Ok....so I currently have an Emotiva dc-1, which is a great little dac, but unfortunately is not DSD capable. I wouldn't mind so much, but I have a Denon SACD player and I'd really like to hook it up to a compatible DAC.
I'll back up just a bit. I have a reasonable system comprising of Doge audio, 6 (cd player) Doge 8 (pre-amp) and Doge 9 (Monoblocks). I have an olive one player for flac files that I hook up to the Emotiva dc-1 and feed to the Doge 8.
Speakers are Tekton Pendragons.
The system is pretty impressive for the money sound-wise.
As I've started to get more into digital music, I dusted off my older Denon DCD-1500AE SACD player and tried to see what the difference would be v's my Doge 6 CD player. What I found really surprised me.
I'm a big Hiromi fan (who isn't?!) and I have most of her cd's and equivalent SACD's. I did a direct comparison with her Spiral album from a few years ago. Both the Denon 1500AE and Doge 6 were connected to the Doge 8 pre-amp. So a direct comparison between a CD and SACD from Telarc. Initially I thought I had mixed things up, but the Doge 6 with regular cd absolutely kicked the ass of the Denon SACD player. A really massive difference in clarity, depth and presence. I really expected the opposite. My only conclusion is that the DAC in the Denon must be pretty poor v's the Doge 6? Admittedly, I have upgraded the Doge 6 with several hundreds of $'s of Mullard NOS tubes. But the difference was very significant.
Anyway, for a while I had been thinking of upgrading my Emotiva Dac, not because it is in any way deficient, but purely because I'd like to have DSD capability and be able to bypass the Denon's Dac. However, I've been going around in circles about options. I have considered the following:-
Wyred 4 sound dac2-DSDse
Oppo HA-1
Eastern Electric MiniMax Dac supreme
LKS MH-D003
BMC Puredac
With the exception of the Oppo and BMC, my choices are aimed primarily at DAC only options. I don't particularly want to pay extra for a headphone amp or pre-amp....I have a great pre-amp and I intend getting a dedicated headphone amp later. I would like a really good quality DSD compatible dac that doesn't break the bank. My budget is $2500, but preferably under $2000. Although the Oppo has more functionality than I need, it is an interesting option, but I really don't need the headphone amp....which is essentially what it is!
I would also like the DAC to be a proper Hi-Fi component....not a pc-desktop device, so a full size component is preferable.
Another consideration is I'd like the dac to have switchable voltage as I move around a lot for work.
Any ideas / recommendations most welcome!
Stuart
Ok....so I currently have an Emotiva dc-1, which is a great little dac, but unfortunately is not DSD capable. I wouldn't mind so much, but I have a Denon SACD player and I'd really like to hook it up to a compatible DAC.
I'll back up just a bit. I have a reasonable system comprising of Doge audio, 6 (cd player) Doge 8 (pre-amp) and Doge 9 (Monoblocks). I have an olive one player for flac files that I hook up to the Emotiva dc-1 and feed to the Doge 8.
Speakers are Tekton Pendragons.
The system is pretty impressive for the money sound-wise.
As I've started to get more into digital music, I dusted off my older Denon DCD-1500AE SACD player and tried to see what the difference would be v's my Doge 6 CD player. What I found really surprised me.
I'm a big Hiromi fan (who isn't?!) and I have most of her cd's and equivalent SACD's. I did a direct comparison with her Spiral album from a few years ago. Both the Denon 1500AE and Doge 6 were connected to the Doge 8 pre-amp. So a direct comparison between a CD and SACD from Telarc. Initially I thought I had mixed things up, but the Doge 6 with regular cd absolutely kicked the ass of the Denon SACD player. A really massive difference in clarity, depth and presence. I really expected the opposite. My only conclusion is that the DAC in the Denon must be pretty poor v's the Doge 6? Admittedly, I have upgraded the Doge 6 with several hundreds of $'s of Mullard NOS tubes. But the difference was very significant.
Anyway, for a while I had been thinking of upgrading my Emotiva Dac, not because it is in any way deficient, but purely because I'd like to have DSD capability and be able to bypass the Denon's Dac. However, I've been going around in circles about options. I have considered the following:-
Wyred 4 sound dac2-DSDse
Oppo HA-1
Eastern Electric MiniMax Dac supreme
LKS MH-D003
BMC Puredac
With the exception of the Oppo and BMC, my choices are aimed primarily at DAC only options. I don't particularly want to pay extra for a headphone amp or pre-amp....I have a great pre-amp and I intend getting a dedicated headphone amp later. I would like a really good quality DSD compatible dac that doesn't break the bank. My budget is $2500, but preferably under $2000. Although the Oppo has more functionality than I need, it is an interesting option, but I really don't need the headphone amp....which is essentially what it is!
I would also like the DAC to be a proper Hi-Fi component....not a pc-desktop device, so a full size component is preferable.
Another consideration is I'd like the dac to have switchable voltage as I move around a lot for work.
Any ideas / recommendations most welcome!
Stuart