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In Reply to: Re: New CD player or DAC posted by bublitchki on May 1, 2005 at 05:50:10:
I disagree that with the above statement. Just because you don't like the Sony as a complete player does not in any way effect its performance as a stand-alone transport. As long as it can read discs bit-perfectly, a good reclocking DAC is worth its weight in gold. It's also great for future upgradeability.
Follow Ups:
I do not mean to imply that transports are inconsequential, I just believe that the DAC is more important.One word of caution though: in your system, it is impossible (without modifications) to pass SACD and DVD-A to an external DAC without downsampling first. Not sure if that matters to you or not.
When I had my mid-fi system the Adcom CD changer was the weak link. Adding a decent external DAC made a HUGE improvement even though that Adcom CD changer wasn't exactly an outstanding transport. I agree, the DAC will make a bigger improvement vs a better transport and is often more cost effective than swapping out the entire CD player.Unfortunately, there are several weak links in most any system with small incremental improvements to be made along the way piece at a time.
Thanks for the replies. What DAC are you using or recommend for $700 or less.Oh and I realise I will loose SACD but seeing as I have only two that aren't hybrids it is not a big loss. (or with a DAC I could double wire analog out for SACD digital to the DAC)
People seem to like the Benchmark DAC1 ($975) but I have no experience with it. The DAC that I used several years ago with my Adcom CD changer was the MSB Gold Link III but I think you can do better today for less money.
For $700 you might have to check out audiogon or the DIY community. For a little more, the popular recommendation is the Benchmark DAC1 @ $1,000. Couple that with a $150-ish DVD player and you'll still have a few hundred dollars in hand as compared to a Denon 3910.ps-I have no personal experience with the DAC1, I have just read and heard a lot about it. Be wary of the claims of "zero-jitter" and "complete transport insignificance" though. They're not doing anything radically new and different, they're just good at spinning it that way.
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