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DAC upgrade or Amplifier

Which has more influence over the soundstage - the DAC or the amp? My sound stage is high and wide, but recordings sound 3 dimensional only rarely. My equipment is at best mid fi - Adcom 5500 amp and Cambridge audio DAC magic. Listening primarily to Tidal at their highest level available.  The rest of the system if Adcom Preamp 750 (the Nelson Pass design), Tyler Acoustic speakers, tributary cables throughout. Any advice or suggestions for upgrades for improving the "depth" of the soundstage is appreciated (let's say that an upgrade for less than $1500 is in the budget, and I'm comfortable buying used from reputable sources). Thanks!

philtangerine
philtangerine OP
29 posts
 
 Steve @audioengr  - before I posted I did some reading on DACs and there seems to be some reservation  out there about a DAC with a digital volume control - that keeping the volume control in the analogue sequence is important to the overall sound. Aside from that, I was quite interested in a DAC that would be an upgrade to my existing DAC and Adcom Pre...do you have any concerns about digital volume controls?
mr_bill
347 posts
 
Steve,
Are you talking about the Sony HAP Z1es?
There is no HAP1ex that I’m aware of. 
audioengr
3,282 posts
 

Phil - Each volume control technology has its deficiencies, so all of them are a compromise of some sort.  The best scenario is probably to do some reduction in volume using a DAC digital control, gain control and then additional drop using S/W volume control. You can do about 10dB with a good volume like Amarra has without any SQ impact.   If you can find a DAC with several gain settings, but no volume control, this is probably best.  Set it as a lower setting and then reduce more with S/W volume on a computer.

Like almost all design, its not so much the technology as the implementation that makes a good performing circuit.  If the digital volume control on the DAC is implemented well, you will get excellent results.

HAP-Z1es is correct.


Steve N.

Empirical Audio

philtangerine OP
29 posts
 
Thank you Steve N.
auxinput
2,920 posts
 

Looking at the internal architecture, the Sony HAP-Z1ES is a significant/huge upgrade from your Cambridge DAC Magic.  However at $1259 used / $2k new, it uses up pretty much your entire upgrade budget.  It leaves nothing left (in your budget) for amplifier upgrade.  The assumption is that the Sony does use a digital volume (which means you can connect direct to an amp).  The digital volumes works by converting the 16/24 bit audio data to 32 bit and then reduce the bit height of the waveform before it hits the DAC chip.  There is controversy on whether a true analog preamp is better than this or not.  Personally, I think I would rather have full bit resolution at the DAC/output stages and run it through a true analog resistor-ladder volume control.  A high end passive preamp could be a solution (like the Khozmo or even some others that have a capacitor/transformer output), but passives do have their own challenges as well.

I have not heard any preamp less than about $10K that can do a decent job.

Steve's quote may be absolutely true from his point of view, but I caution the need to spend $10K plus on a preamp because everything is relative.  You can definitely get a better preamp with more transparency/resolution, but everything is relative to what you can actually work with (both budget and practicality).

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