萬元級dac推介

JCCH

回復 9# ipnelson

ipnelson hing, you mention that you will upgrade the whole system later on. Wonder why not upgrade other components such amp or speaker first? Seems that DAC - technology products with very short product life cycle, there will be new chip set/model every 6 - 12 months with better sound quality and cheaper in price. Unless you really not satisfy with current DAC performance, I think upgrading the amp/speaker first could be another consideration

Nan7yo

回復  Nan7yo
Seems that Musical Fidelity M1 DAC cannot support 192kHz for USB input
JCCH 發表於 2011-1-27 10:59

Thanks, you are right~  From the spec:
Digital inputs 1 XLR AES balanced digital input
1 RCA coaxial connector SPDIF 32-192 kbps (16-24 bit stereo PCM)
1 TOSLINK optical connector 32-96 kbps (16-24 bit stereo PCM)
1 USB type ‘B’ connector for computer/PDA 32-48 kbps

I'm new in CAS (actually not yet started) can you tell me the difference (on quailty) of USB vs optical?
I am thinking to setup:
(A) Notebook -> Airport Express (optioncal) -> DAC -> Amp -> Speaker
If go for USB:
(B) Notebook (USB) -> DAC -> Amp -> Speaker

(A) is fliexible for my case, can carry the notebook around
(B) i may consider to get a mac mini etc...

And this will also affecting which DAC should i choose.

Thanks in advance

JCCH

回復 12# Nan7yo

Nan7yo hing,

I am also a beginner in CAS and also shopping for DAC

Below two web site provide quite good info and review on CAS and DAC
http://www.computeraudiophile.com
http://www.6moons.com

I think around $10K to $20K, W4S, Benchmark, and Antelope are very good choices. You can visit above website for their detail review and comparison.

For CAS, I think using USB to connect external DAC is the recent approach. W4S & Antelope both have USB input which support upto 192kHz sampling music file (plus both have driver to support both Window and Mac platform). Antelope DAC are solid build while W4S DAC have very good CP ratio. Seems both of them are very promising.

Choosing Window or Mac platform for CAS is also another very interesting topics too...For Mac, you have to use iTunes with Amarra (but need to pay for license). For Windows, you can use cPlay, Foobar, and many other softwares with many treat and tricks for fine tune the music.

Anyway just some sharing with you

Nan7yo

回復  Nan7yo

Nan7yo hing,

I am also a beginner in CAS and also shopping for DAC

Below two web si ...
JCCH 發表於 2011-1-27 12:59

    Thanks JCCH hing! The information you provided is very useful~
MF was my target before as I think whole set Made in UK will be more matched, haha
Now more choices, need to study more

ipnelson

我將會upgrade擴音機，logitech squeezebox touch＞dac＞stereo前級＞後級＞喇叭
同av前級>stereo前級＞後級＞喇叭
最想換是訊源同前後級，前級要有av bypass，wyred 4 sound pre-amp with dac是否好選擇

JCCH

回復 14# Nan7yo

Nan7yo hing,

MF DAC is round $4k - 5K while W4S and Antelope is around $10K - 20K. So from price point of view I think they probably in different level.  Too bad I don't have chance to audition them but I do have chance to see the Antelope Zodiac + which is very solid build and give you high confident. On the other hand, W4S DAC's outlook may not as good looking as the Antelope but from many different review's, it has very high cost performance ratio. Some review mention W4S DAC2's performance is very close to Wiess DAC given that Wiess DAC's price is a few times more than W4S.

If you want to go into CAS with Hi-Rez music files, one important factor is the DAC's USB input should support at least 96 kHz. I think 96 kHz is minimal requirement for Hi-Rez music and of course to prepare for coming future, I think DAC with USB input support 192 kHz is a better move.

JCCH

回復 15# ipnelson
ipnelson hing,

W4S equipment have very high CP ratio. So I think both of their Pre-amp and DAC should be good. However, I am not sure if W4S Pre-amp have AV-Bypass features. You can visit the link below from 6moons and see if it has any review for your reference
http://www.6moons.com/archivelibrary/electronics.html

On the other hand, will you consider Integrated Amp with AV-Bypass? From Post76 forum, my ching mentioned the Luxman integrated amp 505 may be another candidate if you consider integrated amp

Nan7yo

回復  Nan7yo

Nan7yo hing,

MF DAC is round $4k - 5K while W4S and Antelope is around $10K - 20K. S ...
JCCH 發表於 2011-1-27 16:47

JCCH Hing,

Good suggestions, pay extra on products with flexibility on future spec can always prevent upgrade in short time!
But normally low budget is limiting our choices...
I have to serious consider my whole setup and see how many 24 / 192 files I am going to have.
1 question, when we rip CD, if the original is 16 / 44, and let's say software could upsampling it to 24 / 192, it's adding non original sound to it, right?

Anyway, will try to save money for Antelope or W4S.
Ok, let's start with not buying CD for 3 months... I don't have confident tho, lol

JCCH

回復 18# Nan7yo

Nan7yo hing,

agree with you that the budget limit our choice of DAC....

To me, if rip CD, will keep 16 / 44 as this is the standard for CD. I don't very believe in ripping regular CD then upsampling it to 24 / 96 or 24 /192. Given the source is standard resolution, upsampling could not provide more information or resolution to music itself.

To play Hi-Res music, I would rather choose to download Hi-Res music from those pay music store such as Linn or 2L etc.... they have master music files that original recording in 24 / 96 or 24 /192 which is resolution of SACD or higher. You can either buy their music by tracks or whole album....

Nan7yo

回復  Nan7yo

Nan7yo hing,

agree with you that the budget limit our choice of DAC....

To me, if r ...
JCCH 發表於 2011-1-28 13:00

Thanks again JCCH Hing, after reading the information you provided, I studied a bit more over the few days and audited few DAC in the market.
At the moment, think Antelope is the best if evaluating Sound + Functions/features + Build Quality
However, my biggest concern is still budget + 2nd hand popularity + reasonable quality (in order to upgrade later), so have to go back to either MF / Benchmark / Wyred, these 3 brands give different "taste" so not fair to say which is the best, very personal.

See how long can I stand for the itchy...