New streamer or dac?
So when I put my system together the idea was strictly vinyl,I eventually added a budget streamer thinking I’d use it for background music or puttering around the house when its not practical to listen to records. I became immediately consumed with it after subscribing to Tidal ,the idea of being able to listen to anything that pops into head is just fantastic,Im enjoying music like never before.Im ready to swap out the $600 unit for something a little more inline with the rest of the equipment in the system but am not sure if another option might be better. So my question is would it maybe be a better idea to buy a Dac and use the inexpensive steamer with it as a transport until I could afford to change it out also ? or would it make more sense to just buy a new streamer/ Dac unit ( I like the Aruender ) any thoughts on that would be appreciated,thanks in advance.
Ok here my suggestion to you and someone mention already about Denafrips Dac. Here's my setup for streaming. Aurender N100h (Streamer) USB out to Denafrips Iris DDC get a better USB Denafrips Iris DDC to Pontus ii using i2s cable also get a better i2s don't be cheap in cable if you want hear good details, soundstage, good base etc. And I also I change all my Power cable. Good luck and I hope you can get a good advice or help here.
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Thanks again everyone ,really interesting thread lotta info for me to dig into.I would love to be able to go relax in a comfy chair and A/B compare the Schiit the Denifrips and maybe something thats double or even triple in price to those two units. There’s just no place to do that in my area especially with brands like those ,Im sure you all have the same problem. I do however feel that info given to me in this forum is extremely valuable ,nobody’s trying to sell anything right? Btw I was a little surprised that it took that long to see Denafrips come up ,anybody?? Just sayin, brand gets great reviews but i dont see many or any on Agon. Thx everyone again! |
@pwayland Regarding I2s I really believe it'll be the USB of the future but it hasn't received mainstream support yet. It's mainly PS Audio and the Chi-Fi companies that are in full support. AES/EBU, provided you have a quality setup it will USUALLY outperform USB. However it'll only support up to 24 bit 192 kHz PCM and single DSD. This covers 99% of what a regular user will encounter but higher sampling rates need to go through USB or I2s. I've seen many reviews that preferred USB over I2s but that's basically because USB is highly developed whereas I2s is just starting out and it's higher specced too, so I2s brings much promise. |
@bikeboy52 One box solutions have been discussed but what is often overlooked is the cost savings in cables. Decent cables are going to cost around $1000+ DAC Power, IC and Digital $3000 Server Power $1000 Pre Amp Power, IC $2000 Power or Integrated amp not included. |
