Dac

[mpw]

thad,

there is the "how does it sound" and there is " does it sound logical " debate.

There are ways to improve the former and since common sense is rare.. the latter needs a wealth of wisdom to understand.

Always appreciated the wisdom Thad.

mpw

 

[corElement]

On a note of DAC's I wish I could afford this and there was some way of changing the power to 220v

Electrocompaniet ECD1 modded 24/192 Upsampling DAC | DA Converters | Mill Valley, California 94941 | AudiogoN - The High-end Audio Community

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

thad,

there is the "how does it sound" and there is " does it sound logical " debate.

There are ways to improve the former and since common sense is rare.. the latter needs a wealth of wisdom to understand.

Always appreciated the wisdom Thad.

mpw

Thank you, mpw, much appreciated.

I shall certainly still be contributing to those debates with as much interest as before . I haven't done with learning yet!

 

[mpw]

a $100 DAC cannot outgun a $600 CDP. It is fanciful of me to even dream that the ODAC will sould better.

But i expected it to come at par.

I think there is a bit of thinness in the midrange to the sound. Like someone sucked the mango dry in the middle while leaving the top and bottom lush and luscious )

The Marantz SA 7001 is able to dig deeper especially into instrumental genre.

It is possible the NAD is not too adept at playing instrumental but hey.. i am only changing 1 variable ( the ODAC Vs CDP ).

Again it could be the quality of the flac's i am playing.. some flac files sound good on the odac while some clearly dont. Thats a reflection of the CD quality too i suppose but the point i am making is that the Marantz plays the CD's better than the ODAC plays the FLAC's.

Or maybe i need to understand more about computers and DAC's.. maybe some tweaking required.. maybe more comparison..

Maybe i will put back the Valabs and see what happens.

Someone is coming home this weekend with a few DAC's to tryout.. maybe that will help me..

A $100 is a $100 after all but i am just trying to maximise the value for my room and setup.

mpw

 

[Audiodoc]

The quality of the recording is very important if your DAC is revealing which the ODAC is. Bad quality and badly recorded tracks are not musical to say the least. This becomes much worse if the rest of the chain enhances the caveats of the recording.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

a $100 DAC cannot outgun a $600 CDP. It is fanciful of me to even dream that the ODAC will sould better.

Well, its designer uses the Benchmark dac as a ,errr ...benchmark, and isn't that one hell of a lot more?

Not that he claims the ODAC sounds better. In fact, I don't think he even claims that it sounds as good. Please excuse (or correct!) any inaccuracy in my paraphrasing NwAvGuy, Given the price difference, it is, in measurement and transparency as close as makes no odds. Or something like that.

 

[mpw]

Where's the salt man ? Need a pinch... Pass it on.

)

Mpw

 

[mpw]

guys,

any idea / experience on the Simaudio Moon 100D Dac and Musichall 25.2 DAC..

regards,
mpw

 

[iaudio]

mpw, Srinisundar has/had the Musichall dac. Please check with him. The chennai members had done a comparo a while back I think.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

Where's the salt man ? Need a pinch... Pass it on.

Sure, but you have to love NwAvGuy's methods --- being based on strict measurement and blind listening. Well, I suppose that if you didn't, you wouldn't be trying the O[bjective]DAC in the first place

 

[mpw]

any experience on arcam rdac ?

i seem to be barking up all trees now

)

mpw

 

[iaudio]

We had a member who a few months back, chucked the arcam rdac in favor of and audio gd dac

http://www.audio-gd.com/Products-EN.htm

 

[srinisundar]

Ok have gone thru the thread after a long time.. Atlast I will tell music server is the way to go with an inbuilt DAC :lol: Assemble it at a cost of 15 to 20K and operate with your ipad or iphone or any androd based cheap pad.

I have heard some low end to little high end( my bryston DAC) and came to an conclusion as below...

For an high end system an high end DAC will make wonders For an low end system only the same range of DAC will make difference... Do choose your DAC like above otherwise you will not see any dramatic change

Regarding Music Hall DAC chennai member who have heard can tell their views, it is not good the owner tells the views.

You can Ping Rajiv / Capt. Rajesh for the views.

Regards

 

[corElement]

Do you guys find DAC's to influence sound signatures? I've found leanness to be one factor but what about warm or bright?

 

[mpw]

i am narrowing down to a portable dac and that would imply a USB DAC.

right now .. am living on borrowed toys..like this..:lol:

( The audioengine A2)

i discovered :-

a. The program button on the remote of the SA7001 and that means i need not change CD for atleast half an hour on the trot.. i can doze off with the songs playing. This is interesting..as i always looked at the Program button with a "hmpf".

One must discover the value of what one has before getting new toys.. holds true for kids and for gentlemen / women in this crazy hobby.

b. Powered speakers + USB DAC + small laptop will be a potent combination for my bedroom when folks at home are busy with sasuraal Simar ka and balika vadhu..

c. can shift the USB DAC and laptop to my main system whenever i need ... at a short notice.

This is a semi-blog kinda post and i tried to keep it as interesting as i could while expressing my thoughts.

)

mpw

 

[mpw]

just thought i would update on this..

I have decided not to do the DAC route for now.

I am quite OK with an old 30GB Apple I pod i fished out of the closet and put to work with the audioengines. Now that Ipod is loaded will all the music mom likes and i think she will be happy to use it.

I am looking at getting the audioengine wireless adaptor W2 for ipod which will enable the ipod to travel the house and still control the audioengines music and volume.

decided to make do with what i have

)

mpw