DAC?

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Ray
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DAC?

Post by Ray »

Curious to hear others experience with DACs in use, of course the CJ DAC and others.

I've been going around in circles for weeks considering updating from my now long-in-the-tooth W4S DAC-2
It's been a great device in all ways and it convinced me that pure digital via a music server was a viable method of playing music.

I'd be using the new DAC in the same basic operation as the old, USB Async from server, All high rez up to 24/192, mostly FLAC, some WAV.
The DAC doesn't need internal volume ctl, as it will be feeding a CJ GAT.

Of the dozens and dozens of DAC options out there, I've recently been leaning towards the Esoteric D-07X.
Also the new Bryston BDA-2 and as a low-cost contender the Schiit Gungnir.

All comments/suggestions much appreciated! :D
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Re: DAC?

Post by admin »

I think you listed some excellent DACs and I'm sure that whatever you decide to get you will be happy. I recently read a review on schiit DAC that was very positive.

I have heard some great things about the Conrad Johnson HD3 which is a usb only input dac. Of course this is quite expensive (I don't know what your budget range is). If you looking for top of the line sound, but are willing to forgo non-usb inputs this would be a top winner.

I use Conrad Johnson D/A-2b Digital Processor which I wrote a review about here. I can't say enough positive things about this DAC. The fact that it is tube based gives the sound a very warm and non-digital/harsh sound. I think whether this is a viable option for you depends on your personal preference. If you don't like the sound of LP's or your speakers are not very "fast" then this may not be the best option. Furthermore, although it has many inputs, it does not have a usb input, and I think it's limited to CD quality 16-bit, 44.1 khz (or something close to that) so you won't get too much benefit from playing 24/192 sound files. So some definite technical limitations but boy does it sound warm and musical! And of course you can tweak the sound with different tubes. The other advantage is that it can be had for pretty cheap as a used unit.

The other option you may want to look into is getting the new high end Oppo player. This is not only perhaps the best blu-ray player on the market currently, but it can also be used as a dac with usb input. Every review I have read has given it top marks and it will also play your media directly. Here is the link for the Oppo BDP-105. It uses a very nice DAC chip. Although I don't own this unit, I own two previous Oppo units and it's top class, highly recommended!

Hope these suggestions helped!
-admin
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Main stereo: ART Amplifier and ET7s2. 2nd stereo: PV-14L and MV-55. Previously Owned: PF2 preamp, Evolution 2000 Amp, PV-12AL preamp, D/A-2b Vacuum-Tube Digital Processor.
Ray
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Re: DAC?

Post by Ray »

I'd probably have already gotten the CJ DAC.... if it only did Async USB. On one hand, I've pretty much settled on 96k as current high-rez of choice, but, I have a lot of 192k stuff that was acquired early on during my digital audio testing phase :) And Async USB works soooo sooo well. If only CJ would delve a bit deeper into Digital.

In reality, if I down-sampled my 192K media to 92, it'd surely be fine, but then again, I'd hate doing it. :geek:

I owned a BDP-95, but ended up selling it, very nice unit but no digital in at the time.
105 would very likely do nicely, but at this point since I don't spin audio media for playback anymore, no need for a transport, and believe it or not, I'm still using a PS-3 for occasional movie-disk spinning. :lol:

Thanks for the help and suggestions! Very much appreciated.

I guess I'll end up with the Esoteric, It's by far the most expensive of the 3 primary contenders, I don't think I'd want to spend much more than it. I need to get off the dime and make a decision soon though as I'm tired of thinking about it! :shock:
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Re: DAC?

Post by admin »

Ray wrote:I'd probably have already gotten the CJ DAC.... if it only did Async USB. On one hand, I've pretty much settled on 96k as current high-rez of choice, but, I have a lot of 192k stuff that was acquired early on during my digital audio testing phase :) And Async USB works soooo sooo well. If only CJ would delve a bit deeper into Digital.

In reality, if I down-sampled my 192K media to 92, it'd surely be fine, but then again, I'd hate doing it. :geek:

I owned a BDP-95, but ended up selling it, very nice unit but no digital in at the time.
105 would very likely do nicely, but at this point since I don't spin audio media for playback anymore, no need for a transport, and believe it or not, I'm still using a PS-3 for occasional movie-disk spinning. :lol:

Thanks for the help and suggestions! Very much appreciated.

I guess I'll end up with the Esoteric, It's by far the most expensive of the 3 primary contenders, I don't think I'd want to spend much more than it. I need to get off the dime and make a decision soon though as I'm tired of thinking about it! :shock:
You may want to read this review of the Esoteric unit before purchasing. Considering the price of almost $5k this reviewer is not very impressed. That of course doesn't mean it won't sound great in your system, but the more opinions the better, IMHO.
-admin
Home Theater in Member Gallery
Main stereo: ART Amplifier and ET7s2. 2nd stereo: PV-14L and MV-55. Previously Owned: PF2 preamp, Evolution 2000 Amp, PV-12AL preamp, D/A-2b Vacuum-Tube Digital Processor.
Ray
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Re: DAC?

Post by Ray »

Thanks much for that! that's the D-07 over there, not D-07X

The 7X is much newer..and one of my hesitations was/is that it has only one or two mentions of any significance.

7X has Async USB, headphone jack and a few other things, also just a bit lower in cost than the 07 was.
...I hadn't seen that particular D-07 review though, I'll check it out.
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Custom Server running MC 23
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Ray
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Re: DAC?

Post by Ray »

one thing for sure held over from the D-07 is the pitiful translation of the manual... the D-07X manual is brutally confusing the way it's written (or translated, whatever the case may be)
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Magnepan 20.7
Conrad Johnson ART 300
Conrad Johnson GAT V2
Meitner MA 1 V2
Custom Server running MC 23
Dual Synology 1512+ 12 TB total storage
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