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On board or outboard DAC?

Folks,
I use an Ayre c-5xeMP universal disc player. My DAC is a Simaudio Moon 300D. The digital out on the player is AES/EBU while the DAC input is S/PDIF. My question is, would I see any benefit from using the 300D to convert to analog over the internal DAC on the Ayre. Obviously I would have to source a cable. I'm not sure it is worth the hassle. Can anyone share their thoughts? I use the balanced outputs from the 300D to my pre-amp.
falconquest

Showing 1 response by gdnrbob

gdnrbob
4,495 posts
 
Well, you are going to need a convertor to be able to connect the two together. Though they aren't that expensive, I wonder if there would be any sound degradation?
As far as using the SimAudio DAC to process the signal instead of the UDP, you may notice a slight difference in sound reproduction as each machine will process the sound differently as per their design. Whether this is 'better', only you can determine.
That being said, if both units had matching input and output, then I would say give it a go. But, since you have to convert the signal in order to get it to the DAC, I would be less inclined to bother. 
Others may disagree, though...
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