The pleasure is all mine.
At what point is an external D/A converter warranted or beneficial
Over the years and after multiple "upgrades" I've become disillusioned with digital audio reproduction. As my systems improved in quality/resolution, the digital audio quality has equally deteriorated to where most listening is now done in analog. This makes my CD collection of in excess of 1000 titles pretty much useless. My digital D/A conversion knowledge is pretty much limited to whatever is done by the internal D/A converter of the equipment. That being a Lexicon MC12B processor and Oppo BDP103. As my choices of ICs went from basics to high quality resolution improved with a marked decline in digital SQ. I'm at a point where any Redbook CD presents a harsh, edgy, shrilly, bright, name it what you want, upper frequency. Changing ICs back to basic cables attenuates this along with resolution of the music played. You might say I'm at a loss. Do I live with less resolution or the digital limitations. I do not have this issue playing analog media. Would an external D/A converter be beneficial or a waste of money?
Systems are: B&W 803D2 and surrounds, Lexicon MC12B, Oppo BDP 103, AQ Columbia ICs XLR & RCA, AQ Digital ICs, Tara Labs speaker cables, Rogue Pharaoh, VPI Prime . Analog front end shares the L/R front speaker and input from the Oppo.
Is there such a thing as an external D/A converter for a H/T setup as the Lexicon processor is the oldest piece in the chain with most likely the weakest D/A converter. But how would that connect to avoid the internal processing.
Any suggestions or recommendations?
Systems are: B&W 803D2 and surrounds, Lexicon MC12B, Oppo BDP 103, AQ Columbia ICs XLR & RCA, AQ Digital ICs, Tara Labs speaker cables, Rogue Pharaoh, VPI Prime . Analog front end shares the L/R front speaker and input from the Oppo.
Is there such a thing as an external D/A converter for a H/T setup as the Lexicon processor is the oldest piece in the chain with most likely the weakest D/A converter. But how would that connect to avoid the internal processing.
Any suggestions or recommendations?
- ...
- 46 posts total
The Oppo is probably the weak link in your digital chain. You could send the signal out to an external DAC and hear some improvement in SQ. A better and more meaningful upgrade would be to get a dedicated high quality CD player. There's a significant difference in sound quality when playing CD's from my Marantz KI Pearl vs. my Oppo UPD-203---->Aurlalic Vega DAC. Using the Auralic's DAC is a little better than the Oppo's DAC, but the Marantz is much better. |
I won’t go down the rabbit hole of pretending one format being superior to the other. Making some assumptions here: you have a home theater set up; you are taking the digital out (optical/RCA/HDMI) from the Oppo-103 and processing via the Lexcion MC-12B (2-channel stereo mode). Not sure what kind of bass management/filtering you might have, but hope there is nothing there mucking with the sound. The Oppo BDP-103 actually has a pretty nice DAC. For comparison purposes have you tried listening to CDs via the RCA outputs (don’t think you have XLR with the BDP-103)? In the past I’ve had both an Oppo BDP-105 and UDP-205 in my system running balanced XLR into a 2-Channel amplifier with very nice results. My gut instinct would be that the Oppo unit should give you better sound given the age of the chipset used in the Lexicon, but you have to decide with your own ears. I’ve heard that B&W speakers to some can sound a bit bright (very analytical) which would be a bad combo for a recording that has a bright/edgy quality to it. Switching to an outboard DAC could yield significantly better results depending on what you get (and if matches well with your system). I would suggest auditioning various options to get a flavor of what is out there. I have a PS Audio Directstream DAC which I highly recommend, but there are other good options out there as well (i.e. Mytek, Chord, Bryston, Schiit, etc.). Do the internal checks with your current system first, and then audition some DACs - but don’t throw away your CD collection! |
You sound like a great candidate for one of the newer multibit R2R non-oversampling (NOS) DACs. Many people find them to be more "analog" or "organic" sounding than the more prevalent single bit or delta sigma DACs. A couple options in the $2000 range that offer in-home trials in case you want to explore this route: This one uses low-level tubes in the output stage... https://www.hifiwigwam.com/sw1x-audio-design-dac-1-signature-a-review-by-kevin-fiske/ Here is this designer's take on R2R NOS DACs vs. Delta Sigma DACs just FYI... http://sw1xad.co.uk/technology_post/delta-sigma-vs-non-oversampling-r2r-dac-designs/ This one is solid state... https://www.ebay.com/itm/132457413112?ul_ref=http%253A%252F%252Frover.ebay.com%252Frover%252F1%252F7... There are others, but just a couple to get you started. Best of luck. |
I really want to thank all who are contributing. It's all valuable. I tried the vcr tape idea suggested by millercarbon. Did it work? Actually yes it did and it cleaned up the highs nicely, not completely, but nicely. But brother I'm here to tell you it's cumbersome. Unless you want to listen to the entire tape finding a track is not fun or easy, rewinding is noisy and time consuming. It works but there has to be a better way. |
- 46 posts total