1. Home
  2. digital
  3. 976617604

Will a DAC mellow Denon DCM 360

Will a low-end DAC help mellow the high freq edges of my Denon DCM 360 carousel. I've seen ads for the Soundstream DAC-1 ($100) and Musical Fidelity X-DAC ($70) around and wonder if they would be any help? Or is the money better spent on a different cd player? My system is Rotel RB-980BX amp(120 W), ROtel RC-972 pre-amp, B&W 601 series 2 speakers, DIY TNT-X 1.5 connects, and DIY Chris Venhaus Cat 5 (27 pair)teflon speaker cables. My current system sounds excellent for the $1,100 I paid (new speakers & stands, used electronics), except for the piercing highs on some cd's. The DIY cables & interconnects provided a great sonic improvement (excellent detail and soundstaging, much tighter bass) as compared to the cheap Radio Shack "Goldseries" connects and monster cable I was using. The only problem is that the better the interconnect/cables the more "edgey" highs that the CDP delivers.
darkmoebius917e
ehm3
26 posts
 
Hey, Dark--check out the new post today for an RCD970 for $180. I agree with Dekay--I used to have a 970, and liked it pretty well. Although I don't have any firsthand knowledge of the others. The Audio Refinement seems to have a good following. (actually, I think Dekay reccomended it to me a few weeks ago! Sorry, Dekay--I ended up with a Linn)
darkmoebius917e OP
11 posts
 
Gret news, someone offered to buy my Denon today for exactly what I paid for it. So, now I've got a little more money to burn. Unfortunately, the significant otheris standing hard on the 5 cd changer (I think she's had enough of my fiddling for now, one of those "who does care more about" things). There's a real toss-up going on in my brain right now; NAD 515 or Rotel 955(?) at the higher price range, a Marantz cc4000 (some features probs, but has digital ouputs), or another stable carousel for less w/ the Musical Fidelity X-DAC I found for $69. The X-DAC got excellent reviews when it came out 2 yrs ago, and I've noticed that some people prefer 18 bit to the latest 24/96k (which I can't afford anyway). Decisions, decisions, decisions! I'm going to repost asking if anyone has used the MF X-DAC. Any suggestions on a good (cheap) carousel w/ digital outputs?
ehider
286 posts
 
Dark, Read my thread response to "good entry level transport". I and 18 other audiophiles use this $125; 5 disc changer as our REFERENCE transport, in each of our audiophile systems. I have yet to find another transport for 20x as much that sounds as good. This is not a joke.
dekay's avatar
dekay
2,959 posts
 
Ehider: Does the Aiwa have an RCA digital out? Or what outputs does it have? Also what DACS did your group have good results with?
darkmoebius
899 posts
 
I looked all the way back to to September in this forum and couldn't find a thread titled "good entry level transport". Please let who makes the CD carousel. Is it the Aiwa XC-37M?
More to discover