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I need help - Better DAC or NEW CD player?

I am in the middle of purchasing some components for my new system, unfortunately, reading posts on a rainy night on Audigon only makes my "upgradeatitis" syndrom more acute.

The problem is that some time ago, I bought a squeezebox Duet, to use as transport for lossless files. The idea obviously was to get a good DAC to go along with it.

The one I was almost set on was the Dacmagic, which gets very good reviews here and almost everywhere you look. But, on the other hand, I am willing to spend a little more......Now, the thing is my current CD player is a Rotel RCD 1072, and was wondering whether this Dacmagic would give me any improvements if I use the rotel as a transport for it.

Or, I could get for example a Wyred DAC or a Benchmark DAC1 and use the Rotel for transport, but I dont know the limits of the Rotel as transport alone, I dont want to spend 600 more bucks on a better DAC to be fed with 2 "not so good" transports (the Duet and the Rotel).

So I am kinda stuck!! On the other hand I am contemplating getting the Dacmagic to use only for the Duet, and getting a new better CD player altogether, which puts me into another doubt, I dont know if the little money I can for the rotel + lets say 1000 more will really give me any improvements in the system if I purchase a whole new CD player since the Rotel is said to be very capable.

FWIW my amp will be a W4S STI500 and speakers are B&W 803D.

Let me know what you think about this and your suggestions on what you would do.... thanks in advance for all your help!
demianm
4est
507 posts
 
Demianm,

The Benchmark HDR has 3 spidif (coax) inputs with an analog in.

Swanny,

The Bel Canto in not asynchronous USB (I do not know what async upsampling is).
Their site: "The USB input goes through a 3rd de-jitter stage to insure optimum playback from computer based sources."

Kijanki,

I am not sure where to start. Jitter- Duh, that is what I was talking about. The Benchmark is not really async, but adaptive if I understand it. Regardless you contradicted yourself. First you said that transports won't make a difference. Now you are saying "Once you have different transports all bets are off." I agree with the latter, and also agree that there are cheap DVD players that make good transports.

Mapman,

I think that the technical explanation is that my systems are probably more revealing than yours. I mean no offense, but it is pretty bold to think that because you can't hear it, it doesn't exist. You really seem to like your Ohms, and I see you mentioning them frequently in the forums. They have an interesting presentation and a place amongst audiophiles, but I wouldn't say that there are known for being the most revealing speaker out there. My original digital analog "analog" loosely is:

Transport > turntable

DAC > cartridge

Jitter/timing > VTA, azimuth, anti skating etc-Possibly just as elusive, hence the use of atomic clocks for instance.

Sorry for hi jacking this thread...
demianm OP
18 posts
 
Dont worry, I am getting a ton of information nonetheless. Just to add a bit more confusion, does anyone have anything to say about the W4S dac-1 which is coming out now? It is said to be better than the stage 4 PS audio DLIII which was indeed very good.....It is also one of my options.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,182 posts
 
4est,

My comments were regarding the Benchmark DAC design and what differences might be heard there and why. My system really is not even relevant to that discussion.

That aside, I think you underestimate the ability of the OHMs to resolve detail for whatever reason. I hear significant differences with the OHMs whenever I change something, including ICs and wires so my experience is not consistent with your assessment.
swanny76109
382 posts
 
4 EST, as I said, I don't run the DAC3 at all using usb. For you to nitpick my observations, while simultaneously saying you don't know what asynchronous upsampling means, pretty much makes your comments unhelpful. That said, Bel Canto (and others) make USB asynchronous adapters that convert the USB to SPDIF. There's a review in the latest Stereophile of some new entries on that front. USB is not a great interface due to inherent jitter issues, which has been covered ad nauseum elsewhere. Since the OP asked for advice about DACs and Squeezebox, I offered my firsthand advice on that topic. Go coax or SPDIF if at all possible into your DAC from Squeezebox.
swanny76109
382 posts
 
PS, Demianm, I bet the new W4S Dacs are going to be interesting, and a good value with the Sabre 32 bit DAC. I have thought about comparing the DAC2 vs the Bel Canto DAC3...someday!
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