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I can't tell the difference

I have a primate I21 integrated amp, bowers and wilkins cm5 speakers, and a slim devices squeezebox. I recently purchased a musialcal fidelity v-dac thinking the squeezebox's dac might be my weak spot. I've done a blind comparison between the sb3's dac and the v-dac but I can't tell the difference between the two.

I really thought that the v-dac should have been a significant upgrade seeing as how it costs the same as the sb3 which has a lesser burr-brown chip and a ton of other componets where with the v-dac you are just paying for the dac and nothing else.

Should I be able to hear the difference here? How much do I need to spend to upgrade my source?
mustard
mustard OP
10 posts
 
Thanks guys. If it wasn't an obvious typo my amp is a Primare. Traudio, have you done any blind tests with those DACs? I find it frustrating that most reviewers don't do this. It makes it really tough to figure where your money is best spent if you don't have the luxury of home demos or of purchasing so many different components. Thanks.
afranta
180 posts
 
FWIW, I've been impressed by the Squeezebox Duet streaming Apple lossless files. I thought I'd add an external DAC, but doubt I'll bother--especially since my system isn't high end (Naim CD5i, Nait 5i, Dynaudio Excite x12) and 90% of the time I'm using the Squeezebox for internet radio or Pandora.
mustard OP
10 posts
 
Afranta, I'd say our systems are in the same ball-park budget wise. I'm back listening to the sb3's dac and it really does sound quite good. I guess I just had it in my head that a 300$ device with a ethernet card, wireless antenna, and other hardware besides the dac shouldn't be able to hold it's own vs a dedicated component.

I listen to mostly apple lossless files so I'd like to think there is more potential in there somewhere. But I suppose I should just stop worrying about it and enjoy the music. I'll be returning the v-dac.
gb24
17 posts
 
FWIW, I also couldn't tell the difference between the V-Dac and the internal dac of my Denon receiver. However, I use an Apple TV rather than SB, and an external dac does definitely sound better than the internal ATV dac.
cerrot's avatar
cerrot
1,700 posts
 
I think the vdac is a lateral move - whatever advantage the dac may have over the squeezebox is offset my the added cable. (The cable introduces a new source of jitter, which you may not have had with the standalone squeezebox). Remember, the more revealing a system is, the more noticable upgrades are.
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