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November 19, 2011 - 8:56am
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Is DAC important enough to add to first system for primarily digital music?
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Hopefully you've started off right by playing lossless format music files.
I'm pretty sure an external DAC in your price range would be an improvement, but how obvious the improvement might be, and thus is it worth it? Hard for me to say.
If I was in your position, and reasonably happy with the amp and speakers, I'd probably go for an external DAC. When in doubt, I like to work on the source end first.
a powered subwoofer to go with your book shelf speakers. Nothing makes more of an improvement to the sound than hearing the low end like it was meant to be heard. Not that one note BOOM you hear from a lot of car audio but tight detailed bass.
A DAC isn't going to be that obvious frankly. If you can, go where you can listen to several DACs and decide for yourself. Remember that level matching while listening is VERY important when comparing DACs or any audio component. The louder one will always sound "better".
I guess I'll have to go and do some more listening and see which makes the most sense (usually the case). Thanks for the info. As a follow up: any recomendations for that price range? DAC and/or sub.
The DAC is the heart and soul of a modern system. One gets far more bang for the buck there then anywhere else unless one spend very big bucks.
Hi Hogan.
I can't tell you what impact a DAC will have on your system, but I can tell you what it had on mine. I purchased a DacMagic almost a year ago, and have not regretted it for one second. I spent the first few hours basically stressing out trying to figure out if I was actually hearing an improvement, or if I just thought I was. The proof came when my roommate came home and walked in on me listening to some music. He didn't know I had bought the DAC, and doesn't have a tremendous interest in sound quality. Immediately though he was asking what I was doing different, and why everything sounded so much better. To summarize, I get better seperation of instruments, better soundstage, and most importantly, music grooves more than it did before I had it. Unlike many audiophiles, I don't value neutrality as the ultimate end-goal (not that there's anything wrong with that). I want emotional involvement. And that is what the DAC gave me. Highly recommended. I listened to the DacMagic and the Arcam RDac, and both sounded great. I'm sure others do as well, but I highly recommend the DacMagic, having lived with it myself. Good luck, and let us know what you decide on.
Dave
Due to space constraints and ease of use I'm finding myself using my iPod as primary source rather than computer. For this reason I'm leaning towards a unit like the iDac with a built in dock that bypasses the iPod's internal DAC. I see Cambridge has a dock that goes well with the DacMagic though. The price of those two components is slightly less than the iDac. Here's where my lack of knowledge comes in: I've always thought that the less connections and fewer parts involved the cleaner the sound will be. Am I better off getting a DAC with a dock or does it not matter if I have to add a dock with something like the DacMagic? Or is my Denon ASD-11R sufficient to use? Ha Ha clearly I'm new to this game. Appreciate all the help so far.
I just bought a DacMagic to play music from my PC, and I'd have to put my vote in for buying an external DAC. The sound difference was immediately noticable, double so when I did an A/B comparison. Instrument separation is much more apparent, and the soundstage was greatly expanded. Low frequencies were louder, clearer, and tighter, highs were more extended and precise. Even low quality (128kbps, etc) files sound better. Of course the biggest improvements were from FLACs and my library of 96/24 music.
A small powered subwoofer would also be something to look in to. Even an 8" sub could really add some weight to your music. I listen to a lot of techno and trust me, low frequencies are important. Opens up a whole new dimension to the sound.
Thanks for the input from everyone. I think I'm gonna try and get my hands on a DacMagic and then maybe an iD100 dock. Probably look at quality interconnectors and cables as next step. Then comes sub and so the cycle continues. Ha.