Gigawork DAC vs Marantz CD67SE

[venkatcr]

Between the CDP and the Laptop+DAC, the laptop may end up with being the weak link. With a desktop you can add/change the audio card, but that there hardly anything you can do with a laptop. Irrespective of how good the DAC is, you have to verify the capabilities of the laptop as a reliable source.


Cheers

 

[madbullram]

I think he too has a WDTV, may be he can think of a DAC for that

 

[unleash_me]

I have been using laptop also as a source along with my dedicated hifi for a very long time. Recently, I moved almost completely to a laptop based system. You will get excellent results if you use the right components.

 

[madbullram]

Unleash: Can you elaborate right components in a laptop?

 

[unleash_me]

Ram, I don't give much importance to the laptop/pc/mac part since I'm only interested in the USB/SPDIF out of those sources - and between the two, I prefer the USB. Some would advocate that a desktop CPU far way from its Monitor would be better isolated than an all in one solution like a laptop. Even though I haven't used a desktop in the last 10 years or so, when tested against each other, I couldn't find any noticeable difference between the two concepts. After trying a lot of players, I ended up using Foobar with WASAPI since I was experiencing some issues with ASIO installed earlier. I strongly believe, its the rest of the chain that is important and makes all the difference - DAC, Amp & Speakers (+ IC if you indulge so)

Cheers.

 

[madbullram]

Unleash, but doesnt the sound card make the difference? Are you are saying we can use any laptop provided we have a good DAC and system, it should be similar to an CDP

 

[thevortex]

Unleash, but doesnt the sound card make the difference? Are you are saying we can use any laptop provided we have a good DAC and system, it should be similar to an CDP

Indeed. it matters as a lot as to the quality of the digital output. The soundcard's digital out is bound to be of far better quality with much less jitter when compared to the onboard SPDIF out.

However if one were to use the USB out to DAC chain, I am not sure that that would make a huge difference.

 

[unleash_me]

May be it does. But as I mentioned earlier, I don't give it that much importance since I like what I hear

Try this link for more details. You will find here some of the best in the industry sharing their approach towards PC based systems.

 

[kaushik]

Indeed. it matters as a lot as to the quality of the digital output. The soundcard's digital out is bound to be of far better quality with much less jitter when compared to the onboard SPDIF out.

However if one were to use the USB out to DAC chain, I am not sure that that would make a huge difference.

i did not compare USB dac with SPDIF options or xonar cards .
External USB Dac makes a good deal of difference as far as my tests revealed.
My sony vaio internal card vs USB dac i tested .
improvements in dynamics and sound stage..are for sure .

Dac has to be properly matched with suitable buffer to the amp.

Cant comment on how close it comes to a CD player ...
at this point.

 

[srikarkav]

sorry wrong thread