2. digital
  3. 132029-90127

Best DAC for my situation...Read on!

So thoughts and opinions please.
What I have and my idea.
Oppo 105D and Bluesound Vault 2 feeding into McIntosh C48 preamp.
I chose the C48 because it is a nice complete all in one box solution, headphone amp, mm and mc phono amp, lots of analog inputs with 2 sets of xlr inputs AND 5 total digital inputs.
Now I have both the Oppo and the vault connected by analog and digital inputs to the C48 so I can compare modes pretty instantly and I have to admit both cases the analog sounds better.
Which makes me wonder if the C48, although a great all in one solution may be the hold up as far as the DAC performance is concerned.

What I was considering as a trial is a seperate DAC that can handle the digital signals from the units and then output the analog signal via xlr preferably, back to the C48.
At this stage I have no intention of getting rid of the C48 as I really like the analog signal SQ as well as the headphone performance.

Any good suggestions in the range of $2000 used or am I really not going to see much improvement at that price range over the C48 capability?
uberwaltz

Showing 7 responses by shadorne

shadorne's avatar
shadorne
7,477 posts
 
@audioengr

"IMO, there is no such thing as a jitter immune DAC. Never heard one, never tested one that proved to be. It’s the cable.

Therefore, I submit that the jitter of the source ALWAYS be considered important.

Steve N.

Empirical Audio"

So presumably you also dispute certain manufacturers claims and test results and also Stereophile independent test results on several DACs. Do you still sell reclocking jitter reduction solutions?
shadorne's avatar
shadorne
7,477 posts
 
Dave,

I agree. Reasoning is a guide only on how to approach something. Reasoning can get you out of a lot of rabbit holes -

For example, why do some DACs sound terrible with one digital cable but better with another. Is it the cable? Is it the DAC? Reasoning says that bit perfect data into a jitter immune DAC should not be affected by the cable unless the DAC has build and design issues.

However, what sound is preferred is a personal judgement that the listener must make.

So I propose Reasoning AND Listening is the only way to know. Without both you can get stuck in a silly rabbit hole of mediocrity with a bunch of unecessary band aids trying to resolve equipment component issues and living in denial that a high $$$$$ item MUST work perfectly because the king of audio design built it (appeal to authority rather than reasoning).
shadorne's avatar
shadorne
7,477 posts
 
@uberwaltz    

Check out this plot (Fig 13) why you should always run line level preamp devices north of 12 oclock (when playing loud) and why you should not string multiple preamps together. 

https://www.stereophile.com/content/benchmark-dac3-hgc-da-preamplifier-headphone-amplifier-measureme...

The measurements from JA indicate to me that the DAC3 is an excellent preamp (better than your C48) and that it is best to use this DAC directly into a power amplifier using the balanced outputs and with a jumper pad precision resistor attenuation setting at a level such that you are listening with the volume between 10 and 3 oclock.
shadorne's avatar
shadorne
7,477 posts
 
@willemj

I agree with you but with with a caveat: not all line level equipment has high quality output - so I would restrict my choice to go without a preamp only when using a very high quality DAC with excellent and powerful output circuits. Some power amplifiers and long cable runs may introduce a challenging load to a cheap line level DAC output and result in signal degradation (usually a loss of dynamics). So a preamp is just like an audio mixer in the pro music world - it buffers the line level signal by presenting a high impedance easy load and then has a powerful output that can often drive a more difficult load.

@uberwaltz

Schiit is not in the same ball park or league as Mytek and Benchmark and Bricasti and Bryston and a few others (lots of choice - Stereophile A and A+ is a good start)
shadorne's avatar
shadorne
7,477 posts
 
The C48 preamp is around 100dB S/N. I think you will find the Mytek is closer to 120 dB. This is probably due to the very quiet switched Mode power supply versus the Mcintosh traditional linear one.

So it is possible that the C48 would dumb down the Mytek performance if it were in the audio chain. It is entirely possible that performance of many of the Class A or Class A+ DACs are being compromised by typical preamp performance...
shadorne's avatar
shadorne
7,477 posts
 
The Benchmark DAC has excellent output and excellent volume control especially the XLR outputs which are very powerful. So powerful you may have to install the internal jumper resistors to reduce the output to an acceptalble level for your power amp.The analog circuitry is all exceptionally low noise as the specs are industry leading.

So I would recommend taking the C48 out of the signal path not because it isn’t a good preamp but simply because every stage adds noise to the signal - shortest paths are best. And a good phono amp might be an upgrade in and of itself.

Alternatively a Mytek Brooklyn DAC has a built in phono and MQA decoding!

There is not so much to choose between in terms of the very high audio quality in many of the latest DACs so a choice based on features may be more cost effective.
shadorne's avatar
shadorne
7,477 posts
 
+1 Benchmark but I would try it without the C48 and at 1600 used I would go higher and grab the DAC3 as it is their latest model.
More to discover