DAC - To buy or to not buy(Confused)

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repeated point: what chance that a cheap DAC is going to better than the one you have already?

It's not impossible. There are wonder products. Just... it is unlikely.

I get an impression that some people think there is something intrinsically special about an eternal DAC. There is not.
 
i am using DAC cables and chinese cables, i dont find any difference in the quality, it all depends on your purpose of use...... may be i might be wrong if the application is for (high-end) usage ......bcoz mine is for STD usage :)
 
i am using DAC cables and chinese cables, i dont find any difference in the quality, it all depends on your purpose of use...... may be i might be wrong if the application is for (high-end) usage ......bcoz mine is for STD usage :)
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Just FYI, the DAC that you have is "Designer Audio Cable" and this discussion is about is "Digital to Analog Converter":).
 
santhol2 said:
Just FYI, the DAC that you have is "Designer Audio Cable" and this discussion is about is "Digital to Analog Converter":).
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Oh, I thought it was a nano-DAC inside a cable ;) an engineering marvel ... :rolleyes:

Cheers
 
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abhi_jollyguy said:
It's Rs. 22,950 after 10% discount.:licklips:
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Being seen some of the hi-fi stuff cheaper in India than in UK I think 199 is a good price for the silver CA Dacmagic buying it off the shelf from one of the richer sounds store in UK :licklips:
@abhi_jollyguy
If you have someone coming down from UK then buying it in UK may be a cheaper option or you can give it a try getting it shipped from here mentioning it as a gift. I can help you out if you need any help in this.
 
denzong said:
guys
any idea about the links i gave
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Just don't waste your time and money. If you read through this and other threads, there are half a dozen DACs that have any value. The regular DAC inside a player such as Pioneer, Philips, etc would beat the DACs you have referred to easily.

Cheers
 
Got myself a CA DacMagic (silver colour) for 200. The black colour at 230 I couldn't convince my self to pay 30 more just for colour :yahoo:

Yes, I see an improvement here with the DAC connected between the laptop and the amp. I find the bass has more punch the mids are clear and the highs are more crisp than before. Playing from laptop never sounded this great.

I don't have a coaxial/optical cable to connect the cd player to try.

I have connected the laptop using the USB cable provided. What is the best way to connect the laptop to the DAC. Optical or USB?
 
ravi_d said:
Got myself a CA DacMagic (silver colour) for 200. The black colour at 230 I couldn't convince my self to pay 30 more just for colour :yahoo:

Yes, I see an improvement here with the DAC connected between the laptop and the amp. I find the bass has more punch the mids are clear and the highs are more crisp than before. Playing from laptop never sounded this great.

I don't have a coaxial/optical cable to connect the cd player to try.

I have connected the laptop using the USB cable provided. What is the best way to connect the laptop to the DAC. Optical or USB?
Click to expand...

Plz also check it with CD-Player>DAC>AMP>Speakers and tell me in detail about the SQ improved and also tell me by how much it improved? :)

I think u are using NAD C 356BEE and which speakers?
 
ravi_d said:
I have connected the laptop using the USB cable provided. What is the best way to connect the laptop to the DAC. Optical or USB?
Click to expand...

Though strictly speaking you can order the connection as optical, coaxial, USB (best to worst), I don't think it will make too much difference in a laptop. The difference will come in when you start using specialised hardware for sound processing including drivers such as ASIO, WASAPI, etc.

Cheers
 
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abhi_jollyguy said:
Plz also check it with CD-Player>DAC>AMP>Speakers and tell me in detail about the SQ improved and also tell me by how much it improved? :)
Click to expand...
@abhi_jollyguy
No, I couldn't find much difference here. I used an coaxial cable to connect the cd player to DAC. Putting it in numbers I can say its not even 5% better with DAC. May be the 24-bit/192kHz Burr Brown DAC in the cd player is doing the job well or the DAC is not broken-in yet (haven't put even 10 hours of usage) or may be my speakers are not up to the mark in showing the difference.
Having most of the music collection in the laptop it makes more sense for me having the DAC in between the laptop and amp.

For you it make a difference using it with the DVD Player and WDTV.
Also note that buying Caiman DAC from UK you would be saving 7k - 8k INR than buying a DacMagic in India.


abhi_jollyguy said:
I think u are using NAD C 356BEE and which speakers?
Click to expand...
Yes, I'm using NAD c356BEE and Mission M32i. Still haven't upgraded the speakers yet.
 
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