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Processor DACs

I am shopping for a new Processor. I’ll probably get an Integra DHC 80.3, so I am curious if anyone has ever compared the onboard DAC of their processor to an established benchmark DAC such as a W4S DAC-2. Since my music server has USB outs, it would require purchasing a USB to S/PDIF converter (such as the Anedio U2) to hook up the processor to the server. Before spending the money on a converter, I am wondering if people have tried this out, and what their experience with it is. It seems that most mainstream processors have solid DACs to do all the Dolby Digital conversion, so wouldn’t it make sense that they should perform excellent as a standalone DAC? I would appreciate your thoughts and experience.
hifiguy5
edorr
714 posts
 
Mateored, for two channel there are many more options that will give you both room correction and outboard dac. I mentioned running room correction on a pc. You can use PEQ in amarra on a Mac (something Steve is a strong advocate of). You can also use a dedicated box such as tact, lyndorf or trinnov.
audioengr
3,282 posts
 
"Steve N - so in a room with terrible acoustics, do you think it would be worth sacrificing the room correction for better DACs for 2 channel music?"

Absolutely. Room acoustics will do little to improve detail rendering and dynamics if the source cannot deliver these. Good for eliminating bass resonances mostly.

However understand that it's the master clock in the DAC or the source that is more important than the DAC. If you are using a source such as Sonos, SB, Apple TV or a CD transport, get a reclocker to reduce its jitter. If you are using USB, make sure the master clocks in it are up to snuff.

If you are using an active preamp, get rid of it and replace with a DAC with a good volume technology or use a transformer linestage such as Music First or these others:
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=89744.0

Steve N.
Empirical Audio
cdj123's avatar
cdj123
57 posts
 
Edorr, Have you experimented at all with Dirac or Acourate? If so, I would like to hear what your thoughts are and how the results compare to some of the mainstream products (given that they have a different implementation).
edorr
714 posts
 
Cdj123, I have no personal experience running Room Correction on a PC. You can however get 30 day trial of acourate and maybe Dirac offers the same. Only financial commitment is you need a good microphone to do the calibration.
mateored
258 posts
 
OK - well I just ordered a Cambridge DacMagic+ for my office computer-audio system. Maybe I'll bring it home and hook it up to HT rig in a few different configurations to see how it compares to the Anthem DACs. I know the Cambridge is not the top of the line, but it gets sufficiently good reviews that it should give me a pretty good idea about the quality of the DACs in the Anthem and the importance of the ARC room correction and bass management for 2-channel music. I'll report back in 2-3 weeks.
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