Which DAC in the chain is playing?


Hey folks,

After owning a Hegel H190 for a few years, I decided to upgrade to an external DAC and bought a Denafrips Pontus ll (just before the price increase!).

This is my first experience with an external DAC.

If my laptop connects to the external DAC via USB, external DAC connects to H190 via XLR, how do I know which DAC is bypassed?

Should the volume control on my laptop become bypassed?

Also, I have an old Cayin CDT 15 that has an SS as well as a tube output stage. How do I know if the DAC in the CD player is being bypassed?  

Would the using the optical outputs bypass the internal DAC? 

Would bypassing the CD player DAC negate the option for switching between tube and SS output stages? 

Thanks everyone!

 

hleeid

@hleeid So you can use an external DAC without problem but you will need to use the internal DAC for streaming or buy another streaming device and put it's digital output into the external DAC. There is no digital out on the H190. You could use the H190 as a pre-amp and buy a power amp too.

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Don't know digital from analog? That's like buying a manual trans car without knowing how to operate a clutch.

Time to bone up.

Bone up? Thought that's what I just did here.

Appreciate the responses. That clears things up for me.

Thanks people!

Cut the shitty attitude, fuzztone. A lot of us are here to learn and don’t need your disrespect.