1. Home
  2. digital
  3. 1235541918

A DAC to beat NAD C541i?

I've had NAD for about 6 years. It used to be a good one 6 years ago in my system, but now I think it is a bottle neck in my current system -- Tyler Taylo 7U, Linn AV5105 amp, Rogue Magnum 99 preamp.
My friend brought his Rega Apollo CD player and compared it with my NAD on my system, but I did not hear much difference, except Apollo sound a little bit more warm. But I liked NAD's more bright sound.
If Apollo is a real good one at $1000, I guess I need to spend over $2000 for a new CDP to for better sound.
Instead, if I want to go for DAC with NAD, which DAC (at $500~1000) would be best to beat both Apollo and NAD?
Which CD player (used at $500~1000) would be far better than Apollo or NAD?
Thx
ihcho
tobias
1,534 posts
 
Toslink won't be better except perhaps if you use a glass (not plastic) one.

How long is your IXOS? If your digital cable is not 1.5m long you are not hearing all the DAC can do. Try again if you have not been using a 1.5m length.

If cable length is not a factor, your Paradisea may simply not be a big enough upgrade from the 541i's internal DAC. The 541i is a pretty good player. You may need to look for a DAC that is better yet.
tvad
9,467 posts
 
I'm guessing you're perhaps missing some dynamics and extension due to relatively high output impedance of the tubed Paradisea+ DAC. Do you have better dynamics using the solid state CD players? Solid state players usually have low output impedance.

I don't think changing the Toslink cable is going to make a bit of difference. A tube change will make a subtle difference, but it won't be dramatic.
tvad
9,467 posts
 
PS- you might get better and more noticeable results from a solid state DAC due to the lower output impedance.
ihcho's avatar
ihcho OP
329 posts
 
The cable is 1m. Any reason why it has to be 1.5m? I've been looking for a new digital cable and will try one with 1.5m.
C541i alone sounds a little bigger than C541i+Paradisea. Yes, I felt a tad bit more dynamics with C541i. But the bigger difference is the warmth -- with paradisea it sound a bit warmer. Same feeling I had when I compared C541i with Rega Apollo which sound a bit warmer than C541i.
C541i alone sound more bright, and at full orchestration it sound a tad bit more muddy than with paradisea.

Anyway I like DR700 better than C541i or C541i+Paradisea. I wanted to use DR700 exclusively as a CD recorder, but if the paradisea does not open up with cable change or tube change, I may stick to DR700 and forget about DAC for a while. I guess my tube preamp (Rogue Magnum 99) is doing an excellent job in pulling all strengths from SS CD player, so I may not feel much difference unless I go for much higher upgrade.

Many thanks for wonderful tips.
tvad
9,467 posts
 
You're apparently dismissing the point of impedance match. You don't have to spend more than you did on the Paradisea+ to achieve a better impedance match, and thereby get better possible results (bigger sound, better bass and treble extension).
More to discover