DAC around INR 100k

[ranjeetrain]

I have been recently thinking over getting a good quality DAC. My current benchmarks are Benchmark DAC 1 and Nuforce Icon HDP. In fact I prefer the Nuforce over the Benchmark for the reason I have spoken about here previously.

Honestly I don't know how much to spend on it. Just starting out with a rough figure of 1 lac in my mind. Now, 1 lac is quite open. The value I will get out of that money will be very different if I buy new and if I buy used. So again, I am not sure what it would be. May be I can take something used if there is a good deal out there.

I will also consider a CD player, if it can double as a DAC.

My preference would be something neutral sounding. Not bottom heavy, not top heavy, just give me what the recording has.

Open to suggestions! Thanks in advance!

 

[srinisundar]

Since you are looking for neutral sounding, Bryston BDA-1 DAC, new pricing will be in India will be 1.5L above..In abroad you will be able to get it for $1750+..Rare to see in used market in India.

 

[reignofchaos]

If you are willing to import, I'd suggest these two pro solutions

Prism Lyra-1
Mytek Stereo 192 DSD DAC

The former is just a very good dac - extremely pure sounding. The latter is the new kid on the block. Seemingly sounds very very good and as a bonus supports DSD streaming over usb.

I'd also suggest you audition the acoustic portrait dac. All I've heard are good things about it.

The least expensive CD Player with digital inputs I'm aware of that sounds good is the Ayon CD-07s. However its around 30-40% more than your budget.

 

[iaudio]

Some options that come to mind are the Anedio D2, Acoustic Portrait dac, Wyred4sound etc.
Are you looking at NOS or something that does Hi-res?

 

[mpw]

audiolab cdp with inbuilt dac

mpw

 

[ranjeetrain]

If you are willing to import, I'd suggest these two pro solutions

Prism Lyra-1
Mytek Stereo 192 DSD DAC

The former is just a very good dac - extremely pure sounding. The latter is the new kid on the block. Seemingly sounds very very good and as a bonus supports DSD streaming over usb.

I'd also suggest you audition the acoustic portrait dac. All I've heard are good things about it.

The least expensive CD Player with digital inputs I'm aware of that sounds good is the Ayon CD-07s. However its around 30-40% more than your budget.

The DSD option on Mytek is tempting for sure. However, there are hardly any downloads available in DSD. But it seems like a nice feature to have.

Ayon is one of the contenders I have on my mind. This is one of the fool-proof options with which one can't really go wrong. So, that is definitely there at the back of my mind. Budget will have to be seen. I don't have a specific budget in my mind. I need a significant jump over Benchmark and Nuforce. It remains to be seen what do I end up with.

Some options that come to mind are the Anedio D2, Acoustic Portrait dac, Wyred4sound etc.
Are you looking at NOS or something that does Hi-res?

Wyred4Sound also has a good reputation. Besides this is one of the few options that I will be able to avail the opportunity to audition. So, this one is a definite entry in my shortlist.

All my media is 16/44 and up. So despite a want to try an NOS DAC I must go for a high res capable. It will help if it has a defeatable upsampling. However, at that price it may be too much to ask for. Options open.

Since you are looking for neutral sounding, Bryston BDA-1 DAC, new pricing will be in India will be 1.5L above..In abroad you will be able to get it for $1750+..Rare to see in used market in India.

Yeah, Bryston could be worth considering.

audiolab cdp with inbuilt dac

mpw

I am shooting a bit higher than that.

 

[SatMumbai]

I am in the same situation. I have high expectations coming from Classe CP-800.

I am going to ditch the traditional way of a stand-alone DAC. I see the future proof way is HDMI based implementation and I think Oppo BDP-105 fits my bill perfectly.

Please don't discount it based on its bluray playing capability. It has got one of the best implementation of ESS Sabre DAC (same BDP-95) and gives you all the inputs including two HDMI, doubles as a pre-amp as the analogue output stage is good.

If my predictions go well, Oppo will be a huge contender against all these stand alone DACs in a slightly premium categories.

If you feel this way like me, do let me know how one can buy Oppo BDP-105 in India

I am trying to buy one here but unable to find any

 

[alankar1977]

You could look at DAC's by AudioNote
Audio Note Home Page

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

If you are willing to import, I'd suggest these two pro solutions

Prism Lyra-1
Mytek Stereo 192 DSD DAC

The former is just a very good dac - extremely pure sounding. The latter is the new kid on the block. Seemingly sounds very very good and as a bonus supports DSD streaming over usb.

The Prism is a fully-fledged interface and it is a box that probably many studios would be proud to own. Amazing thing! Thought... can it be used stand-alone as in not connected to a computer?

Mytek... looks interesting, first time I have heard of it.

The least expensive CD Player with digital inputs I'm aware of that sounds good is the Ayon CD-07s. However its around 30-40% more than your budget.

If budget is restricted, I think there is a NAD model with digital input. around 500 to 600 in Singapore Dollars? Probably not as high reputation as Ayon. At my budget level, I think I can afford NAD, but not Ayon: I think Ranjeetrain is willing to pay quite a lot more more

Ranjeetrain, what sources/transports are you going to connect to your DAC, and how?

 

[sidvee]

Prism Lyra-1

+1. I heard the Prism Orpheus in FM Sameer's system. IMO, in direct comparison to the DAC in his Ayon CD2, the Prism was superior in the fact that it was able to create the most analog like presentation. I am planning to test the same with my setup and if it betters the DAC in my Ayon Cd2s, I will plan to get a Orpheus as well.

Cheers,
Sid

 

[ranjeetrain]

Ranjeetrain, what sources/transports are you going to connect to your DAC, and how?

Ah good catch. Missed on that!

Thad, as of now I will use a computer as a transport. One of my laptops serves the duty. But when things settle down, I will either have a desktop system, or a capable network receiver, not 100% sure as of now.

I did think of getting a Marantz NA7004 at some point in time. It just seemed like what the doc ordered. But then I realized, I run computers nearly 24x7 anyway. Besides I always have one or two computers sitting idle all the time, so why invest in a network receiver.

But good point you asked. I need something that can use at least three means of connectivity. (1) USB, (2) Digital in (3) Direct Network input would be a bonus (4) Analog input will be a super bonus. First two are mandatory as of now.

Tomorrow, i don't know for sure, I might add a Teac VRDS transport. I keep coming across good deal on them. That would cover me on the front of spinning disks once in a blue moon.

+1. I heard the Prism Orpheus in FM Sameer's system. IMO, in direct comparison to the DAC in his Ayon CD2, the Prism was superior in the fact that it was able to create the most analog like presentation.

That's a good news! Is Prism available in India? When and where is your audition planned?

 

[ranjeetrain]

If you feel this way like me, do let me know how one can buy Oppo BDP-105 in India (

Hear hear! You are asking when can we start a group buy for BDP-105, isn't it

Fingers crossed

 

[BLASTO]

^^^^ As far as I have seen, the DAC improve on the sound signature of the digital inputs connected to them.
So if the digital source is inferior, so will the DAC sound too.

I know its digital and it should not affect sound all that BUT IT DOES. I think I will die without knowing the reason!

 

[sidvee]

That's a good news! Is Prism available in India? When and where is your audition planned?

Yes Prism is available in India but what I understand at a significant cost penalty. There is a dealer in Mumbai. If I decide on it I will plan to pick up mine from the US. The audition will be in my own system, in a few weeks time.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[ranjeetrain]

Does transport make a difference?

^^^^ As far as I have seen, the DAC improve on the sound signature of the digital inputs connected to them.
So if the digital source is inferior, so will the DAC sound too.

I know its digital and it should not affect sound all that BUT IT DOES. I think I will die without knowing the reason!

As much as I hate to admit this, it is very recently that I have been able to conclusively conclude that transport does make a difference.

Here is my little enlightenment story, FWIW, and for those who interested. Take a coffee folks, may be a bit long and boring.

A couple weeks ago I visited FM Arun's house to hear his Consonance Opera + Evolution Acoustics setup (this is anther story altogether that I still haven't posted listening impression of his system. My bad, sorry Arun ). Since my long term transport my HP Elitebook laptop was stolen, I took my wife's Sony W-series netbook to do the duty in the interim. I thought "it hardly makes a difference". I did the OS again, did my tweaks and I was set to go. Boy, I was going to surprise myself later. I did all that and then back to usual, no critical listening done.

A few days/weeks later I visited Arun and noticed that my Transport + Dac (Sony W-series in to Nuforce Icon) didn't sound as bold and beautiful as it did at Li Min Audio (Evolution Acoustics dealer that I spoke about in Evolution Acoustics MMMicroOne review earlier). At Arun's place we again got an opportunity to do an extensive A/B between Nuforce Icon HDP and Benchmark DAC as Arun owns a Benchmark. There Benchmark seemed to have slight edge. Nuforce always needed to be pushed to the max volume to match Benchmark's performance.

When I came back home, I started to think why my setup (Laptop + DAC) wasn't sounding as good as it did in the past. Since I didn't get an easy answer, I decided to find out the longer way. I pulled my reserve stock of gear and spent next couple days listening to my various computers through various DACs and Amps and Cans. Here is what the outcome was: the transport does make a difference. Even over USB. The difference was subtle but identifiable in an A/B. I wanted to create a thread specifically for this, but since this is kind of a controversial topic I didn't do so.

Turned out, my Sony W-series netbook wasn't doing as good a job as my HP Elitebook did. When I pushed my newest HP Probook into transport service, I felt that the lost 2-3% that I was missing was back into my music.

Here are some pics from my marathon 2-3 days shootout.

As of now, my best sounding laptop (over USB) is HP Probook 6460. Talk about transport not making a difference

 

[SatMumbai]

Hear hear! You are asking when can we start a group buy for BDP-105, isn't it

Fingers crossed

There.. there.. You said it out loud.. Can we please please do this ??!!

Now only I know how to do the same for Odyssey Power Amp, my HiFi will be set

 

[SatMumbai]

Re: Does transport make a difference?

As of now, my best sounding laptop (over USB) is HP Probook 6460. Talk about transport not making a difference

Transport does make a difference and I am with you on that. However the difference is relatively small when compared to changing a pair of speakers!

I see you didn't use a Macbook Air for this purpose. I would say MBA is the best laptop for USB and if I am proven wrong it would be nice learning for me! It looks like you are in Delhi. If it was Mumbai I would have convinced you to check out with my stock MBA.

Though I said this before in another thread, no harm in repeating this.. I am not a fan of Apple as a company and I almost hate them but I love they design and build the products (MBA and Mac Mini)!

 

[ranjeetrain]

There.. there.. You said it out loud.. Can we please please do this ??!!

Now only I know how to do the same for Odyssey Power Amp, my HiFi will be set

Let me check the feasibility. I hope we can do that!

Oh I do have Odyssey. Which Odyssey are you after?

 

[ranjeetrain]

Re: Does transport make a difference?

I see you didn't use a Macbook Air for this purpose. I would say MBA is the best laptop for USB and if I am proven wrong it would be nice learning for me! It looks like you are in Delhi. If it was Mumbai I would have convinced you to check out with my stock MBA.

I owned an Apple iMac for several years. DVD writer started giving trouble and all my other machines were Windows. So made a switch and became a Windoz guy forever.

My primary usage for the Apple iMac was --- to use it as an iPod with 17 inch screen :yahoo: I kid you not

Transport does make a difference and I am with you on that. However the difference is relatively small when compared to changing a pair of speakers!

Though I said this before in another thread, no harm in repeating this.. I am not a fan of Apple as a company and I almost hate them but I love they design and build the products (MBA and Mac Mini)!

I have to agree with you on that word-for-word, both the parts. Transport made a maximum of 2-3% of difference to me (so far). That too it took me a long A/B to conclusively conclude that. Whereas a change in speaker can be identified by even a half deaf.

If you take out the value part, Apple rocks. So sad they are no less a monopolists than Microsoft or Google and they cripple their products to an irritating extent.

 

[ranjeetrain]

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