Higher End DACs

@ufguy73

if i was starting over i would not mess around with silver discs (CD’s or SACD’s) at all; if i had some i would rip them to files. it would be files and streaming only. think about it this way; silver discs are now 30 years old as a format. it’s a mature format and optimized. playing files is now about 10 years old and it’s now just getting mature and it’s surpassing the best transport performance and it will keep getting better as discs stay the same. there is no economic pressure to make disc playing better. it’s all on file and streaming performance. follow the money and you will find truth.

i’m not a techie, so i hesitate to try and explain what you can’t do with digital. there are any number of one box solutions (dac/server+ file storage/streaming) at various price points. but those are not options at the higher level of digital. how high do you want to go in performance?

files can reside inside the server, or in a NAS, or in a laptop, or your phone, or not at all and just stream.

as far as the other questions about high level source investment (digital and/or vinyl) and whether your current system can fully optimize them that is a wide open question beyond this thread. i’d maybe need to get educated on your gear exactly. email me and we can exchange phone numbers and we can talk about it. B&W and McIntosh are certainly high end brands and that is not likely a limitation on the face of it. the questions become about where the biggest bang for your buck is in overall performance, and how far do you intend to go in the foreseeable future. these type situations get very complicated. i would not want to shoot from the hip.

mplav@comcast.net

to be clear, you find some similarities between DCA and T+A house sound? How would you generalize?

@ufguy73 I do not find similarities (between dCS and T+A)...IF I define "similarities" by sound signature.

dCS clearly makes wonderful and high performing components. I know many audiophiles love what dCS does and how it goes about doing it and are ecstatic with dCS in their systems.

To my ears, let me repeat: to my ears and preferences... they come across as too clean, too pristine and lack that elusive emotional connection and involvement. Something major is missing for me.

Whether this was due to the other parts of the systems I listened to, I can’t say with certainty. However, how I experience their ’sound’ hasn’t changed across multiple systems. The only way I can tease this out is to have one or more of their units in my own system and to optimize it’s performance per my needs and preferences.

The T+A SDV 3100 HV simply checks all of the boxes I need it to check for my personal sound quality and sound performance metrics and needs.

You need to find out which house sound does the same for you. Is it dCS or MSB or CH Precision or T+A or another manufacturer. How these components ’play’ within your system (specifically your other current components) will also be a major factor.

P.S. I second @audiotroy ’s point about the SDV’s pre-amplification stage. It is excellent!!!

DCS I’ve heard lately would not be called uninvolving. They just do great digital. Obviously opinions vary. I found the Rossini to be extremely involving and quite the opposite of sterile. That’s an old hit that’s been around a long time. Same for ML as dark and Krell as bright. Bias never goes away in audio. 

A Rossini and I expect a Bartok are great digital front ends like a great turntable would be. Any sonic issue will be found elsewhere. IMHO

David Ten hit the DCS vs T+A sound differences perfectly.

We have heard many DCS setups and they do tend to be extremely clean and detailed, a lot of air as well. 

The T+A offers similar levels of clarity, also a huge soundstage, the T+A house sound does hit a warmer full bodied balance whiich is why the HV series is called that, HV stands for High Voltage, which is  a technique where the internal rail voltages are run at the same kinds of voltages seen in a tube amplifiers, T+A engineers have found that by running their internal rails at high voltages produce a much more liquid sound. 

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ T+A dealers