Best DAC to use

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  • Minivan
    Member
    • Jan 2005
    • 32
    #1

    Best DAC to use

    Alright folks,

    I'm running some B&W 705s on an Arcam AVR100.

    My PC is the hub of all my entertainment. Currently I have it send the signal optically (via toslink cable) to the amp, then the Arcam uses it's DAC.

    I've been looking at the new sound card from Creative Labs - Sound Blaster® X-Fi Elite Pro. Review: http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=2518

    Anyone know if the DAC on this sound card would be better? Should I use the DAC on this, then send the analogue signal to the Acram amp for better sound quality?

    cheers,

    Minivan
    ----------------------------------
    Rotel RSX-1056, B&W 805S front, HTM4S centre, DS8S surround, REL Q201E sub
    Tags: None
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    • ThomasW
      Ultra Senior Member
      • Aug 2000
      • 10980
      #2
      Since it reclocks the signal for lowest jitter, I'd use a Benchmark DAC1 when using a PC as the source component....

      IB subwoofer FAQ page

      "Complicated equipment and light reflectors and various other items of hardware are enough, to my mind, to prevent the birdie from coming out." ...... Henri Cartier-Bresson
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        • aud19
          Twin Moderator Emeritus
          • Aug 2003
          • 16706
          #3
          You'll also want to confirm that your soundcard doesn't resample to 48khz with Windows kmixer. It will still destroy bit-perfect digital output and playback. To get bit-perfect 44.1 playback you need a soundcard that can natively sample at 44.1khz.
          Jason
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            • Blazar
              Senior Member
              • Feb 2004
              • 127
              #4
              Most of the good professional DAC's have re-clocking features. It's not so easy to compare one clock to another but most are quite good these days when dealing with the leading professional manfacturers.

              My prime choices would be the benchmark dac-1 or agogee mini-dac with balanced outputs if I were to buy a dac for pc right now.

              I would go for something with optical inputs since it decouples the dac from any pc electrical noise and ground loops. With the excellent re-clocking that professional dacs employ, there is really no difference that is measurable between toslink and coaxial once they have been re-clocked.

              Computer playback of music files is more accurate than any cd transport presuming you have a bit-perfect copy of a brand-new unscratched CD.
              Blazar!
              (HTPC/Panasonic SA-XR55/B&W 802D/HTM-1/SCMS)
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                • jim777
                  Senior Member
                  • Mar 2005
                  • 831
                  #5
                  Originally posted by Blazar
                  Computer playback of music files is more accurate than any cd transport presuming you have a bit-perfect copy of a brand-new unscratched CD.
                  Why...?

                  BTW, I just heard some CD and HiRez DVD at the 119th AES with the DAC1 over HD-600 headphones and it was awesome :E
                  Last edited by jim777; 11 October 2005, 15:11 Tuesday. Reason: typo
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