DACs: Airport Express vs waveterminal vs mini-dac

Thanks Dschea_32665. I know it's all subjective, but without the equipment for my own comparison, it's hard to know if spending my hard-earned bucks (graduate student) on various DACs would reap the rewards of improved sonics.

So far, my GMA Europa speakers has made the biggest difference. The SACD player made a nice improvement. Having it modifled also was a nice addition. The Cayin amp also improved the sound and dynamics; I had an old NAD receiver before. I've also heard an improvement with better interconnects.

Will adding an external DAC with my computer HD as transport and music jukebox improve the sound even more? If so, at what price point? What equipment is needed to have that "better" sound? For the buck, where will I hear the most noticeable improvement?

I have been doing research on this as well. The only way I could figure to get the information is to start throwing money at the situation.

So far I have used the the Monarchy Dip/DAC, Edirol UA-25 feeding a Mcintosh MDA1000, the M-Audio Transit, the Waveterminal, and the MiniDAC. (Also compared them to high end McIntosh CD transport - the computer won).

I set these up on two identical systems (one is mine, one a friends): Apple Mcintosh playing Apple Lossless files to DAC to Mcintosh MC1200s to Mcintosh XRT 28s.

The only real standout so far was that the Transit sounded BAD on several different Apple Macintosh systems, and the MiniDAC drops the USB signal about six times a day (Apogee says it is my computer). I will do more in depth listening next week.

The consensus seems to be that it is best to avoid SPDIF and toslink connections. Does anyone know of a high quality USB device that will supply digital output via an XLR balanced connection?

The Edirol is probably the best choice for iMac. An AES/EBU interface can easily be added to the Edirol with mods, as well as improving its jitter performance. Just a short cable hanging from it with a XLR connector attached.

BTW - Edumke - Did you try iTunes with the Transit with an iMac?

Steve N.
Empirical Audio
Manufacturer

Steve,

I tried the Transit on two separate Apple systems myself, and had several friends come to the same conclusion on different systems.

My tests were on a Powermac dual 1.42 G4 to the Transit, then in to a Monarchy DIP/DAC.

Also a Powerbook G4 to the Transit, then to a McIntosh MDA1000 DAC.

In both cases the music sounded like it was castrated.

Ed

If I were using the analogue out for these cards, I think the quality and what you pay would pretty much determine it.

Where I am unsure, is if you are just passing the signal through to a DAC, can these units make that much of a difference in sound quality? It sounds from Edumke that the answer is definitely yes. I love the description of the Transit as castrated, that's a good one :)

Edumke I am glad you are able to do some testing for us, how would you describe the waveterminal and edirol sound, as compared to the M-audio? (I would assume the mini-DAC would blow these away because it is five times the price.) I like the sound I am getting now with my Transit, because I don't know anything different, but I would love to get a little more space in music. I mainly listen to classical music. I am getting great detail now but would love a tiny bit more soundstage.

If we were there, would you think that we would throw up our arms, disown our Transits and immediately order an Edirol or Waveterminal? Is this a fairly no brainer upgrade?

Sorry for the length, but you are the first person I have found that has had access to these units and has been able to do some comparison.

Cheers,