XM, DAC Question


I have a small XM receiver that seems to work okay with my tube pre and amp and the sound is...well not bad but I'm wondering if I can run the XM through a Lite outboard DAC that I have with any success? The XM receiver has 2 rca's though and the DAC is coax in. Do they make a converter?

markus1299
Maybe a option,I use a Hughes HD-HTL receiver it has both a coax-rca and a toslink digital out. The Hughes connects to my Monarchy dac that I use for the XM feed provided by direct tv. I purchased the receiver on ebay for 50 bucks,works great and the best part is the receiver has a data window that supplies program info.
Thanks Mofimadness. Now, I am able to pull up XM on my laptop and listen. Would that output from my laptop also be analog? Maybe more than one way to skin a cat here.
I am assumimg you are using the SA10103 Home Kit? It does NOT have a digital output. Unless XM made a different dock kit that included a digital output, you'll have to use the DAC that is built into the unit. Yes, the unit does the digital to analog conversion from within. My Sirius unit is the same way.
I just pulled out an old DBX111 that I used to use with my reel to reel. Hmmm, even if this is an analog signal. Might be interesting.
It's a Delphi SKYFi2 Satellite Radio Receiver. It does say the stations are digital but maybe the receiver changes it to analog. The manual says that 130 "Digital" channels are available.
The manual says "what" is digital? The receiver is because XM is a digital service just like DISH or Direct TV. You need the receiver to use the service, but that doesn't mean the XM unit "outputs" a digital signal.

What's the model number of the XM receiver maybe I can find a manual online to look at for you.

The Lite DAC uses a "coax" digital input, but the connection is still RCA. Don't think of "coax" as in TV coax, (RF connector). Most digital gear uses either a RCA coax input or a BNC coax input and many also use Toslink optical.
Mofimadness, Manual for the XM receiver says it is digital, am I missing something? I have before so wouldn't be unusual.
The RCAs on your XM receiver are ANALOG outputs. You would have to have a DIGITAL output to send to the DAC.