Jump to content
IGNORED

Newb needs DAC upgrade advice


Recommended Posts

Equipment:

 

macbook air(solely dedicated to audio)

audioquest dragonfly

kimber cable 8TC

Richard Gray power conditioner

Dynaco ST-70

Angrstrom Image speakers

 

Looking to upgrade from the dragonfly. I know there's lots of options and i'm learning about 'synergy' between equipment. Considering what i've got are there rec's for a dac in the $300- 500 range? I tend to buy used equipment (usually pretty good at weeding out the riff raff. . .ha!) With that said, i can be swayed to buy new if with something like a DAC it's not with the risk used.

 

All suggestions and references welcomed. Thank you!

Dynaco ST-70, Schiit Multibit, Schiit Wird, Schiit Sys, Macbook Pro, Audirvana Plus, USB hardrive, Roman Erlikh custom speakers

Link to comment

Are you already using music player software on your Mac such as Pure Music, Audirvana, etc.? That makes a worthwhile change. Also are you able to increase the amount of RAM to 8GB? That might be another idea.

 

Chris reviewed the Meridian Explorer some time back and said that "In my listening sessions the Explorer [Compared to the Dragonfly] has a larger sound stage, more control, and an overall better sound. " So it may be a step up based on that report. Not sure if that compared the Dragonfly 1.1. or 1.2 however! The Explorer also has a line-out, in case you also have a preamp, but it looks like you may be going straight from the headphone output to the ST-70 amp.

2013 MacBook Pro Retina -> {Pure Music | Audirvana} -> {Dragonfly Red v.1} -> AKG K-702 or Sennheiser HD650 headphones.

Link to comment

Thanks for the insight and thanks for the option on the Audio gd . I'll look into it. Please give me a couple days before offering it to someone else. Thanks.

 

I'm not using music player software. Any suggestions on going about that or is it a plug and play install. I'm guessing i may increase my RAM easily. I'm using a Kimber mini to RCA. Is there a more synergistic way of going about connecting the computer to the amp? I'll look into the Explorer too.

 

Thanks so much flatmap and alice.

Dynaco ST-70, Schiit Multibit, Schiit Wird, Schiit Sys, Macbook Pro, Audirvana Plus, USB hardrive, Roman Erlikh custom speakers

Link to comment

I'm not using music player software. Any suggestions on going about that or is it a plug and play install. I'm guessing i may increase my RAM easily. I'm using a Kimber mini to RCA. Is there a more synergistic way of going about connecting the computer to the amp? I'll look into the Explorer too.

I think all of the 3rd party music players offer free trials, so you can try them out for a certain amount of time before deciding if you want to purchase. And if they aren't to your liking, you can uninstall without impact to your current iTunes setup. Look at Decibel, Audirvana, Pure Music, Amarra, JRiver, Fidelia, BitPerfect.... Some of these work together with iTunes where iTunes serves as library manager and the 3rd party player provides the audio configuration and sound. Pure Music is a good example there. Audirvana can use this same kind of "iTunes Integration mode", but also allows you to drag and drop music files directly to its savable playlists and, as of Audirvana version 2.0, it offers its own library management which can be synchronized with the iTunes library.

 

They all have a somewhat different rendering of the sound. And of course you may prefer the user interface and features on one over another. Pure Music is my daily driver, but I use all of them from time to time.

 

Since you aren't using a preamp for volume control, I think you want to keep using a DAC which has a hardware volume control, like the Dragonfly has. And so you pretty much need to go from the headphone output like you're doing now with your miniphono-to-rca connector in order to have a first stage in the chain to control the volume.

2013 MacBook Pro Retina -> {Pure Music | Audirvana} -> {Dragonfly Red v.1} -> AKG K-702 or Sennheiser HD650 headphones.

Link to comment

Ok. Understand about the preamp and volume control. That begs the question: What is an appropriate preamp? I really like the tube sound. I've been looking at the Dynaco PAS(again, to maintain synergy). Will that work with a DAC though? Maybe too much time between technologies there? Any insight or suggestions if the Dynaco PAS isn't a good fit?

 

Thanks again for sharing flatmap!

Dynaco ST-70, Schiit Multibit, Schiit Wird, Schiit Sys, Macbook Pro, Audirvana Plus, USB hardrive, Roman Erlikh custom speakers

Link to comment
Ok. Understand about the preamp and volume control. That begs the question: What is an appropriate preamp? I really like the tube sound. I've been looking at the Dynaco PAS(again, to maintain synergy). Will that work with a DAC though? Maybe too much time between technologies there? Any insight or suggestions if the Dynaco PAS isn't a good fit. Thanks again for sharing flatmap!

 

I don't have a clear recommendation on the preamp. You're right, it's a matter of synergy and I've found this to be a matter of trial and error. Also, if you continue to drive the amp from the DAC's amp circuit, you'll have the convenience of controlling volume directly from the computer instead of getting up and down to fiddle with a separate preamp.

 

If you do get the PAS, you'll use your current connection from the headphone amp, or directly from the audio line out, if your new DAC has that and into one of the preamp's inputs (but not a phono or tape head input). Such a preamp will either have a tuner input or Aux input you can use. So no problem in that regard using a vintage preamp.

 

Just to have a place to start, without any additional purchase, try out a demo copy of one of the music players and see if they give you an improvement. Choose your current Dragonfly DAC as the audio device, set for exclusive mode, memory play, and integer mode. Especially integer mode (available at least in Pure Music and Audirvana -- can't remember for the others just now) may give you a cleaner input into the ST-70.

2013 MacBook Pro Retina -> {Pure Music | Audirvana} -> {Dragonfly Red v.1} -> AKG K-702 or Sennheiser HD650 headphones.

Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now



×
×
  • Create New...