Processor DACs

I finally got around to bringing my Wadia 121 home from the office and hooking it up to my home system. The goal was to compare the internal DACs on my Anthem AVM-50v with a quality stand-alone DAC like the Wadia. As mentioned above, the main difficulty with this experiment is that there is no simple way to utilize my subwoofer when running the Wadia in analog direct mode through the Anthem. This means that an external DAC would not be a practical long-term solution for me, but I still was anxious to compare it to my processor.

For the comparison, I used my Mac Mini running Pure Music as the source. The HDMI out was run directly into the Anthem (using Audioquest Carbon), which did the analog conversion - with ARC room correction processing turned off. The Wadia was hooked up to the Mac via USB (Pangaea pure silver), and then to the Anthem (via Kimber Hero balanced cables). I disconnected the subwoofer to even the score.

I switched back and forth many times, while listening to a number of different tracks, including some hi-res tracks (Dark Side of the Moon and a Glenn Gould piano concerto) and rebook tracks (e.g. Jerry Garcia Band Live, Lyle Lovett, etc.).

With deep concentration, I could hear some very subtle differences in presentation, and a slightly more solid low-end with the Wadia. However, it was not obvious, and I would have a hard time identifying which DAC was being utilized under normal circumstances. This pleased me, since I was not anxious to figure out a way to upgrade the DAC around the Anthem.

The bottom line for me is that, in my system and in my living room, the ARC software and bass management make a much bigger difference than the external DAC. In addition, I added a PS Audio Power Plant Premier last week, which made an immediate and clear improvement in the sound -- much more than the Wadia.

Mat - if you are using a typical active preamp, then you will probably not hear much difference in ANY DACs. Replace this with a good transformer passive linestage and you will start to hear differences. Also, given that the jitter of the master clock in the digital source is THE MOST IMPORTANT part of any digital playback system, a cheap USB converter or CD transport will not cut it. You might as well buy a $200 DAC. It's more important than the DAC. The better DAC quality will be masked by the jitter.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio

Steve - are you commenting on the Mac Mini as a source or the Wadia as a USB converter?

Well I thought I would throw in my 2c worth. I've spent a lot of time and some $$$ debating the same issues.

I started off with a Integra 80.3 and tried a number of DACs including Rega, Burson, Musical Fidelity and settled on the Zodiac Gold. Each has a distinct sound and I can't emphasize enough the importance of listening to them. I found that in my system the reviews were often spot on, but not always.

Having decided to go with the Antelope, I debated going through the 80.3 or directly into the my Parasound amp (the Antelope has a preamp with analog ins).

From the Antelope straight into the amp without room correction was pretty much unlistenable-bass was overwhelming, imaging was poor. This was not the fault of the equipment, but rather my room (even with acoustic treatments). Going from the Zodiac to Integra with Audyssey was MUCH better.

It wasn't until I tried Dirac Live as a demo that I really appreciated just how good my system could sound. Removing the 80.3 from the loop opened up the sound stage, markedly improved the image and really impressed me (and friends who came over to listen).

I am currently struggling without a true home-theater bypass - playing with volume levels is a bit tricky, but well worth it.

The demo of Dirac is easy to use and worth trying.

Hey Mhp
It seems like Dirac has removed the beta version of the live correction suite from the website. Is it being discontinued or are they just preparing for the official version to be released? I am hoping it will be 24bit/196khz compatible. I mean even the Arc which is less than half its price is 196khz compatible.