Paul Connell

Thanks for the responses all, My MacBook has optical out, but I was going to use USB to the DAC then RCA from DAC to Amp. I agree about Lucretius post, I don't really want to spend £1000+ as my Amp/Speaker combo only cost me £780. I have been looking at various SMSL, IFI and Schiit options for about £250, the IFI Zen's are supposed to be a bargain for the price.

Hi All, I usually stream Hi-Res, Tidal and Spotify from my MacBook Pro to a Denon DRA-800H with Q Acoustic 3020i's via Airplay 2 and Spotify Connect, I just wondered if I would see any benefit connecting an external DAC to the Denon? I'm happy with the Denon and Q Acoustic but I just feel they could to do with a slightly more dynamic sound with some additional separation.

I've got a pair B&W DM601 speakers and Denon PM-250SE amp which are approx 13 years old now, so I had a gander on eBay to see if I could find some newer equivilant hardware, I managed to get a pair of Mission M33's (with sand filled bottoms) for £80 and a Cambridge Audio A5 for £36 (both boxed in perfect cond), I thought I'll mix them with the Denon and B&W's and keep whatever is best, also last Friday I bought a CA Dacmagic 100 from Richer Sounds after testing that an the Arcam rDac I tried the speakers with the Denon and found the Missions a nice big sound compared to the B&W's, them I hooked them up to the Cambridge Audio amp and couldn't believe how bad the sound was, it was washed out with a terrible soundstage, the bass went from solid on the Denon to really really lackluster on the CA, I boxed it straight away and thats going on eBay. So I settled on the existing PMA-250SE and now was time to see what speakers I prefered, bare in mind I love the B&W from back when I bought a pair in 1999, the Missions have a really nice big sound which are time can be a tad boomy on Hip Hop & Dubstep but sounds detailed with punch on the likes of Pink Floyd, Stan Getz, Tubular Bells, etc., so I moved over to the B&W which has a crisper sound but lacked the sound stage and depth of the Missions. Conclusion Amp: The CA A5 was a serious dissapointment which is saying something as I didn't expect much from it, the Denon is a great amp but is only a stop gap until I can get something like a Musical Fidelity X-A1 or a Cyrus amp. Speakers: The B&W's are a great speaker and will also hold a special place in my heart but I think I'm going to keep the Missions as they are better as an all rounder, I was really impressed with the Mission's with The Dogs of War by Pink Floyd, I realise these speakers are budget floorstanders and may be frowned upon but I thought they were a bargain, I'm going to buy another run of Chord cable and bi-wire and test again before getting rid of the B&W's DAC: I listened to the Arcam and the CA and found that althought the Arcam was slightly warmer and had more precision the Dacmagic was more dynamic and had a tighter bass, I have to say this upgrade has made the biggest difference to my setup, it's totally made my music come back to life and now when I play from Spotify on my iPad via my Airport Express I can hear a clear difference By the way I used Chord Carnival Silverscreen speaker cable and Cambridge Audio AUD700 interconnects Tracks tested: The Dogs of war by Pink Floyd Express Yourself by Diplo Dark Star by Mike Oldfield Moondance by Van Morrison Paradise by Coldplay Love me two times by The Doors Come together by The Beatles Hope I didn't bore everyone, thanks for reading. Paul

Hi guys, I demo'd the MF V-Link II, CA DacMagic 100 and Arcam R-Dac, in the end after around 30 mins trying different tracks and switching I went for the Dacmagic 100, I liked the tight bass and although the Arcam had slightly more detail I felt the Dacmagic was more dynamic, I've been switching between my AE and Dacmagic and you can hear a clear improvement so I'm happy in the end, the one thing that concerned me about buying from the internet was not knowing what I was getting so I preferred to test first. Thanks so much for all your help guys, I really appreciate your input. Now I've got the hifi bug again so looking to upgrade my amp and biwire my speakers Paul

Awesome, well thanks again for all the input gent, I've booked a demo session at Richer Sounds on Friday morning to listen to the Arcam rDac, Dacmagic 100, Audioquest Dragonfly and also the Musical Fidelity V-Dac II. I'll keep you posted

I like the specs of the rDac but in the past when listening to Arcam amp's and cd players the sound is a little too laid back for my liking which worries me a little, the Dacmagic 100 looks great and has good specs but like Paul says I've heard some negative things about the sound, especially the detail, ideally I'd like an optical and USB input which kind of puts me off the Median and the Dragonfly, although the Dragonfly does get good sound reviews. Do these DAC's upscale lower bit rate files from iTunes?

It's a tricky one as really I'd like to stick to the £200 mark but I could go up slightly, no more than £230 though, I'm going to Liverpool on Friday (payday) and they have a Richer Sounds there so could pick something up, below is a list of the stock they have: DACs from Richer Sounds

I've been looking at reviews for the Micromega Mydac and I REALLY like the sound of it, I'm into big energetic sounds and from the reviews this delivers, now I've gotta try and find the extra money. To be honest I'm not a big fan of the USB DACS like the Meridian and the Audioquest, I don't like the idea of shelling out £200 plus on a USB dongle design, also the lack of connections puts me off

Thanks for the replies all, I can't find Meridian Explorer or Audioquest Dragonfly for close to £200, the Beresford's go for about £130, I could do with Asyncronous USB and optical in ideally but the optical in is only an added bonus, any suggestion?

Hi All, I currently have my Macbook Pro (late 2011) playing audio via itunes to my airport express then via 3.5mm to RCA into my Denon PMA-250SE amp, basically I'm not entirely happy with the sound, it's too flat and lacks any conviction, I'm looking to buy a DAC to connect to my Macbook via USB and then RCA into the amp, a lot of my files in my iTunes library aren't great quality but I'm starting to get rid of them and replace with 44.1khz CD rips, I'm also looking at places like hdtracks.com to get high quality 96/192khz audio. Anyway after that long intro basically I'm looking to get myself as DAC to try and sort out this lack of quality, I've got a budget of £200 and I've been looking at the below: 1. Cambridge Audio DACMagic 100 2. Audioengine D1 3. Arcam rPac Basically I listen to an array of music from A Tribe called Quest to Red Hot Chili Peppers to Tubular Bells to Bob Marley but I like a crisp punchy bass with lots of energy (but without harsh trebles). Any advice? Thanks in advance Paul