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February 8, 2015 - 11:46am
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Advise me on bang-for-buck in upgrading
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It's the most important part of the system.
Crap in, crap out.
Would like to have a CD player. Would be even nicer to have something that will also allow me to listen to Tidal. Any recommendations here?
to a good dac. DAC's needn't or I should say really shouldn't be that expensive anymore. It's not like LP tables or cassette decks or CD players, there aren't really any mechanics that have to be perfected. Really nice DAC's can be had from 300.00 to 1000.00 USD.
Good luck!
Thanks. The Emotive XDA-2 is actually a DAC-preamp. Comparing the sound from my iPod alone to the iPod through the XDA-2, there is a big improvement in soundstage, detail retrieval, etc. Should I be looking at something more in a DAC? I cannot use the XDA-2 DAC without also using its pre-amp - no digital out - so that would mean purchasing a pre-amp as well. I'm trying to keep the growth in my set-up linear, and focusing on the music. I'll never afford a $10,000 system, but can make a few component bumps as I go.
This is a really tough request. The difficulty is the Emotiva stuff you have is very good for the money and you are going to spend to top it in a noticeable way. Those maggies are great.
You might want to pick up a Sonos or Squeezebox unit to support lossless streaming from Tidal. They have a list of devices that support them on the website.
I would then get either a Marantz CD 5004 if you want a straight CD player or an Oppo BDP 103 if you want a BluRay. That will give you an excellent quality CD player for the money at $400 to $500. One thing you could look into is if there is an app for Tidal that will play off the Oppo.
Finally, are you using balanced cables? If you are using the Emotiva balanced cables between the Pre/DAC and your power amp, you are good. If not, spend about $40 and get yourself two balanced cables - I think Emotiva sells them for about $20 each. You currently have good speaker wire.
Any other cables you need, I would look at AudioQuest. Since you have that nice DAC you will probably want to run a toslink or digital coax from a CD player.
Unless you want to add analog devices like a turntable, you should be good. I would just focus on getting high quality sources.
Get a OPPO BDP-103
Thanks for the feedback, bierfeldt! For high quality sources, you would mean a good CD Player? I wish there were a device that was both a CD player AND a port/dock/whatever to allow me to export bits from my iPhone 6 to the DAC. In lieu of that, I think my next buy is a decent CD Player. The Oppo seems to get rave reviews, though I don't really need BluRay. No app for Tidal, though they seem to be considering it.
Yes, I mean CD player when I say high quality source.
Because of the way your pre amp / DAC is setup, you are going to bypass the DAC on whatever CD player you buy so you are really just looking for a great transport. If you don't need BluRay or don't have a TV available, I would probably just get a Marantz or NAD CD Player. Or, at the end of the month it looks like Emotiva is releasing a new CD player.