DAC with multiple inputs

Hi jamesw20 - I use the North Star DAC which meets my input needs very well. It has four inputs including coax/spdif, either another coax/spdif or toslink, AES/EBU and I2S. The unit sounds great and looks great to boot. Also, if you later want to get a new transport, there is a matching transport which also works great and looks great. I use the DAC to power the transport, a HTPC and my DirectTV satellite box/hd tivo. You should be able to pick up the DAC for around the $800 mark or less.

Monarchy DACs have mulitple inpute, are very good, and be found used for $250 and up. Beautiful and great build quality. Very analog sounding.l

I don't know you CDP but, you could sell it to get a few more buck and go with the Quad CD-Pre. Has two or thing digital inputs, the player and a built in pre. Used about $900.

James,

First verify that you cable box will output a digital signal that is compatable with an external DAC. Many won't output PCM. For instance, my last 2-3 STBs only output Dolby Digital. For music, it comes out as a Dolby Digital 2-0 signal, so my DAC won't work.

Eldarado's suggestion of the Quad CD-P is a good one. This is an excellent one box player that has 6 digital inputs and it also has a built-in remote volume control. You can replace your CD player, DAC and Pre-amp with the Quad CD-P if you only use digital PCM sources.

Enjoy,

TIC

The CAL Alpha (used for $400-600) has four digital inputs, switchable from the front panel -- coax, balanced, toslink and AT&T fiber optic. Sounds great too, especially when using the balanced input. I'd love to try out the AT&T input but I've yet to find such a cable.