For the past two days I've been trying to understand what DAC's are and their importance to me and my intended uses, being bluetooth streaming and connecting my phone to an RCA or 3.5mm. I have attempted to ask elsewhere and watched and read a ton of content on this but there's a lot to take in and it's quite confusing to a noob so please bear with me in my attempt to understand this.
In choosing between a Cambridge AXR100 and AXR85, the main difference being the higher spec model in addition to more power, has a built in DAC. From what I have gathered so far, built in DAC's only work with toslink and optical connections, mostly from things like TV's and audio streamers.
So if I connect my phone or an ipad, which is where most of my media is stored, to a receiver or amp via RCA or 3.5mm, the built in DAC on the higher spec model still would not be utilized and the phone or device would be doing all the decoding? Is that a correct understanding, would this mean, for this specific purpose of listening, that the two models are equal in what they are able to produce as far as sound quality?
Both models I'm looking at have a bluetooth receiver built in, also something I plan on using often. From what I've been told by others on reddit, the onboard bluetooth have their own DAC. So going with the higher spec model would not gain me any advantage in this regard, just like with the 3.5mm and RCA option.
If for instance, i buy an external bluetooth module and connect it to the ACR100 via optiocal, would that somehow provide better or higher quality audio than from using the built in bluetooth module.
I may also connect the system to my tv, so I would ask if there is a huge difference if I use the rca connection on the AXR85 vs the optical on the AXR100 for occasional use?
Thanks in advance, I'm not trying to talk myself out of the higher spec version, just trying to understand better what I would be getting using the two models as comparison.
In choosing between a Cambridge AXR100 and AXR85, the main difference being the higher spec model in addition to more power, has a built in DAC. From what I have gathered so far, built in DAC's only work with toslink and optical connections, mostly from things like TV's and audio streamers.
So if I connect my phone or an ipad, which is where most of my media is stored, to a receiver or amp via RCA or 3.5mm, the built in DAC on the higher spec model still would not be utilized and the phone or device would be doing all the decoding? Is that a correct understanding, would this mean, for this specific purpose of listening, that the two models are equal in what they are able to produce as far as sound quality?
Both models I'm looking at have a bluetooth receiver built in, also something I plan on using often. From what I've been told by others on reddit, the onboard bluetooth have their own DAC. So going with the higher spec model would not gain me any advantage in this regard, just like with the 3.5mm and RCA option.
If for instance, i buy an external bluetooth module and connect it to the ACR100 via optiocal, would that somehow provide better or higher quality audio than from using the built in bluetooth module.
I may also connect the system to my tv, so I would ask if there is a huge difference if I use the rca connection on the AXR85 vs the optical on the AXR100 for occasional use?
Thanks in advance, I'm not trying to talk myself out of the higher spec version, just trying to understand better what I would be getting using the two models as comparison.
