Personal confuser Audio which aspect has the greatest impact on SQ?

@mahler123
with my B&W 803D Speakers.   With some of my SACDs, I have had the I can reach out and touch the Musicians experience via the Oppo-Bryston combo.  

OP says:
I remember those days with Red Book cDs via the Sony SCD XA 777 & BC DAC3, Thor line stage, and Dodd EL34 Monos, Silverline Sonata IIIs. as well though previous to it,   with the same front end but an all BAT power train, VK5 pre, VK500 w/BAT Pack SS stereo amp.


@mahler123
In the  end, since I can only listen to one DAC at a time, and since I wanted the proceeds of the Manhatten to finance the purchase of another piece of gear, I sold the Mytek.

OP says:
it be’s that way a lot around here too. gotta get off of this, to get one of those!


@mahler123
   In your case, I would define your budget and get the best Bel Canto DAC that you can afford.  


OP says:
outstanding input. many thanks. especially on the desparity between those two dACs.

I have a UDP 203. according to Oppo whatever digital info is handed off to it via Audirvana can or will pass thru its SPDIF outputs.

DSD likely must go thru HDMI as you said, if at all with a UDP 203.

the 203 recent firmware update provided MQA I think though I believe its from streaming services only and likely not passed thru any digital outputs. but maybe. I’ll have to look into that bit.

its sounds like the diffs in your two dACs was similar to what I experienced between a Lavry and the BC DAC3, with the Lavry being your Bryston, and the DAC3 the Manhattan.

I feel strongly that the ‘source’ supplying the analog feed eventually should be as transparent and akin to your ‘x ray’ characterization of the Manhattan

I declared the Lavry a BMW 5 series and the BC DAC3 a Dodge Viper. one soaked up the bumps, one revealed every descrepency on the roadway… and was far quicker!

I do also attend to system ’synergy’ and at times, some things simply do not mix well with the balance of the outfit.

in fact though, I like the proposition of having both ends of the rig as transparent as is possible without ever crossing the line into dry, strident, sterile, or analytical, and uber detailed. .

as such, and on the budget theme my philosophy has been figure out the budget, double that and then add a bit more for the next wahtever gizmo. often it demands selling one item and waiting to get the next. which plainly stinks a lil bit. lol

as my aspiration going forward will remain targeted to the best 16/44 rendering I can acquire, I’m gonna aim predominately for something from EMM Labs or bC at this point. I think.

DSD, MQA, and on a lesser scale HD files purchased online don’t interest me a lot. Just somewhat. I’ll buy some HD files here and there occasionally, but I’m gonna stick mostly to ripped track playback off a synology NAS.

things may change and I’m being far more open to change this go ‘round than ever before.

so, we’ll see.

@blindjim 
I must have missed your earlier mention of Silverline Sonata III.  I was using Silverline Panatella as my two channel floor standers before upgrading to the B&W, and those Panatellas are now in a Surround Sound System.. I would love to hear their more upmarket models.
  I agree that optimizing red book playback should be the goal.  Fortunately the Bryston excels at everything, not just DSD.
  I am jealous of you being able to go with EMM.!

@mahler123
yes. but before the Sonata IIIs were a littany of BW speakers ending with the CDm9Ts with hopes for the 802Ns.

things change.

B&K, Krell amps came and went.

the store I traded with back then lost the bW line. they had Monitor Audio so I opted for the gold 60s.

found this site and sold them. went of on a pr of VR4JRs, then the previously mentioned B.A.T. gear.

later, another BAT amp in a VK60, the Silverlines. and then, the Thor and Dods.

again, life happens, and things change.

several biolent break in attempts, in '10 - '11, and some serious health issues thereafter, forced me to reassess my priorities and my security.

sold off the Dodds and Sonatas for alarms, exterior lighting, and uh, several high capacity hand held security measures.

consequently, my audio system evaporated for the needed new security measures   and I was accordingly dismayed. .

things seem to be on an up tick of late so here's hoping it continues and culminates prosperously quite soon. or at least soon.

if so, there will definitely be some sort of up scale dAC fueling the source signal.

the major obstacle for me as usual is managing the sW required for the digital file and now the streaming content playback.

especially since migrating onto this new imac 5K retina and having to learn how to use it and its adaptive accessibility feature set.

whoa.
.
signing up for Quboz recently I could not make it play anything! nada. zipola. I'm gonna try once more soon now that I'm figuring out audirvana plus.

that is as well after I get the balance of my left overs re arranged in the office and throw together it all into a mediocre office - desktop audio system.

so please don't feel envious at all. nothing fabulous is happening here tomorrow or even shortly

the deskktop rig will consist of the BC dAC3; oppo UDP 203; Thor Mk II line stage w/NOS Amperex tubes; Butler TDB 5150 multi ch amp; Silverline sR 16; velodyne DD15 sub; Elrod, Voodoo, and Shunyata power cords, HT Magic II ICs, and Sound Anchor rack & speaker stands, then some Running springs & PSA passive plc..

I've some other pieces still like an Odyssey stratos plus 2ch SS amp, onkyo receiver, and some older phase Tech towers and some PT 2 ways and even a pr of Canton bookshelfs.

nearly all of those pieces remain in purely static situations. unplugged and just taking up space.

so in the end it won't suck... but its far from where things were.

the imnpetus now is looking into the 'bridge' section and it seems the Oppo is going to have to do. ....

if the Micro Rendu had a coaxial interface to a DAC instead of only USB.

oil well.

maybe I'll fall back onto the Windows 7 box and its Lynx AES 16 express SC whose AES output feeds the BC dAC3 very well, and just use FUBAR again.

so it ain't all bad.

Even though Mighty Casey struck out, there is still a reason for some joy to be had in Mudville.

Well I hope that your personal security situation has stabilized.
I used the Oppo as a bridge for a while when my Bluesound was dead in the water.  If only they had developed a better app before folding their tent....it can be used but it isn’t very elegant.

@mahler123>
I hope that your personal security situation has stabilized.

OP>
it seems to have, though the mail box has none and as such its an ongoing concern, and has been a serious issue twice now.

luckily a former close friend, since passed, had a friend well up in the Sheriffs department, a detective who bvisited me and some uh, 'neighbors' and things have quieted down a good bit. I think the nonsense is still going on but its not going on here, and that's my primary remaining issue.

@mahler123>

  I used the Oppo as a bridge for a while when my Bluesound was dead in the water.  If only they had developed a better app before folding their tent....

OP>
whose app, Oppo or Blue Sound?

I thought if I were using the MAC and A + to feed the Oppo, the UDP 203 would essentially be a silent partner. acting only as a conduit or bridge to the dAC.

BTW, putting the A+ remote app onto my iphone and ipad sure made using A+ easier.

now I gotta figure out how to generate playlists inside A+ made of files itunes doesn't support, using ONLY the keyboard. or very sparringly the mouse as I can magnify the screen to see it better when absolutely necessary.

well, that and integrating a streaming service.

BTW2,
huge thanks for pointing me to Audirvana Plus. Good call!

also, I've decided if I do use a formal audio 'bridge' it will be one that accepts input from ethernet on the local network. with a NAS, it makes more sense.

given every decent music streaming/renderer has some lofty price tags, those will be, if at all, final additions of pure convenience.