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Too many DAC decisions

Yes, I know, you just have to hold your nose and jump in the water, sooner or later. But in this case, we’re talking not chump change when investing in a venture in computer audio. I will commit to the Mac Mini, a Raid or Drobos backup, various cabling….but the dac! I’m not especially ‘digital’ literate, and cannot fathom the different sampling rates, connections (USB 2, and future 3, fire wire, I2s, thunderbolt, etc.). But my main expense will be a decent dac. I’m 200 miles away from a major metropolitan area. Even if I could get someone to send samples of dacs, setting up individual software/cabling/drivers would be beyond my means. What to consider?
Young, Weiss, Berkley, Zodiac, Invicta, Meitner, and on, and on, until next week, when a bevy of high-end dacs will appear to muddy the picture (and decision making process).
I am sure I’m am not the only one to be in this quandary; I read on this forum and others (Asylum, Computer Audio, several manufacturers web sites) similar rants but I can’t seem to see the best solution to making an informed decision. Listening to dacs in dealer’s showrooms is an artificial evaluation, compared to your home environment. Sorry for the verbosity, but I am ready to make to leap but don’t know which way to jump.
farmdoc
peter_s
1,320 posts
 
I too am at a transition points with the new DACs, and not sure where to invest money. Another question is related to the Empirical Audio stuff. Is it more cost effective to buy an Offramp and put it in front of a good DAC, or to buy a much more expensive DAC. Steve Nugent at Empirical (and apparently Stereophile) say that the Offramp can be a significant equalizer.
david12
1,454 posts
 
abruce You advocate the Mach2mini over a stanard Mac mini. I presume because you have heard a sound advantage over an off the shelf computer. Can you give some idea of how big and what differences there are? Sorry to push into the thread with my questions.
robbob
273 posts
 
I have had the entertaining chance to listen to the following DACs in my system (Manley Stingray II and Merlin TSM-MXr speakers) and with my friends system, Vandy 5a speakers with mostly all ARC power.

DACs we've listened to...

Rega, W4S 2 Minimax, Minimax Plus, Centrance Mini, ARC 8, Dacmagic

Here's the bad news....
They all did great jobs and nothing was seriously dominated. Even the Dacmagic held its own just fine and sounded great. Most of the time you would need to check to see which was playing. After some very crazy intense listening we liked the Rega and Centrance best. The owner of the Minimax plus says he may end up ranking the Plus 2nd. But the reality was how much alike they all sounded. Of course they did! They're all chasing the same goal!

Buy a nice DAC (I like the Rega overall and the Minimax Plus in SS mode) and don't worry too much about it. You'll have more tweakability almost anywhere else in your system. Be sure to add good software and memory to the Mac and configure it right. To be fair, I should say that we have not done a serious comparison to the expensive ARC Dac.

Good luck....just jump!

Rob
foster_9
1,638 posts
 
With the plethora of DACs on the market it's very difficult to choose one just as it is with other high end equipment. (without being able to connect it and hear in your system) You can't know what a DAC will do in your individual system. But with the majority of maunfacturers, you buy it, you own it. If you are willing to go with a less expensive DAC there are a few manufacturers who sell with a 30 day money back through online dealer/retailers, otherwise you buy and try and have to resell here if you dislike your results. You might be able to resell and take minimal loss in some cases. If you want to go lower price DACs, Wyred has a 15% restocking fee on return, Centrance can be had on a 30 day audition, Rega has a 30 day audition. Audio Advisor and Music Direct have various DACs that you can audition and if needed return within 30 days. But if you go for the premium higher end DACs, in the majority of cases you will not have return priveleges. It's my opinion that you can come close to high end performance with some less-than high end DACs. Let us know of your experiences.
rockitman's avatar
rockitman
417 posts
 
You should audition the PS Audio Perfect Wave Dac. There is a Mark 2 version coming out. What's nice, other than it's tremendous flexiblity is the ability to not be forced to upsample redbook cd's. Redbook cd's sound best when they are not upsampled...more natural,imo. The native setting (avoiding the sample rate convertor) allows you to avoid the sample rate convertor completely. It of course will accept wav input up to 24/192. PS Audio retailers do allow returns if you don't like it so you can audition it.
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