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Best DAC for 27" iMac

Hello everyone! I have a question I'm sure somebody can answer for me.
I have a 27"iMac with my entire music collection on there. I have my speakers hooked up through my Sony DA4ES Receiver via interconnects and a Y-Splitter
I want to get the most out of my audio for music listening purposes. I know the next thing that will improve my audio the most is getting a DAC. I would like to know which DAC you guys would recommend me to use. I have a budget in mind of $800 or below. I would like the feedback of those who also have an iMac as well to see what their experiences are with a DAC. I'd like to thank everybody who reads this in advance and for their input.

Cheers,
Robin
128x128mrrobinchen
magfan
1,583 posts
 
If you can get a bit-perfect copy from a compressed format, which you can with Apple Lossess and FLAC, than go for the (storage) space saving.

The 30% to 40% reduction in file size allowed by FLAC or ALAC are worth it and don't compromise playback.
mrrobinchen's avatar
mrrobinchen OP
6 posts
 
Classicjazz,
a lot of my music is in Flac and i have some in WAV but the majority of my music collection is in 320mp3. I am in the process of re-ripping my cds to wav to replace the existing lesser formats.
mrrobinchen's avatar
mrrobinchen OP
6 posts
 
Will this toslink cable be good enough or should i invest in something with a better build quality?
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10229&cs_id=1022902&p_id=1557&seq=1&format=2
ballan
184 posts
 
The Mono Price cable isn't "better". If you really want an optical cable that's "better", look at the VanDenHul Opticoupler and Wireworld SuperNova 6. Both of these cables can be made with "mini" on one end and "standard" on the other. They are true "polished glass" fibers.

iTunes will not play FLAC, but it seems like you are already in the process of reripping your collection. AIFF or Apple Lossless are the best to use with a Mac/iTunes. Apple Lossless takes up about half the space and sounds the same (to me), and it can always be transcoded into other "bit perfect" formats using third party software programs.
afranta
180 posts
 
I just got an Aune Mini USB DAC. It's cheap and, in my office setup (with an iMac and Apple Lossless files), sounds terrific. It's got a headphone amp (reputedly a clone of the Graham Slee Novo) that sounds good, too. WAY under your budget, and maybe worth a try for that reason alone.
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