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Getting with the 21st century, need DAC for streaming

Hi, I guess I’ve been suspiciously dragging my feet on the whole streaming and DAC revolution, but now I am interested as it has been difficult living abroad to continue growing my CD collection lately. I’ve been listening to a Bryston B60 for 22 years, some very nice E16 Audio monitors and "recently" an ERC 2 CD player when my Rega pooped out and I saw the review on Stereophile. I’ve been researching the DAC subject and I’m curious if I might be able to expand my library by simply buying one of the Audioquest DAC and subscribing to Tidal (or others) and use my iPad to stream music through the Bryston, or if it might be better to get a more full featured DAC and use the ERC 2 as a transport and go through the external DAC, although honestly the ERC 2 sounds pretty fantastic as it is. But alas this isn’t all about the CD player, I’m really just curious about a decent intermediate level DAC set up to get me started in this nuance of hifi. I realize there are plenty of sources to research that, but I wanted your opinion on the CD DAC (AD1955) upgrade as well. I’m totally open to getting second hand as well. 
wetfeet48
12 responses Add your response
arafiq's avatar
arafiq
1,661 posts
 

@chorus 

Denafrips Pontus is a good starter. $1800. If you hate it they resell in seconds. 

+1 on Denafrips Pontus. And he is not kidding when he says they resell in seconds. I was fortunate to buy a gently used Terminator 2 recently. What a phenomenal DAC! My friend had been on the look out for a used Pontus 2 and like chorus mentioned, they show up on used marketplaces and are snapped up in minutes if not seconds. He finally gave up and ordered a new one. These DACs are the real deal -- above average sound, build quality, and customer service. There's a reason you can recoup more than 80% of your investment when selling a Denafrips DAC.

Post removed 
danager's avatar
danager
943 posts
 

@mholloway 

I believe that most are based on one of the linux OS with just a custom app to provide the user interface.

Volumio (formerly RaspyFi) is an open source Debian-based Linux operating system

Moodle is primarily developed in Linux using Apache, PostgreSQL / MySQL / MariaDB and PHP (sometimes known as the LAMP platform).

 

mholloway
3 posts
 

Hi All,

I am a little late to the party I know. I just purchased the Audiophonics Mini LCD Kit Streamer for Raspberry Pi 4 & DAC ES9038Q2M. As I understand things from the description they suggest MoOde, Roon, PiCore, Volumio to mage sound and playback. However, I would prefer HiFiBerry OS or Raspbian. Is there any reason I could not use either of these?

Thanks,

 

deer_creek_audio's avatar
deer_creek_audio
66 posts
 

I wholeheartedly agree with the idea of looking into streamers with built-in DACs. As a dealer for the miniDSP SHD we highly recommend it. One of the many applications of the SHD is to store and access your CD collection digitally, either from a NAS or other form of storage device.

 

You will then be able to stream your music collection in a bit perfect fashion into the XCore-200 receiver that resides in the miniDSP SHD. Once there, you'll have full access to Dirac Live room correction, as well as other numerous parametric equalization functions. Finally, the AKM DAC chipset and audiophile-grade analog output section put the SHD in a class that is competitive with units costing many times more.

 

Volumio, which is included, also gives you access to music files from sources as diverse as a USB stick, to files stored on your local network, to Internet Radio and TIDAL, Qobuz, Spotify, etc..

 

https://deercreekaudio.com/products/minidsp-shd-dirac-live-3-0-network-streaming-dsp-volumio-streaming

wetfeet's avatar
wetfeet
1 posts
 
Wow good info, very helpful. I think I didn’t post my initial question well and should have asked what is a good price range and some products to look at to start hearing “very good” hi res music. I’m getting excited to have access to new music, have been a bit stagnant the past few years in this hobby, ready to move ahead.

I didn’t know if something like the Audioquest cobalt or Mojo etc was enough to really hear a difference, it looks like the $1000+ range is where it starts to get good. 
verdantaudio's avatar
verdantaudio
1,499 posts
 
No question an external DAC will improve your experience.  Your ranges is topping out way too low.  $50 to closer to $125K at the high end.  DACs are one of the places where tech has advanced and it is very common for me to talk to people with gear that is well maintained and is $20+ years old and they continue to update DACs and streaming gear.  

You could get something as inexpensive as the Musical Fidelity V90 which is $299 and it will make a difference.  This with a Bluesound Node ($550) would give you a nice DAC and streaming transport.  You would just connect your CD via a different input.  The Bluesound has a built in DAC but it isn't very good.  

The other option would be to with a streaming player.  The Marantz ND8006 might be the perfect device as it is a DAC, streamer and CD player in one.  The sound quality is very good and the feature set is great.  

I am a Musical Fidelity and Bluesound dealer.  I have no relationship with Marantz.  
chorus
976 posts
 
Denafrips Pontus is a good starter. $1800. If you hate it they resell in seconds. Soekris is likely better but available?
You need a real streamer too.
soix
9,456 posts
 
I think there are some very good DACs in the $1000 - $1500 price range that’d be a nice sonic upgrade from your CD player and allow you to enter the awesome world of streaming.  Some ideas would be Soekris 2541, Musician Pegasus, or Gustard X26 just to name a few, but it really depends on your tastes and preferences as to which DAC would be best.  To start steaming you could get a Qobuz account and a Lightening to USB adapter from Apple or Lavri and you’d be off and running by plugging your phone/tablet a good DAC like the ones above.  Once you start streaming and having worlds of new music — and much of it hi-res — at your fingertips you’ll never look back.  Anyway, hope this helps, and best of luck. 
wetfeet48 OP
39 posts
 
Budget?  What kind of sound characteristics are you looking for?
Sorry, I should have posted a dollar amount but omitted and just wrote “intermediate” as I’m not sure what the ranges are, I assume from $50 to $5000. I imagine I could start with maybe a $500 DAC just to see what it is all about and if I like it and go from there. I’m not sure I want to start this cellphone type of circuit where I need to buy a $1000 DAC every year or two because there is something better or more modern. 
I’m curious if I can “up my game” by using my CD player as a transport to a DAC too, but I’m not sure it’s worth it at that level, and was thinking I could just a DAC that works with my iPad or iPhone. I do have a MAC but don’t feel like hauling out a computer and dealing with the logistics of that every time I want to listen to music or I’ll quickly lose interest in that medium. 
fuzztone's avatar
fuzztone
5,582 posts
 
Getting a DAC for streaming???
Why not get a streamer with a DAC?
https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/network-audio-players-raspdac/audiophonics-raspdac-mini-lcd-kit-diy-s...
Of course the best place for most to start on a BluNode.
soix
9,456 posts
 
Budget?  What kind of sound characteristics are you looking for?
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