Expensive Dacs. Are they worth it?

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Simon Hickie
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Re: Expensive Dacs. Are they worth it?

Unread post by Simon Hickie »

I'm pretty happy with my Audioquest Dragonfly Red with Jitterbug. A friend's Jolida GLASS FX TUBE DAC III sounds pretty good too.

Depending on timing and location, I'd be happy to bring it along for a comparison / bake-off for a computer-based audio session.

As an aside, for those playing with computer-based audio (CBA), it might be worth checking out a bit of software called Fidelizer (free version) which optimises some PC settings for CBA. In my experience it gives a darker background and improved imaging / soundstage.

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Re: Expensive Dacs. Are they worth it?

Unread post by CN211276 »

I think the Dragonflys are very good value. Used to use the old Black with my main hi-fi, before the Mojo. I now have the new Black for use with my phone. I have two Jitterbugs, one plugged into a vacant port on my desktop. They bring about a subtle improvement.
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Re: Expensive Dacs. Are they worth it?

Unread post by BillyBones »

I have very little experience of seperate DACs and their relevant merits and value. Until recently I was an owner of the latest Beresford Caiman SEG that as well as a DAC, I also used as a pre-amp into my A60 mkII.

At present I only have two sources, a Marantz CD player and a Squeezebox Touch. I found that there was little if any improvement / difference when using the DAC function. As a pre-amp it had a nice smooth control but went from quiet to too loud in a very short distance. Also, there must have been some compatibility issues because if I switched off the Beresford then there was a really loud buzzing coming out of the speakers, so it was switched on 24/7. As a headphone amp it was fine I guess, but to be honest I hadn't used my Grado's for months so this was a function that really didn't concern me.

Consequently I decided that I didn't need a seperate DAC, so sold the Beresford* and invested in a nice new P50sa instead. Well worth the investment.

* sold to someone on AoS who sold it on himself within 5 days of buying it from me :grin:

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Re: Expensive Dacs. Are they worth it?

Unread post by Fretless »

I also had buzzing problems when running NVA power amps directly from a DAC with variable output (Hegel). It would seem that a pre-amp in-between solves any earthing issues AND provides a safety ceiling for volume from the DAC, just in case a digital source glitches unexpectedly up to maximum volume.

Advantage with running a DAC with different digital sources is that the switching is done there and the interconnect can be run to the 'direct' input of an NVA pre-amp with the bonus of an incremental improvement in SQ. :grin:

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Re: Expensive Dacs. Are they worth it?

Unread post by BillyBones »

Fretless wrote: Fri Sep 22, 2017 4:27 pm I also had buzzing problems when running NVA power amps directly from a DAC with variable output (Hegel). It would seem that a pre-amp in-between solves any earthing issues AND provides a safety ceiling for volume from the DAC, just in case a digital source glitches unexpectedly up to maximum volume.

Advantage with running a DAC with different digital sources is that the switching is done there and the interconnect can be run to the 'direct' input of an NVA pre-amp with the bonus of an incremental improvement in SQ. :grin:
That's interesting. So you are saying that it is preferable to feed my SBT into one of the digital inputs on my SA8005 CD player, and then run that into the Direct input on my P50sa? I'll try that and see how I go.

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Re: Expensive Dacs. Are they worth it?

Unread post by Fretless »

Interested to see what your findings are, Billy.

Upstairs:
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Pro-Ject 1.2 + Grado Sig Jr + Cambridge Alva Duo
DigiVolumio PC + Kiss DP-500 + Sabaj A20d
NVA: P50sa - Cube2 - SSP - LS6+ Sabaj A10a (x2)
Downstairs:
Vinyl
Logic DM101 + Syrinx LE1 + Grado Sig MCX
DigiDenafrips Ares II + Volumio PC + Cambridge CXC
NVA: P50 - BMU+ Aiyima A07 MAX (x2) + Arcam One
HP: HifiBerry Digi+ PRO + Sabaj A10d
Office:
Allo DigiOne SIG + SMSL M300se + Douk G4 (x2)
Mission 760 + Monolith THX AAA 887
Headphones: German Maestro & AudioQuest

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