I home auditioned a couple of dacs and ended up buying the Schitt yggy DAC. For 2399.00 it is far better than any I listens to. Go to the headfi forum there are 2 threads you can read on for a month.
Just wondering...
Sorry about the poor choice for the title but I just couldn’t compress my question into only a few words. I’ve been watching A’gon to find a good deal for a decent DAC in the $1K price range to improve my CD listening experience. As I look through the listings, I see DACs priced in tens of thousands - saw a Boulder 2020 with retail price of $32K listed for $15K. Probably an awesome bargain for somebody. To some degree I can understand speakers selling for crazy prices partly justified by their sound as well as their "furniture" value. I’m also sure a $20K pair of speakers will still sound incredible ten years from now. I can even sort of get amplifiers being a little crazy in price but they seem to last forever, at least technology-wise. I’m still loving my 35 year old McIntosh amp but can’t imagine using the same DAC even three or five years from now. What am I missing? Can a $32K DAC sound that different from a $1K DAC?
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Seems the question is this: Given the inevitable improvement in technology, do I go "all-out" on the best possible DAC or get a more reasonably priced DAC and replace more often? I'll offer some insight based on a conversation I had with a tech at Ayre. His view is their new CODEX ($1800) sounds better than their older QB9 ($2900). The simple interpretation from that would say that the "reasonable and replace" strategy has merit. Having said that I have seen reviews that dispute that SQ statement and reviews that support it. And I fully expect the "Ayre just wants to sell more DACs" comments so have at it. As for me, computer based audio technology is moving fast. When I bought my QB9 there was no Roon and no Tidal, and DSD downloads were a gleam in the eye. So, I go with the "reasonable and replace" strategy. Too bad my definition of "reasonable" isn't a $32k DAC :-) And I think mesch is correct in his post. Buying a good used one is the most bang for the buck unless you need the latest bells & whistles. |
Hi The DAC is really important but I would not spend too much money as there are good examples second hand and also the technology keeps advancing. Ahem, it so happens i have an exaSound e20 DAC Mk3 with femto second clock in mint condition which I was thinking of advertising in the New Year. DACs can be highly influenced by the integrity of the input signal. USB is very common as I am sure you know but you need to pay careful attention to eliminating noise and interference and also make sure your PC or media server has not done some hidden processing on your files. There are also some tricks you can play with CD standard files when a DAC has a 24 bit input that seem to help. For SPDIF I have found the Carver digital lens to be helpful, a bit ancient tech but well worth it at a sensible price. I used one last year with my old Marantz CD12 DAC and it was great on CD material. Carver of course make a modern version built in to the player... but at a price. |
Hi All, Fairly new here but thought I would share and interesting article from Jim Austin at Stereophile. A little different perspective concerning the more expensive gear. http://www.stereophile.com/content/living-lamms#MfMTeQmoZrQDuw26.97 I hope this adds to the conversation. |
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