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Hegel internal Dac - USB or Coax or ditch the DAC altogether? Exploration on a budget!

I have a Hegel H80 and currently using the internal DAC for my digital music using the usb directly from my lenovo laptop. I'm wanting to take the music to the next level of quality improvement without breaking the bank.  This integrated cost me $600 and while I know the sky is the limit on DACs and tweeks, I wish to take a step that will be significant while keeping me sane in terms of spending. Here are some questions that are coming up and wondering if you can share your insights:
1) Would I experience a significant difference by adding a USB reclocking, isolating, etc. such as an ifiiUSB or ipurifier, etc. to get a boost in quality?.....  Or......
2) Is the SPDIF implementation higher in quality than USB, so getting a USB to SPDIF converter a better bang for the buck vs trying to clean up the USB?......Or......3) Is there a DAC, even used at a cost of $600 or less, that will surpass the internal DAC?
Would love to hear your experience even if you have other models of Hegel integrated, as long as you can suggest solutions that fall in the price category I mentioned. Thanks.

Thanks you so much!!
hrabieh

Showing 2 responses by hrabieh

hrabieh OP
21 posts
 
I was digging around the internet for more information about reasons for converting from USB to SPDIF/coax, and I came across this article on John Darko's site titled " When should you use a USB to S/PDIF converter? "
https://darko.audio/2013/07/when-should-you-use-an-external-usb-spdif-converter/What made it relevant to this conversation is that it was written towards the end of 2013 where he states " I’ve said it before: if 2011/12 was the year where the digital audiophile in the street woke up to fixing jitter with better data clocking, 2013/14 will be the year he wakes up to the quality of USB power". The Hegel H80 came out in 2014 so in the window of time where it seems USB quality in DACs is questionable.Couple questions still remain for me specific to the Hegel H80..Is there a low cost DAC sub $400, such as a Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 Digital with MQA, Schiit Bifrost, or SMSL SU-8  balanced DAC, or any other relatively modern low cost DAC, along with a USB to Coax converter provide a higher quality(highly subjective) discernible audio representation on this integrated better than  the onboard DAC?  I'd love to hear someone with direct experience on this integrated say something like "Even the low end xyz DAC from Company N at  $xx.yy is better than H80's onboard DAC - more holographic, better seperation, better dynamic, etc."

hrabieh OP
21 posts
 
Thanks for sharing... Its really helpful to know that you were able to get a discernible difference by going to an iFi iOne DAC. That at the least provides me with a reference point.In my research, I too came to the conclusion that it didn't make a lot sense to just go to a Schiit Eitr since there are many higher quality USB to SPDIF converters that also do I2S which may come in handy in the future when/if I graduate to higher quality DACs.  Second, many DACs such as the iOne, iDSD, etc, provide both a low cost DAC as well as SPDIF out to bypass the USB completely. Lastly, I've also been looking at used Bluesound Node2 and Auralic Aries for both USB isolation via network but also ability to have my Hegel H80 be separated from my laptop.  Those both have good reviews and they too have both SPDIF out as well as have a built in DAC that seem to be better than the H80's internal DAC.
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