HD audio or go for DAC which to upgrade for better SQ?

[ps_sonic]

My setup is Rotel RSP 985 preamp(no HDMI:sad & rotel RB985 mkii power amp
Front Polk TSI 300
Center Polk TSX 150 C
Rear wharfedale

My sources are
1. Asus HDP R1 media player for movies( optical out to receiver )
2. Videocon DTH for TV (coaxial out to receiver)
3. Itouch & Laptop for music ( digital out to analog input in receiver)
4, PS3 ( optical output to receiver)

As you can see yet to get into HD audio.Now I want to improve my sound quality for all the above sources.My ultimate aim is not to feel fatigue on hearing music next aim is loosless audio. For this purpose What should be my next step should I get a HD preamp like Emotiva UMC -200 or go for a DAC like Arcam irDAC?? what would be your choice if ur in my state guys?

 

[asliarun]

HD audio should be easy to test. Try playing a well recorded album in CD or lossless format in your current system. If you are happy with the sound, that should tell you that improving your source material quality is the way to go. I don't think hd audio will give you anything better than a well recorded CD or flac.

DAC does make a big difference and that would be my first answer but that would also be a guess as I don't know how the dac in your receiver really sounds.

But the single biggest difference is actually good recording itself. Good recording at even 256kbps vbr mp3 sounds really really good until you get into really expensive or well setup systems. I mean, you could find differences but only if you are hunting for it.

 

[jagdish_p]

My sources are
3. Itouch & Laptop for music ( digital out to analog input in receiver)

The above connection is not clear. How are you connecting the laptop?
Does your laptop have an option of taking out a digital output through coaxial or optical?
Also what are your music source files?
It is very difficult to perceive SQ quality improvement over normal CD quality unless you have a highly resolving system set up in a properly treated room. And of course even then many people can not hear the difference as their ears are not sensitive enough - like mine

 

[ps_sonic]

For connecting laptop I take output from 3.5mm jack and connect it to the amplifier analog inputs. Source files are mp3 I am yet to try FLAC. Another thing I want to improve the videocon DTH sound of SD channels which I feel is horrible. For that which would be a better option DAC or High end preamp?

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

regard DAC as your "source."

Your laptop has a DAC, and it is that DAC that you are currently using when you connect to its headphone socket. So it is DAC against DAC. The onboard DAC of your laptop is one of many components all competing for a share of the manufacturing cost of the laptop. We cannot say that a stand-alone DAC will sound better just because it costs many times more, especially as on-board sound has improved night-and-day in past decade --- but I'd be extremely surprised if it didn't.

The source is all-important. I don't believe you will improve on the source sound with a pre-amp, high end or not.

You can buy good USB DACs these days for astonishingly small amounts of money --- but, if you want to connect other boxes as well, then you will need more than just USB digital input.

 

[jagdish_p]

For connecting laptop I take output from 3.5mm jack and connect it to the amplifier analog inputs. Source files are mp3 I am yet to try FLAC. Another thing I want to improve the videocon DTH sound of SD channels which I feel is horrible. For that which would be a better option DAC or High end preamp?

The 3.5 mm out put from laptop is analog which means that the digital to analog conversion is happening in the laptop and not in your Rotel.

For mp3 source I do not think it will make any difference if you add an external DAC unless the mp3s are high bit rate 320 Kbps.did you try playing the same files from your media player ? Was there any difference vis a vis playing from laptop? I am asking because with the optical connection from media player to Rotel, the digital to analog conversion is happening in the Rotel.

Also if you are using coaxial out of set top box there is nothing much you can do additionally to improve the SD channel sound quality unless of course you plan to revamp the entire set up.

 

[ujjwaana]

For this purpose What should be my next step should I get a HD preamp like Emotiva UMC -200 or go for a DAC like Arcam irDAC?? what would be your choice if ur in my state guys?

You are in the same boat as I were in. I needed 2 Optical. You need Two optical, 1 Coax and 1 USB (assuming you would use USB to connect your Laptop, Speaker out is a bad compromise). I am using Cambridge Audio DAC Magic, which has 2x optical, 2x Coax and 1xUSB. But its USB is subpar as it only supports 16bit/44.1Khz which I find reproduction of Flac and HD Videos' audio not as good as higher bitrate/sampling.

I would say go for Arcam irDAC. I have not heard that good review about Emmotiva as it may be a complete Hit or complete miss. Still I would recommend that you read review of all the DAC with inputs meeting your requirements (and there are not that many DACs with that flexibility of input). If you can test water of DIY DACs, I am waiting for a guy to complete his ESS9018 based DAC which has 8x Coax/Optical input and 1x USB with DSD - it would be hell of dream DAC for many, with the only caveat of that being DIYl.