I've been using a midiman (now m-audio) audiophile 2496 pci card for years in the following setup:
audiophile 2496 rca out -> carver hr722 integrated amp
-> speakers (currently b&w 904).
I use itunes with lossless encoding. I think the setup sounds pretty good, but this site (and a few others) has me contemplating a new investment in sound quality. I figured my 2496 was getting a little long in the tooth, so I bought a musical fidelity v-dac. I'm still "burning it in" per the salesman's recommendation, and while it sounds good, it's definitely not the amazing improvement in quality I was expecting.
So this raises several questions. This post is focused on my choice of DAC. The 2496 is considered a pretty good card by many. Is it simply on par with the v-dac and therefore I shouldn't expect any significant difference?
Do I need to add an asynchronous usb up-converter like a v-link and download 24/96 recordings to really experience a difference?
Should I upgrade something else? FYI, I did try a cambridge audio and NAD integrated amp and took them both back because again, there was no significant difference in quality with the carver.
Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions.
