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January 18, 2018 - 12:54pm
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Bluesound Node 2 vs. MacBook Pro with nice DAC?
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You are right...if the Marantz wounds good and PC sounds bad it is the DAC in the PC. This is not a shock since the base DAC in a PC (including Macs) are pretty crappy.
Right now you can buy a brand new Cambridge Audio DAC Magic 100 at Needledoctor for $199. For the money this will be tough to beat. If you don't like it, Needledoctor has a 30 day return policy. If it is better than your Marantz, you can even attach the Marantz to it.
The Bluesound Node 2 is a nice unit but is a streamer, DAC and decodes MQA. That is a LOT of features for $500. It isn't the best DAC in the world. It isn't bad but I doubt it will significantly outperform the Cambridge or something like the Musical Fidelity V90 which you can get for $299.
@bierfeldt - Agreed. The Needledoctor is a solid product and for the price, you can't beat it. At the end, its all about how much you want to spend. Both setups do the job in my opinion.
Are you playing local files? If so, which types: mostly lossy or lossless?
Do you stream? Again, mostly lossy or lossless?
Does your legacy MacBook have optical out?
Thanks so much guys! This is exactly the kind of information/input I was hoping to get. Only thing I am going to try first is going from headphone jack to AV unit via Toslink instead of RCA, to see if that changes anything - did not realize that was possible until yesterday when I found out it sends that type of signal. There are some people online claiming the Mac DAC is great in the first place. I am thinking maybe they are not as much audiophiles as average people who find it surpasses their expectations, and I do think it's pretty good sounding when you put it in perspective. But does not match that Marantz. At all.
@mtymous1
Somehow I did not see your post before I posted. I am mainly streaming lossless files. I have Toslink out through the headphone jack of my 2012 MacBook Pro (did not realize this was a feature until recently, as many people do not.
Thought I would check back in. After researching the CA Dac Magic 100, which looked good, I ended up snagging a HRT Music Streamer II for $60 instead. Seemed like a good value. On it's way now.
Curious as to how your purchase fared.
Hey! So I was underwhelmed by the HRT, and sort of surprised by how underwhelmed I was, considering its praise. But this may have had to do with the fact that I was sending the DAC signal for more processing in the Nakamichi (no way to bypass processing on this receiver, I don't think). They did not work as well together as that Marantz CDP and the Nak do (which is just a really extremely clear sound) - it had a nice dynamic sound, but not any better than direct in to the Nak (different sounding, but not better) from the Macbook Pro, and not close to how good the Marantz sounds going into the Nak. In the meantime, I went off in another direction, got a really good price on a Musical Fidelity V90-DAC ($140 before shipping with a linear power supply thrown in) and have been testing it by just running it into a Dayton Audio DTA-1 - just to see how it sounds clean. I am happy enough with this DAC, I think, that I started exploring vintage amps, got an Adcom GFA-5200 (also at a good price) on its way and will run the V90 through a Schiit passive preamp to the Adcom and see how that sounds. As I imagine anyone on this forum can relate to, a simple goal has become a (luckily fun) odyssey. Now how did I get here in the first place?
You certainly jumped into this hobby head first. Glad yo hear you are having fun with it. The V-90 is a pretty good unit. Good luck and let us know what your thoughts are when the new equipment arrives.
Re-reading this thread, looks like you were the one who suggested the V90 in the first place! I'm on an extremely tight budget so hopefully it's a good value.
I am testing this setup now for the first time. Lot of power but is not quite doing it for me. It doesn't nearly match the clarity of the CDP>Nak. Maybe I should have gotten a Nak DAC, or taken your guys' recommendation on the Dac Magic.
I have just adjusted the sample rate on my Mac and I think this has made it sound quite a bit clearer. Sorry for the multiple posts.
How do you have it connected? USB? Optical?
I had it via USB, then just switched it over to optical 20 minutes ago - am testing it out. I think the amp itself is now a bit of a weak link. Audible buzz coming from the unit itself and traveling into the speakers.
"The coaxial input operates at sample rates up to 192kHz, the optical and USB up to 96kHz, all with 24-bit word length."
Not that it matters for CD-quality content, but I would have thought that USB was higher than optical.
Read more at https://www.stereophile.com/content/musical-fidelity-v90-dac-da-processor#fkqAcXEClqTY6cxR.99
As compared to USB, is the buzz more/less/same when connected via optical?
Well I had been reading around - a long thread on Head-Fi about USB vs Optical which went *way* over my head, but convinced me optical might be slightly preferred to USB if there was any difference at all. But I will check that out, too. The buzz is everpresent and about the same either way, I think. It's just a unit I bought off eBay claiming to be in 'good' condition, but this was likely more a judgement about it's aesthetics than sound. It probably needs caps & any number of doodads replaced, which could be a fun project - someone on diyaudio said biasing it a certain way will make it sound fantastic. This stuff is over my head, too, but I like a challenge.
You may just be hearing 60hz humm if it is “ever present”. I assume you mean that it is there just when you turn the system on regardless of whether it is playing or even if a source is connected.
https://www.audioholics.com/home-theater-connection/ground-loops-eliminating-system-hum-and-buzz
I find this is not uncommon in unbalanced gear and may be caused by lack of a common ground. On my old carver equipment that lacked the third ground prong on the ac power cord it was impossible to get rid of. The link above will give you suggestions on how to deal with it. The quality of the RCA cable connecting the amp to preamp can also impact this. Don’t go crazy but a good cable even from monoprice might take it away. The absolute cheapest cable from audioquest would also be a decent choice.
Yeah, that's it! I have seen reference to a '60hz hum' before but in all honesty had no idea what it meant. Yeah, it was there from the second I turned the thing on, before any wires were attached, etc. I will read through that and try what you suggested as well. Right now I'm just using a very basic RCA cable, and since you mention the relationship with the pre might impact the buzz, the fact that I am going into a passive pre with no power source/grounding at all might not help. Anyhoo.