digital audio inquiry

[hearhead]

I am far from satisfied with the sound i have now. Fine is such a cop out!
I described the DACMagic as not involving before i got the AQ optical cable. Now the laptop / DAC / AQ Forest cable sound is better than my favourite standalone CD player (old CAL Ikon) it is "OK", but still far far away from the involving sound i would happily sit down and listen to by myself (for hours), as in vinyl.
I do not want to spend a lot on a digital system, so i am looking forward to hearing the cheapish Schitt Mondi DAC with Schitt usb cable. Sorry, my friend does not have the Bifrost.

Of course anything i say is very biased and totally unfair, keep in kind my entire digital setup cost me less than a pair of decent tubes!

For my Manila setup i do not even use a DAC, its just a laptop into a Musical Fidelity X10D. This may well be sold as as a CD tube buffer, but its doing something and that something seems to be more warmth, or less brightness, than just gain.

Which leads us back to the oft repeated question, does one need a stand alone DAC or just a better analogue output stage?

Interesting.

Never thought of it that way until now.

Maybe the output stage may matter more than the DAC chipset used. If we go by this insight you can assess DAC's in a more traditional manner when looking at their specs instead of getting blinded by new fangled digital jargon. Maybe that's why the REGA DAC had an edge over the DACs I've heard as the REGA had a beefed up power stage and a more thought out cap design on the output stage. It's got points on that "involving" sound. But good points on that insight with gain, few people can tell if there's an added quality to sound rather than just volume increase artefacts.

Your opinion maybe biased (as per your post) but if it has a deep grounding on the roots (tubes and analog) of HiFI, so i'd still be interested to hear it. All opinions are valid but its up to our ears to sort it out in the end.

Oh well, do update us on the Schiit audition, I'm fascinated how that company is still alive with their cheap-ish pricing even though it's all made in the USA.

[Gino]

BongerDude at pinoydvd recently bought a Bifrost. Those wanting to hear this can try arranging an audition.

[garp]

Just sharing another option to those who are into digital.

The biggest change in sound that I got from my digital setup over the years was the recent addition of a PC-based music player. For the last 2 months I've been running a fanless, totally silent PC running on Windows Server 2012 R2 optimized using Audiophile Optimizer. I use Jriver Media player which I can control remotely using either an IOS or Android gadget. The unit is connected via USB through a Wyred USB to SPDIF converter then to a Rega DAC. Just one option to consider for those who are into digital.

[alfa]

There are tons of DACs out there and each one has its own flavor. I'd suggest you get one that has USB, toslink nd coax so that you can catch whatever comes in the future. As for source I use a Cambridge streamer, vaio laptop and Mac air. Seems that the Mac air is slightly better with my Schiit bifrost

[cia]

You may want to consider another route other than the external DAC. I have very recently taken this approach and quite happy with the result. I recently acquired a nuforce dda100 which is basically a powered dac or an integrated amp dac. Pls check nuforce website and several reviews to understand what it is.

[cia]

Hawk01

Congratulations on your acquisition of the Nuforce DDA100. Frank of Whole Sound I am sure was able to answer your queries on the unit and a good deal.

Allow the unit some burn in time and your expectations from such a small inexpensive integrated digital amp will be surpassed.

I wonder if there are any other owners that can post their experience with the dda100

Enjoy.

[Mamimili]

I am far from satisfied with the sound i have now. Fine is such a cop out!
I described the DACMagic as not involving before i got the AQ optical cable. Now the laptop / DAC / AQ Forest cable sound is better than my favourite standalone CD player (old CAL Ikon) it is "OK", but still far far away from the involving sound i would happily sit down and listen to by myself (for hours), as in vinyl.
I do not want to spend a lot on a digital system, so i am looking forward to hearing the cheapish Schitt Mondi DAC with Schitt usb cable. Sorry, my friend does not have the Bifrost.

Of course anything i say is very biased and totally unfair, keep in kind my entire digital setup cost me less than a pair of decent tubes!

For my Manila setup i do not even use a DAC, its just a laptop into a Musical Fidelity X10D. This may well be sold as as a CD tube buffer, but its doing something and that something seems to be more warmth, or less brightness, than just gain.

Which leads us back to the oft repeated question, does one need a stand alone DAC or just a better analogue output stage?

Interesting.

Never thought of it that way until now.

Maybe the output stage may matter more than the DAC chipset used. If we go by this insight you can assess DAC's in a more traditional manner when looking at their specs instead of getting blinded by new fangled digital jargon. Maybe that's why the REGA DAC had an edge over the DACs I've heard as the REGA had a beefed up power stage and a more thought out cap design on the output stage. It's got points on that "involving" sound. But good points on that insight with gain, few people can tell if there's an added quality to sound rather than just volume increase artefacts.

Your opinion maybe biased (as per your post) but if it has a deep grounding on the roots (tubes and analog) of HiFI, so i'd still be interested to hear it. All opinions are valid but its up to our ears to sort it out in the end.

Oh well, do update us on the Schiit audition, I'm fascinated how that company is still alive with their cheap-ish pricing even though it's all made in the USA.

the Schitt audition did not happen, i had no time due to work