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Will I notice a difference?

I currently have an Exemplar/Denon 3910 CD player ( a Denon unit modified at great cost by John Tucker) and a Cambridge Audio CXN streamer. I'm thinking of getting an Mhdt Orchid dac but will I hear a difference or rather improvement ? I've tried sub $1000 dacs like Topping D50 and heard no difference at all. Guess I'm tending to be cynical about external dacs but would appreciate some informed opinions.
128x128mazian
roxy54's avatar
roxy54
7,984 posts
 
My bet is YES...you will surely hear an improvement, and I have never even heard the Orchid; but I say so after owning 2 non oversampling DACs, which I consider to be far more natural sounding than other good DACs I owned previously. It's hard It's hard to explain the difference until you hear it, but when you do hear it, it's obvious.
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
I've tried sub $1000 dacs like Topping D50 and heard no difference at all.


Well there you go then.
mdelrossi1
79 posts
 
What is the rest of your equipment? What do you think is lacking in your sound?I just went through a similar exercise, Topping D50, Sabaj D5, Schiit Bifrost multibit (I already owned), ADI-2 dac.
I kept the ADI.
The differences in sound were marginal. I guess if you were to break the 2k barrier, you might notice a difference.
If you’re staying in the under 1k , any decently designed dac will do a good job at giving you an enjoyable experience. Most of the difference that I found came down to the output stage.

Where else could you put that money, that would make your listening more enjoyable?
just some thoughts.

good luck 

mdr
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