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New to digital high-end, need help

I'm a long-time audiophile that ripped all my CDs to flac over the past year. I've been listening through Duets/Touch for office and casual use. I have not really had a high-end home system in 6 years. Now I'm building a high-end system that will use a digital/flac source.

I have Aerial 10t speakers and currently looking for a pre/amps (possibly Audio Research or Classe). I'm familiar with the arguments for SS or tubes, etc. I need help with the source/dac/volume control because, after all my research and reading, it feels like I still don't have a clue . . .

1.) I'm using a Squeezebox Touch connected with wifi. At what price point can I expect a DAC to make a dramatic difference? $500? $1,000? $3,000?

2.) I would consider bypassing a preamp/linestage for now and using a DAC with volume control (or similar setup)I use an iPad mini for the Touch remote at this point, but the volume can be finicky and I would like to use the volume control on DAC/preamp to limit the max while using the ipad.

3.) I have read the digital volume controls (such as Touch/iPad??) actually decrease resolution as the volume is decreased. Is this true? Does that mean the Touch volume should always be at 100%?? 75%?

4.) I've heard $60k systems and owned $20k systems (just to provide a reference point). Are digital files successfully used in that level of system? Can they sound as good as a quality CD source? If so, what caliber of equipment is necessary/desirable?

Thanks to anyone that can help me muddle through this process.
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tom6897's avatar
tom6897
1,484 posts
 
Visit several audio salons if you can. Almost all will have a range of systems that can stream via Toslink, Coax USB, and will be able to show you how to set up and let you listen.

Take some of your favorites on a USB stick. They will have several DACs and probably a windows laptop or MAC to play with. There are Many, many options and competing products available right now and more on the way.
elevick
2,636 posts
 
Personally, I like analogue volume controls much better than digital. I usually leave the digital set at 90-95% and make all adjustments with the pre-amp. Keep in mind that most pre-amps or integrated amps have some gain with the volume which can tremendously help an amp but may also exaggerate any unwanted noise.
williewonka
3,075 posts
 
I am getting exceptional sound from my Digital front end, which consists of...
- Droid tablet controls playback using Retune software to control iTunes
- iMac + iTunes (librabry control) + Audirvana (playback)
- Schiit Bifrost DAC connected via DH Labs USB cable
- connected to NAIM 5i amp via KLE Innovations gZero3 Interconnect
- Gershman Sonogram speakers connected via KLE Innovations gZero2 Speaker Cables

The DAC has an asynchronous USB-2 port and it re-clocks - which minimizes jitter. A friend compared the DH Labs USB to a very expensive silver USB - we both thought the DH Labs sounded better on his $50 system

I download FLAC/WAV files up to 24/192kHz and convert to AIF because its easier in the world of Apple

Audirvana is capable of playing FLAC, but AIF is just as capable

I use Audirvana because it bypasses the crappy Apple software that inserts digital volume - it sounds much better playing the raw data file from the CD's

Apple or Windows or Linux all have their particular "Warts", so there is no clear advantage from one platform to the other.

I switched to streaming to get away from the inherent issues with CD's - I think it sounds as good, if not better and is far more convenient.
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dbphd
1,628 posts
 
There are a number of folks who argue for taking analog output of an Oppo BDP-105 directly to amps. The 105 accepts input from a computer via asynchronous USB or regular USB, HDMI, and optical and coax S/PDIF. The 105 provides speaker configuration, bass management, and a fine volume control. It's analog processing is thought by many to be SOTA. It also can play nearly every disc know to man.

The BDP-105 has no analog inputs, so I use a bypass preamp to accommodate a phono stage.

db
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