There was also a shout out for the Exogal Comet Plus which can be found used at a very fair price, reviews seem ok
Best DAC for my situation...Read on!
So thoughts and opinions please.
What I have and my idea.
Oppo 105D and Bluesound Vault 2 feeding into McIntosh C48 preamp.
I chose the C48 because it is a nice complete all in one box solution, headphone amp, mm and mc phono amp, lots of analog inputs with 2 sets of xlr inputs AND 5 total digital inputs.
Now I have both the Oppo and the vault connected by analog and digital inputs to the C48 so I can compare modes pretty instantly and I have to admit both cases the analog sounds better.
Which makes me wonder if the C48, although a great all in one solution may be the hold up as far as the DAC performance is concerned.
What I was considering as a trial is a seperate DAC that can handle the digital signals from the units and then output the analog signal via xlr preferably, back to the C48.
At this stage I have no intention of getting rid of the C48 as I really like the analog signal SQ as well as the headphone performance.
Any good suggestions in the range of $2000 used or am I really not going to see much improvement at that price range over the C48 capability?
What I have and my idea.
Oppo 105D and Bluesound Vault 2 feeding into McIntosh C48 preamp.
I chose the C48 because it is a nice complete all in one box solution, headphone amp, mm and mc phono amp, lots of analog inputs with 2 sets of xlr inputs AND 5 total digital inputs.
Now I have both the Oppo and the vault connected by analog and digital inputs to the C48 so I can compare modes pretty instantly and I have to admit both cases the analog sounds better.
Which makes me wonder if the C48, although a great all in one solution may be the hold up as far as the DAC performance is concerned.
What I was considering as a trial is a seperate DAC that can handle the digital signals from the units and then output the analog signal via xlr preferably, back to the C48.
At this stage I have no intention of getting rid of the C48 as I really like the analog signal SQ as well as the headphone performance.
Any good suggestions in the range of $2000 used or am I really not going to see much improvement at that price range over the C48 capability?
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- 69 posts total
You might also look at Play Back Designs DAC’s. See: http://www.playbackdesigns.com i believe they have the connections you are looking for but I do not know their price. It is certainly worth a look. |
I am thinking a used Bryston BDA-1 might be a good mate for your C48. They come up for sale used here often (as the USB input is substandard) and if it doesn't work out you could resell it for little to no loss. It doesn't have volume control, however has many inputs and a quality power supply and output stage. |
- 69 posts total