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Best DAC for 27" iMac

Hello everyone! I have a question I'm sure somebody can answer for me.
I have a 27"iMac with my entire music collection on there. I have my speakers hooked up through my Sony DA4ES Receiver via interconnects and a Y-Splitter
I want to get the most out of my audio for music listening purposes. I know the next thing that will improve my audio the most is getting a DAC. I would like to know which DAC you guys would recommend me to use. I have a budget in mind of $800 or below. I would like the feedback of those who also have an iMac as well to see what their experiences are with a DAC. I'd like to thank everybody who reads this in advance and for their input.

Cheers,
Robin
128x128mrrobinchen
kevinzoe
167 posts
 
You may wish to surf over to www.computeraudiophile.com which will be very helpful, no doubt.
classicjazz
153 posts
 
Robin,

Out of curiosity, at what resolution did you save your music? If you were to use uncompressed (WAV or AIFF) or at least Apple lossless, you will have peace of mind knowing that at least the source material is at full bit depth. It wouldn't make sense to use MP3 or AAC if your pursuit is sound quality.
synthfreek's avatar
synthfreek
627 posts
 
Why the implication that Apple Lossless is anything less than aiff or wav?
danlib1
819 posts
 
Apple lossless is a compression technology, though very good and theoretically lossless. AIFF on the other hand has no compression algorithm at all and renders bit for bit.

I believe that's where the inference that it's somewhat "less" than AIFF or WAV comes into play.

Considering the low cost of storage these days, many would choose to go bit for bit vs. any compression whatsoever, even a good scenario like Apple Lossless.
magfan
1,583 posts
 
If you can get a bit-perfect copy from a compressed format, which you can with Apple Lossess and FLAC, than go for the (storage) space saving.

The 30% to 40% reduction in file size allowed by FLAC or ALAC are worth it and don't compromise playback.
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