Looking for standalone DAC unit

Looking for standalone DAC unit

Hi,

Time upgrade my hifi. I'm about to buy a Cambridge audio 840A v.2
amplifier. I've also had a serious look at the 840C CD player that can
also act as a DAC for other devices (it has two digital inputs). Its
pretty pricey though and I was wondering if anyone knows of a high
quality standalone DAC converter to use with my new amp (ie, just the
DAC - no CD). So a device that would have one (or more) digital inputs,
and an analog output (preferable XLR).

Regs,

Casper

Re: Looking for standalone DAC unit

On Sat, 24 Nov 2007 20:38:54 -0800, Casper Budtz-Jørgensen wrote
(in article <fiau8u022qe@news1.newsguy,com >):

> Hi,
>
> Time upgrade my hifi. I'm about to buy a Cambridge audio 840A v.2
> amplifier. I've also had a serious look at the 840C CD player that can
> also act as a DAC for other devices (it has two digital inputs). Its
> pretty pricey though and I was wondering if anyone knows of a high
> quality standalone DAC converter to use with my new amp (ie, just the
> DAC - no CD). So a device that would have one (or more) digital inputs,
> and an analog output (preferable XLR).
>
> Regs,
>
> Casper

Try this. It's an excellent performer and highly upgradable and extensible.

http :// www .msbtech,com /products/dac3.php

$450.00

Re: Looking for standalone DAC unit

I would highly reccomend the mytek stereo 96 from www .mytekdigital,com
...I have used many many dacs, from entry level to 10-12-15,000 dollar
units, and the Mytek Stereo 96 is a real giant killer.

www .mytekdigital,com
you can also email david@mytekdigital,com

Re: Looking for standalone DAC unit

"Tyr Ásmundr" <melee20160@mypacks,net > wrote in news:fki0970ot5
@news4.newsguy,com :

> I would highly reccomend the mytek stereo 96 from www .mytekdigital,com
> ...I have used many many dacs, from entry level to 10-12-15,000 dollar
> units, and the Mytek Stereo 96 is a real giant killer.
>
> www .mytekdigital,com
> you can also email david@mytekdigital,com
>

I also neglected to mention that the mytek can be had for well under 1000
USD. In my opinion, that unit is the very minimum requirement in order to
step up from consumer level equipment to "finished" or proffesional
sounding products.. What is so amazing is the fact that the piece has held
and continues to hold its own at my flat/studio against some very big names
(more people are discovering this i believe), and in the time I have owned
it, I have yet to hear a piece of gear that offers improvement. Maybe(or
maybe not!) it is worth nothing that David Chesky endorses, and uses them
in his audio pursuits. ( though I suppose for some, that may be a reason
NOT to look into mytek any further..har). I dont see myself getting rid of
mine for a long, long time...anyway, sorry for the long speech, but I want
to put as much information out as I can. Good luck with your search! I
think that David may let you listen to one for a while if you contact him.
-Tynan

Re: Looking for standalone DAC unit

On 25 Nov 2007 04:38:54 GMT, Casper Budtz-Jørgensen
<casper.pub@budtz,net > wrote:

>Hi,
>
>Time upgrade my hifi. I'm about to buy a Cambridge audio 840A v.2
>amplifier. I've also had a serious look at the 840C CD player that can
>also act as a DAC for other devices (it has two digital inputs). Its
>pretty pricey though and I was wondering if anyone knows of a high
>quality standalone DAC converter to use with my new amp (ie, just the
>DAC - no CD). So a device that would have one (or more) digital inputs,
>and an analog output (preferable XLR).
>
Well the ultimate is probably the Benchmark DAC1 but it's pretty pricy
too. You can pick up non-USB versions on eBay for about half price
occasionally.

I'd personally recommend the EMU 404 USB 2.0
( http :// www .emu,com /products/product.asp?product185) which can be
used standalone, is ridiculously cheap and sounds great.

---

Rob Tweed
Company: M/Gateway Developments Ltd
Registered in England: No 3220901
Registered Office: 58 Francis Road,Ashford, Kent TN23 7UR

Web-site: http :// www .mgateway,com

Re: Looking for standalone DAC unit

Rob Tweed wrote:
> On 25 Nov 2007 04:38:54 GMT, Casper Budtz-Jørgensen
> <casper.pub@budtz,net > wrote:
>
>
>>Hi,
>>
>>Time upgrade my hifi. I'm about to buy a Cambridge audio 840A v.2
>>amplifier. I've also had a serious look at the 840C CD player that can
>>also act as a DAC for other devices (it has two digital inputs). Its
>>pretty pricey though and I was wondering if anyone knows of a high
>>quality standalone DAC converter to use with my new amp (ie, just the
>>DAC - no CD). So a device that would have one (or more) digital inputs,
>>and an analog output (preferable XLR).
>>
>
> Well the ultimate is probably the Benchmark DAC1 but it's pretty pricy
> too. You can pick up non-USB versions on eBay for about half price
> occasionally.
>
> I'd personally recommend the EMU 404 USB 2.0
> ( http :// www .emu,com /products/product.asp?product185) which can be
> used standalone, is ridiculously cheap and sounds great.
>
> ---
>
> Rob Tweed
> Company: M/Gateway Developments Ltd
> Registered in England: No 3220901
> Registered Office: 58 Francis Road,Ashford, Kent TN23 7UR
>
> Web-site: http :// www .mgateway,com
Oh my god, I have to 2nd that suggestion wholeheartedly. Thanks to you
Mr. Tweed I gave the EMU a shot with a 30 day refund policy. They're not
getting it back. I've had an 0404USB for just about a month now on my
music server and it is fantastic. For $160, you have to give it a try.
This little un-suspecting box is really that good. The 1st night I
hooked it up, No software installed, I listened to it for over 6 hours.

At some point I hope to detail about it in another thread about my music
server.

CD

Re: Looking for standalone DAC unit

> Well the ultimate is probably the Benchmark DAC1 but it's pretty pricy
> too. You can pick up non-USB versions on eBay for about half price
> occasionally.
>

Gack! You being in UK, I expected that youd say something like DCS or GRIMM
or PRISM, or the ilk! :) That benchmark is wildly popular, and being
curious, I gave it a good shot, but when I compd against the Mytek a couple
others(Prism, Weiss)it was very bright/harsh sounding. Detail, bass
extension, etc..Benchmark has all that, but it is not, in my
opinion,enjoyable to listen to. Euphonic is what im after, without
sacrificing any of the details. Id be glad to offer up one of my units for
listening tests/comparison if anyone would like. I have an extra here in my
flat(normally used in my studio which is being remodeled--the other one is
in my hifi )

-Tynan

Re: Looking for standalone DAC unit

On 1 Jan 2008 16:21:31 GMT, "Tynan Agviðr" <melee20160@mypacks,net >
wrote:

>> Well the ultimate is probably the Benchmark DAC1 but it's pretty pricy
>> too. You can pick up non-USB versions on eBay for about half price
>> occasionally.
>>
>
>Gack! You being in UK, I expected that youd say something like DCS or GRIMM
>or PRISM, or the ilk! :) That benchmark is wildly popular, and being
>curious, I gave it a good shot, but when I compd against the Mytek a couple
>others(Prism, Weiss)it was very bright/harsh sounding. Detail, bass
>extension, etc..Benchmark has all that, but it is not, in my
>opinion,enjoyable to listen to. Euphonic is what im after, without
>sacrificing any of the details. Id be glad to offer up one of my units for
>listening tests/comparison if anyone would like. I have an extra here in my
>flat(normally used in my studio which is being remodeled--the other one is
>in my hifi )

Just a clarification if I may: I wasn't trying to imply that I
recommended the Benchmark. I was just making the point that there's a
fairly broad concensus of opinion I've read over the last year that
suggests a lot of people rate the Benchmark as one of *the* DACs.
Personally I can't justify spending the kind of money it costs to own
a Benchmark (even a second-hand one) and indeed I haven't ever heard
one! If you were in the UK I'd take you up on your offer :-)

I'm personally much more interested in discovering relatively low-cost
equipment that returns a level of audio excellence that would have
been unheard of at such prices even a few years previously. Hence my
enthusiasm for the EMU DAC - at its price, it's a no-brainer, and I
don't believe there's much else around right now at that price to
compete with it, certainly not in the mainstream hi-fi marketplace
here in the UK. I dare say there are better sounding DACs, but to get
much significant improvement, I suspect you're talking orders of
magnitude more money and, personally, I have better things on which to
spend that kind of money.

However at the current pace of change, by next year I'm sure there'll
be something cheaper and better. This crazy rate of change is driven,
it seems to me, by a number of things such as the computer industry
which has commodotised so many of the components of the audio world,
the burgeoning home recording studio marketplace and, of course, the
low manufacturing costs in China. I can't actually remember when I
last bothered to read a hi-fi magazine in the UK or go into a hi-fi
retail shop, but I know the sound I'm experiencing at home now from
equipment primarily aimed at the home studio market is light years
from what the hi-fi industry ever served up to me at the kind of
prices I could justify.

---

Rob Tweed
Company: M/Gateway Developments Ltd
Registered in England: No 3220901
Registered Office: 58 Francis Road,Ashford, Kent TN23 7UR

Web-site: http :// www .mgateway,com

Re: Looking for standalone DAC unit

On Sun, 25 Nov 2007 04:38:54 +0000, Casper Budtz-Jørgensen wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Time upgrade my hifi. I'm about to buy a Cambridge audio 840A v.2
> amplifier. I've also had a serious look at the 840C CD player that can
> also act as a DAC for other devices (it has two digital inputs). Its
> pretty pricey though and I was wondering if anyone knows of a high
> quality standalone DAC converter to use with my new amp (ie, just the
> DAC - no CD). So a device that would have one (or more) digital inputs,
> and an analog output (preferable XLR).
>
> Regs,
>
> Casper

I second the recommendation of the E-mu 0404 USB. It offers great sound
for the price, and will directly drive an amplifier via balanced
outputs. It has USB, toslink and coax digital inputs. It doesn't offer
the extreme low level detail retrieval of some DACs, but does offer a
very musical and dynamic sound.

Re: Looking for standalone DAC unit

I am a fan of HDCD-encoded CD's: IMHO, when you can find them, I think
they sound much better than standard Red Book CD's.

And some very good DAC's were manufactured that incorporated either
the Pacific Microsonics PMD-100 or the newer PMD-200 HDCD decoding
chip.

Adcom released a stand-alone DAC some years back called the GDA-700
that used 20/96 bit Burr-Brown DAC's and the PMD-100 HDCD chip. It
retailed for $1,000, had both balanced and unbalanced connectors,
multiple inputs, and a phase inversion switch on the front panel. It's
predecessor, the GDA-600 was similar, but did incorporate the PMD-100
HDCD chip. And FWIW, both garnered good reviews from the "audiophile"
press.

There are some very good sounding CD's available that have been made
using HDCD encoding, but no one (to my knowledge) has posted an on-
line list of all HDCD recordings, or consumer electronics software
incorporating HDCD decoding. Pacific Microsonics used to do this, but
they were acquired by Microsoft sometime in 2000 or 2001, and
Microsoft has almost no mention of HDCD hardware or software on their
site - Shame on them!

Anyway, if you can find an Adcom GDA-700 (they are now scarce and
pricey), I would heartily recommend it. I'm currently using one with a
Sony DVP-NS500V as a CD transport and I think this is an incredibly
good-sounding combination, but, as always, YMMV.

On Nov 24, 11:38 pm, Casper Budtz-Jørgensen <casper....@budtz,net >
wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Time upgrade my hifi. I'm about to buy a Cambridge audio 840A v.2
> amplifier. I've also had a serious look at the 840C CD player that can
> also act as a DAC for other devices (it has two digital inputs). Its
> pretty pricey though and I was wondering if anyone knows of a high
> quality standalone DAC converter to use with my new amp (ie, just the
> DAC - no CD). So a device that would have one (or more) digital inputs,
> and an analog output (preferable XLR).
>
> Regs,
>
> Casper

Re: Looking for standalone DAC unit

Vinyl Rules! <timbritt@cyber-wizard,com > wrote:
> I am a fan of HDCD-encoded CD's: IMHO, when you can find them, I think
> they sound much better than standard Red Book CD's.

A fair comparison has never been available to consumers, as far as I
know. That would at minimum require two sources mastered exactly the
same except for the HDCD encoding step, and a player that allowed
both to be played back with matched levels.

___
-S
"As human beings, we understand the world through simile, analogy,
metaphor, narrative and, sometimes, claymation." - B. Mason

Re: Looking for standalone DAC unit

On Tue, 25 Dec 2007 08:49:17 -0800, Steven Sullivan wrote
(in article <rcedndOMtv0QqezanZ2dnUVZ_gWdnZ2d@pghconnect,com >):

> Vinyl Rules! <timbritt@cyber-wizard,com > wrote:
>> I am a fan of HDCD-encoded CD's: IMHO, when you can find them, I think
>> they sound much better than standard Red Book CD's.
>
> A fair comparison has never been available to consumers, as far as I
> know. That would at minimum require two sources mastered exactly the
> same except for the HDCD encoding step, and a player that allowed
> both to be played back with matched levels.
>
> ___
> -S
> "As human beings, we understand the world through simile, analogy,
> metaphor, narrative and, sometimes, claymation." - B. Mason

That's true. Initially, upon reading the above, I was thinking that one
merely had to play two copies of the same HDCD disc through two players, one
with HDCD engaged and one without. But since the number of useful bits
without HDCD decoding is truncated by the encoding process itself, it
wouldn't be a fair comparison. One would need a full 16-bit non-HDCD encoded
disc to compare to the decoded HDCD disc to get a level playing field.

Re: Looking for standalone DAC unit

Steven Sullivan <ssully@panix,com > writes:

> That would at minimum require two sources mastered exactly the same
> except for the HDCD encoding step, and a player that allowed both to
> be played back with matched levels.

Are the details of the HDCD encoding process public? If so, it would
be fairly straightforward to simulate on a computer with a 24-bit
soundcard: take a 24-bit source recording, and compare a 16-bit
truncated version of it with a version that's been through the HDCD
encoding and decoding process.

--
Adam Sampson <ats@offog.org> < http :// offog.org/>

Re: Looking for standalone DAC unit

Adam Sampson <ats@offog.org> wrote:
> Steven Sullivan <ssully@panix,com > writes:

> > That would at minimum require two sources mastered exactly the same
> > except for the HDCD encoding step, and a player that allowed both to
> > be played back with matched levels.

> Are the details of the HDCD encoding process public? If so, it would
> be fairly straightforward to simulate on a computer with a 24-bit
> soundcard: take a 24-bit source recording, and compare a 16-bit
> truncated version of it with a version that's been through the HDCD
> encoding and decoding process.

it's not totally public, but enough so that major elements of HDCD
*de*codig have been emulated in software.

HDCD promises 20 bit , rather than 24 bit, equivalent playback.

___
-S
"As human beings, we understand the world through simile, analogy,
metaphor, narrative and, sometimes, claymation." - B. Mason

Re: Looking for standalone DAC unit

Microsoft now owns the rights to HDCD as they purchased Pacific
Microsonics in 2000 or 2001.

I have not been able to find much info about HDCD on the Microsoft
site, but it appears they began incorporating HDCD in Windows Media
Player beginning with version 9.

Perhaps someone who is a wizard with this program can figure out a way
to do what you suggest and burn two versions of the same selection to
a CR-R, one HDCD-encoded and one with non-truncated 16 bit encoding?

On Dec 27, 11:44 am, Adam Sampson <a...@offog.org> wrote:
> Steven Sullivan <ssu...@panix,com > writes:
> > That would at minimum require two sources mastered exactly the same
> > except for the HDCD encoding step, and a player that allowed both to
> > be played back with matched levels.
>
> Are the details of the HDCD encoding process public? If so, it would
> be fairly straightforward to simulate on a computer with a 24-bit
> soundcard: take a 24-bit source recording, and compare a 16-bit
> truncated version of it with a version that's been through the HDCD
> encoding and decoding process.
>
> --
> Adam Sampson <a...@offog.org> < http :// offog.org/>