Musical Fidelity V-DAC vs. Valab NOS DAC

[sorenlarsen]

Hello everyone!

 

I'm looking into upgrading my stereo system by adding a DAC. I'm currently running a pair of Linn Katan speakers on a Rotel RA-1062 integrated amplifier, which most of the time is connected to my laptop using a cheap mini-jack to RCA. I'm convinced that adding a DAC to this system would improve the sound quality significantly, even though most of my MP3s are (only) 320kbps.

 

I have looked into buying a second-hand DAC, and after some research I've found to two options which are similar priced:

 

1) Musical Fidelity V-DAC

2) Valab NOS DAC USB

 

I'm planning to run either a USB or S/PDIF from my laptop to the DAC and then high quality interconnects from the DAC to the amp. I'm aware that the main difference between the two DACs is that the V-DAC is upsamling and the Valab is non-upsampling, however I'm not really sure what would be the best solution in my case.

 

Any recommendations are highly welcome. And if you have alternative suggestions in a similar price range, please let me know.

 

Thanks a lot!

 

[Nuke Yuler]

I'm surprised nobody has yet had anything to say about this post.

 

The Valab NOS DAC has worked its way through a number of revisions and it's a very good budget DAC. It's based on TeraDak's design using 8 stacked TDA1543 DAC chips which are nearly 20 year old tech, the sum of which produce an output signal sans output stage. The design has unique benefits. It's been considered a modder's DAC with the potential of getting much better with a series of relatively easy to advanced mods. When it's decked out it can honestly perform like a high end DAC. In recent months people who have been interested in the Valab's modding potential have been spending time with the designer's latest product called the TeraDak Chameleon which is deliberately made for modders, doubles the number of TDA1543 chips to 16, and has proven to have better sonic potential than the Valab designs.

 

http://www.teradak.com/

 

All that said, I have no experience with the V-DAC but users rave about it and considering your need I'll suggest it may better suit you.

 

Most USB DACs with adaptive USB will greatly benefit from a M2Tech HiFace async USB adapter running into an SPDIF input.

 

Honestly, everything I've said here is subject for opening a big can of worms I really have no desire to dig into. This forum has its uses but I lost a taste for its direction some time ago and this is the first I've gone out of the way to post in a while. I was surprised to see your post go for days without a response, thought it was a valid question.

 

[sorenlarsen]

Hello Nuke.

 

Thank you very much for your reply! So I guess it comes down to individual preferences since both DACs seem like good value for money.

 

One thing I didn't quite understand was your note about adaptive USB and the HiFace async USB adapter. I know the V-DAC is using adaptive USB, but is this also the case with the Valab? And would you say that using USB -> HiFace -> Coax is better than running a direct USB or TosLink cable from my MacBook to the DAC?

 

[firedog]

Lots of users report improved sound using the HiFace USB>SPDIF adapter to their DAC, as it gives an extremely low jitter output from the USB port of the PC. That would be the advantage of it over the direct connection from USB to Valab. Keep in mind that the HiFace is an additional cost equal to 75% of the Valab.

 

[sorenlarsen]

Thanks for the input firedog.

 

So the HiFace adapter will be a great improvement over a direct USB cable on the Valb, but how would it compare to a TosLink connection between my MacBook to the DAC?

 

Also, if other users have had the chance to listen to both of these DACs, I'd very much appreciate some comments. Thank you.

 

 

[davidR]

The Hiface would easily be the better choice over Toslink direct from your Mac because Toslink in itself is a very jittery interface.

 

[Audio_ELF]

It's all very well saying that a HiFace will improve the quality of a V-DAC or VALAB DAC ... but if you are spending £200 on the DAC and another £100 for the M2Tech HiFace ... then how does that compare with a £300 DAC used via the Optical connection ...

 

Just a thought...