FYI, as an aside note, I have recently had the opportunity to evaluate a pair of Morrow Audio MA4 balanced IC's between my Sony XA5400ES and Krell 400xi. These cables demand to be heard by any music lover...they are musical conduits of the highest order. I am jaded as far as cales go, having owned and demo'd a good portion of what's available on the market. What they do is offer the most natural tonality within the most complete harmonic envelope I have ever experienced. You may think your system has no distortion or grunge or stridency, but when you put the Morrows in you will remove every last bit of artifice and what's left is sheer beauty:O)
Which matters more, DAC or transport?
In my search to better the digital playback of my system I've been lead to look at several DACs to couple with my arcam cd36, and have also considered buying a whole new player like a McIntosh mcd 201 or maybe even a lower end esoteric. My question is: will I get better results using a good DAC (for $2000 to $3000) with my mid-fi transport or with a new player that has a better transport mechanism built in, coupled with what's probably a slightly less sophisticated onboard DAC? Also, what do people think of the Bel Canto DAC3? It's one I've considered. Thanks.
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having owned and demo'd a good portion of what's available on the market. What they do is offer the most natural tonality within the most complete harmonic envelope I have ever experienced. You may think your system has no stridency, but when you put the Morrows in you will remove every last bit of... Oh Groovy Baby |
The answer isn't one or the other. It's too dependent on how the connection between the two is implemented. A cheap transport and a cheap DAC with a well implemented I²S connection may sound better than their expensive counterparts with a optical TOSLINK connector. In direct answer to the poster's equipment choices -- I think you're more likely to get better sound with a new CD player. |
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