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DAC yes/no

M

magicmart

New Member
hi guys what's your take on DACS, im wondering if there is a major sound improvement ,im currently running a RP 10 TT,Aethos Amp, Apollo R cd, Node for streaming, Acoustic Energy 509 speakers, i will be looking to demo chord Qtest soon, but interested in anyones advice regards
 
Presumably you’re thinking of adding a DAC in between your CD player or Node and amp? In the grand scheme of hifi systems DACs, imho, have the least effect and are only really worth worrying about when everything else is fully optimised. Changing the position of speakers in a room will have a much greater effect.

Having said that, I found that adding a Qutest (a very good DAC btw) to the output of a node 2i made a small but worthwhile improvement. Only you can tell if it would be worthwhile for you and preferably by finding if it makes a long term improvement by using for a couple of weeks and then taking it out.

So in answer to your question, maybe, but proceed with caution and ears open.
 
Dacs are very important but it’s source/dac combo that matters most. Probably not Rega cd as a transport nor Node are at the level to fully utilize higher-fi dacs.
 
We are speaking here about TT10/Aethos combo, there should be no illusions that 1k digital source can match those.
 
Guess it depends what your replacing. I bypassed the (good in itself) DAC built into my Innuos Zen Mini streamer by adding a separate Teddy Pardo DAC to the system. Definite audible improvement and wouldn't go back to the original set up.
 
magicmart said:
hi guys what's your take on DACS, im wondering if there is a major sound improvement ,im currently running a RP 10 TT,Aethos Amp, Apollo R cd, Node for streaming, Acoustic Energy 509 speakers, i will be looking to demo chord Qtest soon, but interested in anyones advice regards
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My take on DACs is that if you read the various online opinions expressed about the sound of any one DAC they range from high praise to excoriation. Maybe chose to believe an opinion that suits you but consistent, reliable opinions just don't seem to come into it.
 
I certainly wouldn't dismiss the Node as a source - if you add the LPS mod and bypass the internal DAC (there was a monster thread about the "pimped" Node on the now defunct Wam - started by @TheFlash I seem to remember) - I would suggest something like the Denafrips Pontus II would then be a decent place to start, but I favour the NOS R2R approach, which is not to everyone's taste
 
camverton said:
I’ll bite! What makes you think that. In what sort of system did you use a Qutest when you tried it?
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Unison Research Simply Italy amp, ATC and PMC speakers, various cd-transports as main source. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a worthwhile little dac, but just in a context of the system discussed I would say hugo tt2 and similar stuff should be considered.
 
Phyztech said:
Unison Research Simply Italy amp, ATC and PMC speakers, various cd-transports as main source. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a worthwhile little dac, but just in a context of the system discussed I would say hugo tt2 and similar stuff should be considered.
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Hmm, are you speaking from experience or surmising on price? In the context of a system with Chord amp and German Physiks speakers there is ime little difference in sound quality between Qutest and TT2 although the TT2 does add preamp and headphone amp capabilities. In practice, when, I compared the two, I preferred one on some tracks and the other on other tracks - but, it was a very small margin. Both DACs can be improved by the addition of an m scaler but only when everything else is fully optimised and there are funds left over. Even then what is one persons significant improvement is inaudible to another.
 
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