Will a new Dac improve the sound?


I have an older CD player( Cary CDP1) . It sounds good ,but would a new or used Dac in the line improve the sound? Looking at Dacs in the $600 - $1200 range. I know the other equipment would also matter in the outcome, but as a general question......do you think this would be an upgrade to the sound? Or should i go another route?

GP

garypick

Thank you guys for all the input. I guess now i’m trying to decide between a Dac with tubes or not. Not sure if the tube would give me a little less harshness. Or a R2R would give me the same results.

no - r2r dacs as a generality don’t reduce treble grit, unwanted energy, harshness, as there is a wide range of tonality/voicing among r2r dacs, largely based the quality of on their output stage and power supply design - for instance the soekris 14/15/25 series dacs have quite strong treble energy, whereas the lower denafrips dacs have good treble energy coupled with a warm midrange, and the audio gd r2r dacs have a more recessed treble

tubed output dacs, otoh generally add a tubey flavor and more reliably reduce treble energy, add midbass warmth and provide a somewhat more expansive image and soundstage - mhdt provides one with BOTH nos r2r topology and a tube buffered output stage, like higher cost audio mirror, lampi’s etc etc

It seems they go through upgrades every 6 months...just putzing with my player and decoupling showed me that the micro detail is worth the $ and adding a good dac🚀...im sure its a matter of time that i make the shift to dac...Would seem once bit its addicting from all i read.

as a general answer to your general question, I believe the newer DACs and Transports are much better...

+2 on the MHDT DAC recommendations.  BTW, what cables/interconnects are you using?