What *should" sound better, might not to you.
One might not be able to notice any difference.
Conjecture is a meaningless exercise.
Which DAC - Streamer or Preamp?
I’m finally indulging my audio-curious nature and beginning to build a listening room along with a higher-end two-channel system. I managed to snag a McIntosh C-47 preamp and an MC-312 amp, both used for decent prices. For now, I’ll be listening through a pair of Klipsch Heresy (1980) back by a pair of REL T/7x in a 16x24 basement space (sadly, with a low ceiling). I also just bought an Eversolo DMP-A6. So my question is, should I run balanced lines from the Eversolo, or should I run the digital feed to the C-47 for processing? I know that the right answer is "try both and go with with you like." But I am also curious what ’should’ be better on paper, or what some of you with much more experience than I have would say. Thanks for your thoughts!
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I believe there are two versions of the Mac DAC cards, call them DAC 1 and DAC 2 — forget what they’re actually called. The first version is not very highly regarded and the DAC2 was apparently a big improvement. You might want to check which DAC version is in your C-47 just to know. The DAC in the A6 is probably nothing all that special, which is why they significantly upgraded it in the A8. This is just some background info fyi in case it might be interesting/helpful in some way, and obviously your ears always need to be the final arbiter. Congrats (or condolences) on entering the morass that is high-end audio. |
@ghdprentice thank you for the encouragement about the room. Yes, my intention is to get this basic stereo setup in place and then concentrate on optimizing the room as best I can with placement and acoustic treatments. After that, I can add to my system and improve the weak points over time. @soix thanks for the tip on the C-47 DAC card change. I'll do a little research to figure out what I have. I thought about jumping to the A8 right away, but its an upwardly slippery slope, and I leave room for an even bigger streamer jump in the near future. |
If it was me I wouldn’t do that — I’d get a separate DAC to use with the A6. DACs are a personal choice and sound different, and what are the odds that the DAC in the A8 is best for your particular sonic preferences? I’d say very low. There are tons of excellent DACs out there today so worth doing some research to find the one that best matches your sonic preferences and do that. I don’t believe there’s much difference in streaming between the A8 and A6, and the A6 should be fine as a streamer for now. Or maybe you’ll get lucky and be very happy with what you already have. Just my $0.02 FWIW. |
@soix that’s a great point, and one that didn’t occur to me right away, coming from a more common audio consumer mindset, thanks. |
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