Sugesstion needed In New DAC selection for my set up

Audiolab 9000N
sanj

sanj

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Hi ,

I am planning to buy a new DAC do not have idea about it but want to listen music from my laptop/PC,my budget is arround 1.5lac,i have short listed below models but only NAD M51 is available for audition in Delhi.
1). NAD M51
2).W4S DSDse
3).Teac UD501

My existing set up is : Pre-amp:Parasound FET900, Power amp:Rotel RB990BX(200wrms @8ohm),CD Player: Marantz CD5004, Speakers: B&W603 S3,Interconnect: VDH D102 mark111, Speaker cables: supra 3.4 ply & a Online UPS.

I want my DAC should be future ready and can produce analogue like sound with my existing setup.

Waiting for your valuable suggetions.
 
sanj said:
Hi ,

I am planning to buy a new DAC do not have idea about it but want to listen music from my laptop/PC,my budget is arround 1.5lac,i have short listed below models but only NAD M51 is available for audition in Delhi.
1). NAD M51
2).W4S DSDse
3).Teac UD501

My existing set up is : Pre-amp:Parasound FET900, Power amp:Rotel RB990BX(200wrms @8ohm),CD Player: Marantz CD5004, Speakers: B&W603 S3,Interconnect: VDH D102 mark111, Speaker cables: supra 3.4 ply & a Online UPS.

I want my DAC should be future ready and can produce analogue like sound with my existing setup.

Waiting for your valuable suggetions.
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I hear there are very good music servers which can do a better job than the PC + DAC combination. Hope some one in the forum gives you the brands/models for your budget.
 
Hi,

Acoustic Portrait Thyaga DAC is highly recommended (sub 100K)...I have been using it for > 1 year. It has all required connectivity and support upto 24/192 Hi-Res via async USB.

Thanks
Venu
 
Hi Friends,

Yesterday i auditioned NAD M51 at my lokozy dealer friend Ashish's(a gentle man and very nice guy to deal with him) showroom at Delhi, i took all my gear there(CDP,Pre-amp,Power amp,Interconnects & speaker cable)less my FS speaker,speaker were a pair of Revel Performa 3 series F208.

I was very much pre decided to buy NAD M51 DAC as it has pre-amp also and the reviews are great even strereophile magzine has has rated it A+ DAc, we first ripped my Cds in NAD ripper and then played it through the Nad m51 Dac and DAc was also working as pre,then we played it through the my CDP and routing it through my pre-amp to my power amp,the sound we notice was exactly same from NAD Dac+inbuilt pre,i was not able to diffrentiate even a minor difference from my CDP + pre-amp( may be due to my ears).

NAD Dac+inbuilt pre has produced sounds ditto same as my CDP+ my pre-amp ,warm transparent,detailed and holographic,nothing more or less so if i want the same sound i can any time go for NAD M51 DAC.

This made me very confused as my CDP Marantz 5005 is a basic CDP and my expectation from NAD M51 was somewhere at higher side from my CDP+pre-amp, so i have decided to wait and audition some more other DACs with inbuilt Pre-amp and better in sound(focus,imagine & Soundtage) than my current set up within my budget of 1.5 lac, as i do not want to upgrade very often and loose my hard earn money, i want some value addition in reference to money invested in gear.

So friends kindly suggest some good DAcs which can be auditioned in India with built in pre-amp and remote and can surpass my cdp sound.Other wise i may go for NAD M51 as it is giving me same listening pleasure as i am getting from my current cdp+pre-amp combo.
 
Hi Friends,

Waiting for your valuable suggestions i have to take decide it very soon.
 
I have not heard more expensive DACs so can't comment on the models you have listed. I have ASUS Xonar Essence One which costs about 25K and it sounded really good out of the box, which is the general consensus. I changed the opamps on the DAC to 14 x OPA627 which cost another 25K. For the price, the jump in sound quality goes to whole another level. Its now amazing enough that I have decided not to upgrade my DAC for some time to come :). You can explore that avenue if you would like to experiment and customize the sound to your liking in the future.
 
mowgli80 said:
I have not heard more expensive DACs so can't comment on the models you have listed. I have ASUS Xonar Essence One which costs about 25K and it sounded really good out of the box, which is the general consensus. I changed the opamps on the DAC to 14 x OPA627 which cost another 25K. For the price, the jump in sound quality goes to whole another level. Its now amazing enough that I have decided not to upgrade my DAC for some time to come :). You can explore that avenue if you would like to experiment and customize the sound to your liking in the future.
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Sorry to bump into this thread, but since this is also relevant for the OP thought I'd ask. Why did you not go for the Muses Edition instead? And the opamps are all user-swappable?
 
indialogue said:
Sorry to bump into this thread, but since this is also relevant for the OP thought I'd ask. Why did you not go for the Muses Edition instead?
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The muses edition was not launched when I bought the DAC. Moreover, I would not have bought it even if it was launched as buying expensive DAC just to replace the most expensive parts in it (each muses01 amp costs $50 x 9) if I didn't like the sound (bought it without audition) wouldn't make sense. I bought it for the capability to experiment with various flavours of sound and buying muses would have effectively taken that option away. Once I experimented and liked the sound of cheaper Burr Brown opamps, I moved to the more (very) expensive OPA627 which I am very happy with.

indialogue said:
And the opamps are all user-swappable?
Click to expand...

All opamps in preamp (RCA + XLR) and two out of three in headphone amp section are user swappable.
 
mowgli80 said:
The muses edition was not launched when I bought the DAC. Moreover, I would not have bought it even if it was launched as buying expensive DAC just to replace the most expensive parts in it (each muses01 amp costs $50 x 9) if I didn't like the sound (bought it without audition) wouldn't make sense. I bought it for the capability to experiment with various flavours of sound and buying muses would have effectively taken that option away. Once I experimented and liked the sound of cheaper Burr Brown opamps, I moved to the more (very) expensive OPA627 which I am very happy with.



All opamps in preamp (RCA + XLR) and two out of three in headphone amp section are user swappable.
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Thanks for your response! Was curious because the market price difference between the two is just USD 200-250 (which is less than the OPA627 upgrade) - though I guess this price difference and availability will not be the case in India!!
 
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