Thanks all thus far. In the meantime, I found the following from a review in Home Theater by Brian Kahn "I
found the Bridge to provide the best sound, with the PerfectWave Transport via I2S a close second." That's reassuring.
Best DAC for CD redbook playback from a PS Audio Perfectwave transport
I just purchased a PS Audio PWT and will use it to listen to redbook CDs. I've read that the best playback is with an I2S hdmi cable. So, a suitable dac would be one with an I2S input, such as either a Wyred4Sound dac or a PS Audio PWD. But, if it's just for redbook CD playback, can I suffice with an older MK1 version or do the updated versions (which I presume are primarily geared toward improving computer based systems) also significantly improve CD SQ? Again, it's just for CD playback.
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Best DAC for CD redbook playback Get the best you can afford that uses R2R Ladder Multibit dac conversion, as it does it "Bit Perfect" for Redbook (PCM) Stay away from all Delta Sigma based dacs that are for DSD or otherwise, as they only give a facsimile of Redbook (PCM) conversion. http://www.mojo-audio.com/blog/dsd-vs-pcm-myth-vs-truth/ Quote: " When a PCM file is played on a DSD or Bit Stream converter, the DAC chip has to convert the PCM to DSD in real time. This is one of the major reasons people claim DSD sounds better than PCM, when in fact, it is just that the chip in most modern single-bit DACs do a poor job of decoding PCM." Cheers George |
This review by Robert Deutsch answered all of my questions about CD playback with a PS Audio PWT. The answer to my original question, is yes, it is worth it to splash for the latest DAC instead of the older MkI version. Thanks all, mission accomplished. http://www.stereophile.com/content/ps-audio-perfectwave-directstream-da-processor-robert-deutsch-feb... |
- 16 posts total