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DAC for dummies

I recently purchased Aerial 5t speakers. I heard them paired with Moon products and it was awesome sounding.  I am going to pick up the 340ix integrated and the 260cd player to go with.  I have never had a DAC before and am not at all knowledgeable about them. I am planning on adding the dac component to the amp or cd player.  I hear the are a good dac.  Do I need to have the dac upgrade in both or either one? If it can be in one or the other does it matter which unit?  The upgrade adds about $1000 to the price.  Should I even consider a seperate dac at that price?  My source is about 95% cds.  I have no interest in streaming.  Really could use some advice here.
dagery
6 responses Add your response
tomic601's avatar
tomic601
12,911 posts
 
toss up…..could argue it 8 ways to Sunday as others have above…

in general, i like the D part of it as far away from the A part, preferably inside a Faraday cage. i i would ask Moon and your trusted Moon dealer.
mike_in_nc
1,147 posts
 
Assuming it’s the same DAC card, I’d put it into the integrated, rather than the player. The reason is that anything with moving parts (i.e., the CD transport) will likely fail before a purely electronic integrated amp. Also, as you get more digital sources, it will make more sense (to me, anyway) to plug them into your preamp, rather than the disc player.
soix
9,456 posts
 
Unless you’re looking to do quite a bit more research on DACs, going with the Moon’s internal DAC is the easiest and safest bet since the Sim Audio house sound seems to work for you with your speakers.  I’d say just go for it, and if you do end up trying streaming at some point (which I HIGHLY recommend for the ability to hear worlds of new music) the 260 can function as your DAC too.  Best of luck. 
danager's avatar
danager
948 posts
 
I’d go the other way. I have a fanless PC powering a MHDT Orchid DAC for streaming. The Orchid has a Toslink input and my CD player has an Toslink out so I’m using the CD player just as a transport bypassing the internal DAC.
The built in DAC is going to be a compromise but has the advantage of less cables and optimized connections but those don’t out way the sound upgrade a quality DAC can provide.
Of course it's going to depend on the DAC
artemus_5's avatar
artemus_5
1,927 posts
 
If you have a Cd player it will have a built in dac. unless it's a transport only. Then a dac is needed. If you have to get a built in dac, then I'd choose the transport.
 
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,217 posts
 
Get the version with the built in DAC.
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