ChrisII]

Yeah, I know that lossless is THE way to go, but I don't have the heart to buy CDs anymore, especially these over-hyped, under delivering CDs with 2-5 tracks that deserve a listen.

That's why I'm using Napster to GO, because it allows me to try virtually anything, and pick what I like for the monthly flat fee.

I know apple is currently offering some sort of lossless download for an extra 0.25$ a track, but I don't like apple's business model (doesn't allow you to download unlimited tracks for a fixed fee...)

Maybe my best bet is to get an intermediate solution like the squeezebox... no sense in spending mega-bucks on a DAC-based solution if the quality of my music is holding me back...

Any other thoughts people?

 

[blessingx]

Apple isn't selling lossless tracks.

I say stick to the content. 192 kbps WMA is good to enough the music. You can still increase the SQ over the Xitel Hi-Fi link pro (if it sounds anything like the non-pro version). Even mid-bitrate tracks benefit from a better DAC, but I wouldn't go crazy with expenses if you're sticking to tracks at that quality. I was playing similar music through a Scott Nixon TubeDAC+ at one point. And don't be concerned with 2 channel sound through USB 1.1. That's plenty of bandwidth.

And welcome to Head-Fi.