Not sure about rega dacs , but a musical fidelity X-24k from 1999 would take a 24-bit input.I seem to think the original Rega dac was 16 bit only, then the Rega Dacr was 24 bit.
Your DAC deals with PCM and possibly DSD. It doesn't deal with FLAC. There is another component or subsystem upstream from the DAC that converts FLAC into PCM.Would the old ones be suitable for 24 bit flac? Not sure they would.
Ten year old or modern for the same money- modern unless you hanker for the classic styling
Yes. Today’s DACs carry a plethora of inputs and outputs, most can be a preamp and the technical aspect is worlds away from 2016. It’s not like we’re stuck with a few inputs anymore. And I prefer the sound, odd but true.
That’s interesting, so can you get 24 bit flac on windows laptop into the co-ax input?The original Rega DAC has a limit on the USB input only. The coax input has no such limitation. Both DAC and DAC-R support 24-bit at 192kHz via coax. I believe the analogue stages make these very capable and I have no intention of changing.
Can't argue with that.Arcam Black Box 500 (...) it's a fun DAC which works well enough for me
I wonder if "the quality of the delivered data" should also include the production and mastering quality of the digital audio. And maybe that's the bigger thing.Just a hunch. In my opinion older dacs sound a lot better now than they actually did back then. The quality of delivered data (via coax for example) has gotten much better than it once was. Older dacs have a harder time dealing with jitter than newer ones so stand to gain large improvements in sound when fed a signal from a modern low jitter source.
When reading old reviews of dacs I look at what they are feeding the dac from and inevitably wonder how good it might actually sound if fed a modern signal today.
Agreed..Just a hunch. In my opinion older dacs sound a lot better now than they actually did back then. The quality of delivered data (via coax for example) has gotten much better than it once was. Older dacs have a harder time dealing with jitter than newer ones so stand to gain large improvements in sound when fed a signal from a modern low jitter source.
When reading old reviews of dacs I look at what they are feeding the dac from and inevitably wonder how good it might actually sound if fed a modern signal today.
The DACs du jour eschew DAC chips and employ FPGA-controlled discrete resistor ladders.
I'd like to try one but to get the best performance from them would seem to require the addition of a DDC, and the only decent one available in the UK on a home trial basis is the Gustard R26 on Amazon, which I can't get too excited about.
But I'm quite happy with the performance of my Denon DCD-2500NE SACD player, which obviously sidesteps the issues involved with optimising the CD transport/DAC interface and (IMO) sounds the better for it.
I’d be very interested to do a direct comparison of a new £2k DAC/pre against a 10 year old DAC/Pre that costs £2k used.