External DAC and Theta Casablanca II

Hi Richard,

You are exactly right... i was considering running from the source to an external DAC (via Coax / TOSLink) and then going from the DAC to the analogue inputs on the Casablanca II.

Theta is great stuff, no doubt, but digital has come a VERY long way since the CBII superior DACS were state of the art. And for what Theta charges to upgrade the DAC cards, one could but a really nice external unit. A Weiss DAC2, which I think would represent a considerable improvement, can be had for half the price of just one upgraded DAC card!

-Scott

Doug,

are you suggesting the the Casablanca, one receiving an analogue signal, will convert it to digital and then run it through the internal DACS to convert it back to analogue?

I never would have guessed that - sounds like a question for Theta.

-Scott

i emailed theta and got a very prompt response from their technician carl (impressive). he told me to check the manual and search for Analog Direct Mode... so i did precisely that and here's what i found...

"Analog Direct: this mode takes the selected analog input and routes it directly to the main Left/Right outputs via the volume controls. Since there is no surround processing in Analog Direct, the sub woofer, EQ, phantom center channel, and crossover effects are not available. Note: If these effects are desired, use the STEREO mode. The Analog Direct mode will route only an analog signal to the outputs.

Analog Matrix: The signal routing in this mode is the same as Analog Direct, left and right analog input signals routed directly to the main outputs via the volume controls, and at the same time, the input left and right signals are routed through an analog to digital converter in order to derive the other channels, which include left and right surround, sides, center, and center surround. These other channels can have EQ and be crossed over (creating a SUB channel), but the front left and right channels may not have EQ, be crossed over (routed to the sub woofers), or perform phantom center speaker. The Analog Matrix mode processes an analog input signal only."

so, seemingly one can input an analogue signal to the CBII and bypass the internal DACs with some limitations.

thanks, Stick70. i've been looking for a digi out card, but no luck so far. running into the analog inputs and using the analogue matrix mode is also a good option.

are there any opinions on the level of external DAC that would be required to exceed the performance of the internal CBII Superior DACS out there?

-Scott

i know this thread is a bit dated, but since i recently answered the question i was originally posting, i figured i'd revive it in case anyone else was curious..

A friend of mine generously loaned me his Cambridge Audio DACMagic to compare to the DACs in my Casablanca (Superior). To test, I ran an analogue input from the DACMagic and a digital input directly from the same source to the Casablanca II. All that was required to hear the difference was switching inputs on the Casablanca, done right from my listening chair. The DACMagic in all areas, save bass, was superior. The bass from the Theta was tighter and more powerful, but otherwise, the DACMagic won the day.

i went in this not knowing what to expect, but in the end, the answer was clear. DAC tech has come a long way since the CBII was introduced.

been about a year since i started this thread... lots of changes in my system since then. i'm no longer running the Casablanca, having moved to an aesthetix calypso preamp and weiss minerva DAC.

i'll not get too effusive here... suffice to say, my system has never sounded this good.

-scott