My 2 cents. Ez2Hear is correct in his suggestion of introducing a better cable into the system. I tried cheap RS audio cables between my DAC and transport and the sound was absolutely dreadful. I assembled a good quality 75 ohm cable from Belden 1505a video coax along with proper 75 ohm connectors from Canare and the sound improved dramatically. The parts cost on this type of cable system is very low if you want to build one yourself, or you can try one of the inexpensive cable makers such as Blue Jeans Cable to purchase something pre-assembled. I think that you'll find the difference in sound when using a reasonable cable will be striking.
Getting more from my DAC
I need some advice. I've put together a mid-fi office system over the last few months:
Sony XE500 CDP acting as a transport
MSB Link DAC III with 24/96 upsampling
McCormack Micro Integrated Drive amp with upgraded PS
Tannoy System 600 nearfield monitors
Toslink cable between transport and DAC. Ratshack gold series interconnect between DAC and amp. Audioquest Type 6+ wire between amp and speakers.
I was fairly happy with this system until I tried connecting the Sony CDP directly to aux posts on the amp and switching back and forth between the CDP/DAC combination and the stand-alone CDP. On a straight A/B comparison, using the selector switch on the front of the amp, I hear almost no difference, even with well recorded piano music/female vocal/jazz.
This is disappointing. The amp is low powered but pretty transparent, I believe - as are the speakers, which were designed as pro monitors and have a reputation for being revealing. So why aren't I hearing a more perceptible improvement - change, even - in the sound when the DAC is introduced into the system?
Are my crappy cables strangling the DAC? Is the transport too cheapo to let the DAC do its work? Do I need to follow the MSB/Modwright upgrade path before the DAC will really shine in my system? Or is the whole system a bit too bargain-basement to benefit from a decent DAC?
Words of wisdom gratefully received.
Sony XE500 CDP acting as a transport
MSB Link DAC III with 24/96 upsampling
McCormack Micro Integrated Drive amp with upgraded PS
Tannoy System 600 nearfield monitors
Toslink cable between transport and DAC. Ratshack gold series interconnect between DAC and amp. Audioquest Type 6+ wire between amp and speakers.
I was fairly happy with this system until I tried connecting the Sony CDP directly to aux posts on the amp and switching back and forth between the CDP/DAC combination and the stand-alone CDP. On a straight A/B comparison, using the selector switch on the front of the amp, I hear almost no difference, even with well recorded piano music/female vocal/jazz.
This is disappointing. The amp is low powered but pretty transparent, I believe - as are the speakers, which were designed as pro monitors and have a reputation for being revealing. So why aren't I hearing a more perceptible improvement - change, even - in the sound when the DAC is introduced into the system?
Are my crappy cables strangling the DAC? Is the transport too cheapo to let the DAC do its work? Do I need to follow the MSB/Modwright upgrade path before the DAC will really shine in my system? Or is the whole system a bit too bargain-basement to benefit from a decent DAC?
Words of wisdom gratefully received.
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- 14 posts total
- 14 posts total