DAC's.....Do I really need one ?

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Dr Bunsen Honeydew
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Re: DAC's.....Do I really need one ?

Unread post by Dr Bunsen Honeydew »

Spot on Slinger. BUT if you are going flat out for high end then the very best results are to split, but to be certain to be better it would have to be a better DAC than the Beresford.

Reason - mostly because of PSUs (power supplies). Splitting the circuit into smaller lumps with individual PSUs make a lot of musical difference, it is one of the principles of Doc Way (NVA). So the piddly supplies that are being proposed for the Beresford and even the alternative battery power supplies will not cut the mustard. The proper way would be big proper linear PSUs.

That is basically what changed Jammy's AP10h into his big bollocks Jammy AP10JS, it is all about power supplies.

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Re: DAC's.....Do I really need one ?

Unread post by Yomanze »

Jammy, YES you need a DAC... NO you're not going to find much that sounds significantly better than what you've got. IMHO you'll need to go beyond the usual M-DAC, Rega, Beresford etc. recommendations especially looking at the quality of your kit.

I owned a Bushmaster MK1 & demoed an MK2 with a nice linear supply, for the money they're great, but neither were anywhere near my Audial Model S, and at 10x lower price nor should they have been!

Doc, here's what Pedja has to say about the Model S power supply:

"First, the Model S comprises isolating mains transformer feeding the main power transformer by two bifilarly wound half-voltage secondaries (“balanced AC power”). Both isolating and main mains transformer are hugely oversized toroidal units (80VA each), and both comprise internal electrostatic shield between the primary and secondary windings. Audio circuits of the Model S are fed by nine secondary windings so supplies of individual sections are kept completely separated. (There is also tenth winding that feeds the input switching relay.)"

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Re: DAC's.....Do I really need one ?

Unread post by jammy395 »

_D_S_J_R_ wrote:Jammy, what Copland CD player did you have?
A 288 Dave the one with knobs on... :mrgreen:

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Re: DAC's.....Do I really need one ?

Unread post by Dr Bunsen Honeydew »

Yomanze - Well IMO over complicated. I am not a believer in lots of split secondary windings as you are still all working in the same field. To do the job properly you need discrete transformers. The idea of an up front isolation transformer is interesting and will give some of the benefit of a BMU, but IMO a discrete BMU would be better.

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istari_knight
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Re: DAC's.....Do I really need one ?

Unread post by istari_knight »

jammy395 wrote:
_D_S_J_R_ wrote:Jammy, what Copland CD player did you have?
A 288 Dave the one with knobs on... :mrgreen:
I had one of them ! Best CDP I've ever owned. Always wanted to try the matching amps but never happened.

I've not heard a proper "high end" standalone DAC but the budget one's I've had were all much of a muchness [read: crap.]

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Re: DAC's.....Do I really need one ?

Unread post by Yomanze »

Silly post deleted... Will edit later!
Last edited by Yomanze on Wed Mar 18, 2015 6:47 pm, edited 3 times in total.

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Re: DAC's.....Do I really need one ?

Unread post by _D_S_J_R_ »

jammy395 wrote:
_D_S_J_R_ wrote:Jammy, what Copland CD player did you have?
A 288 Dave the one with knobs on... :mrgreen:
And you replaced it with a Marantz??????? :o :shock: :angry-screaming:
Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way...The time has gone, The song is over, Thought I'd something more to say...

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Re: DAC's.....Do I really need one ?

Unread post by jammy395 »

Well not immediately Dave, but in the long run I geuss so....... :think:

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Re: DAC's.....Do I really need one ?

Unread post by Yomanze »

How are the Sapphires Jammy? Give them a hug from me. ;)

Easy to hear component differences with them from gear quite frankly ridiculously more expensive...

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Re: DAC's.....Do I really need one ?

Unread post by terrybooth »

Daniel Quinn wrote:Some DACS will, some DACS won't
Some dacs need a lot of tweakin and some dacs don't
Well, I know I've got the fever but I don't know why
Some DACS will and some DAC makers lie
Pity it doesn't quite scan. :grin:
Pioneer PL71/DL103/ Phono2/HiFiPi/P90SA/TIS/CubixPro

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