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DAC with AirTunes?

Can I improve my sound by adding an external DAC to my Airport Express/AirTunes->Arcam AVR300 connection or should I just stick with a direct digital connection to the AVR300? I'm using a Monster AirPort Express Stereo cable(toslink) now and thought about adding a lower priced used(Scott Nixon, Benchmark or Ack!) DAC into the mix. I'd go through the AVR300's analog inputs instead of a direct digital connection. I have some leftover .5 meter Kimber Silver Streak cables that I'd be using for my analog connection so all I'll need is the DAC.

Thanks for any input.
asahitoro
asahitoro OP
244 posts
 
Thanks for the input Edsilva,

Maybe you didn't read my post correctly. I realize the Nano does not have a direct digital out or bluetooth. I was referring to a *dock* that would have this. Similar to this dock:
http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/bluetrip/techspecs.php

Or this:
http://www.smalldog.com/product/36108

These would allow the iPod to be used as a remote. The latter needs a digital out but I suppose my Monster mini->optical digital cable may work. BTW, can the Monster cable connected directly to my iPod's heaphone jack allow me to use a digital connection?

You bring up a good point about bluetooth being able to handle it. Maybe there is(or will be) an 802.11g dock that can handle it better. As for the capacity, the 4GB should hold enough and if I need more it's just a quick stroll to my Mac to sync and change things. A bluetooth or 802.11g laptop with more capacity may be able to connect to this dock as well.

I'm going to research these docks more but for now I think I'll just stick to my AirPort Express w/AirTunes directly connected to my Arcam DACs via optical. If I need a display , I can pull out the laptop. That and my Keyspan remote will get me by till I find a better solution.
pabelson
344 posts
 
BTW, can the Monster cable connected directly to my iPod's heaphone jack allow me to use a digital connection?

No. You can't get digital out of an iPod (at least, not without hacking it).

Which should tell you the limitations of those other products you linked to. They re-digitize the analog output of the iPod, send that digital signal to a Bluetooth receiver, which reconverts it to analog (or feeds an external DAC). I seriously doubt what it's transmitting are WAV files. So even if you put uncompressed music on your iPod, you're not feeding uncompressed music to your stereo. On the other hand, it might be good enough to transmit any MP3s/AACs you have on your iPod.

In short, neither of these will give you the quality that AirTunes and your Arcam are giving you right now.
edesilva
768 posts
 
BT runs in the same band as microwave ovens, 2.4 GHz cordless phones, and Wi-Fi. So, even if you could get PCM digital out of a dock, the bandwidth limits of BT are going to kill you.

And, I suspect Pabelson is right--the dock is not going to give you a digital-to-digital path over the air. AE with a laptop is a much better solution. Or a Squeezebox. Stick with Apple Lossless for real stereo use and let the Nano be what it was intended--a device for purely portable use, not critical listening...
cjtalbot
8 posts
 
My 2 cents.

I use my laptop to stream to my AirPort Express unit and than use the optical output to run a digital signal into a Channel Islands ModWright moded DAC. Than I run the analog signal from the CI DAC to my Marantz 8500 reciever (which I only use as a pre/pro - all amplification is done with sep amps).

This setup sounds CONSIDERABLY better than running the digital directly into my Marantz 8500...which is no slouch in regard to the onboard DACS.
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