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NAD C565bee/Rega Apollo vs. DAC MHDT Paradisea 3

After years of primarily playing vinyl, I'd like to add a digital source to my system; McIntosh MA-230, Thorens 320, Focal 807v. The idea here is that I can play CDs as well as mp3s from my Apple computer. Doing some research and checking my wife's approval rate (WAR), it boils down to the following two options:
1) A NAD C565bee or maybe a Rega Apollo.
2) A cheap cd player in combination with a MHDT Paradisea 3 or a Cambridge DAC Magic.
I would appreciate to hear on how a decent cd player (e.g., NAD/Rega) compares to the DACs (e.g., MHDT/Cambridge)?
Thanks
kossi
newbrook
82 posts
 
Both the NAD and REGA are outstanding. Not sure how much, if anything, will be gained by putting a DAC in. The Rega prides itself on a pure Redbook playback.
kossi OP
1 posts
 
Thanks for your response. I guess what I meant was either option 1 or option 2. A more expensive stand alone cd player OR a cheap old cd player in combination with a DAC. Any thoughts?
Cheers
trackernc
8 posts
 
Not sure if this is useful information to you or not... but I have a NAD565BEE connected to my computer via the optical IN on the CD player thus playing my computer through the CD player dac. I also have a Asus Xonar Essence sound card which is supposedly pretty good. The asus has regular RCA analog outputs. The sound from both is almost the same, but the sound through the NAD is definitely better. I did A/B testing to confirm this.

Also the USB reader on the NAD does a great job. Mp3s played off of a flash drive sound as good as those same mp3s burned to an Audio CD (not data).

I have been very happy with my NAD565BEE. It was a refurb from Spirit Sound.. Hard to beat the price...
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