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Do I Need a DAC to upgrade my DVD player?

Vickiehifi

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Joined
Dec 31, 2024
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Hello and thank you for adding me! New to external DAC’s and would greatly appreciate some advice and your opinions. I have a Sherwood Newcastle SD-871 Universal DVD player that I use for playing CD’s only (also want to explore SACD’s). I do not use this player for video. It uses a Burr-Brown PCM 1792 DAC chip for 24 bit 192 kHz resolution. I know that this unit is old (2005). Would an external DAC that doesn’t break the bank be a noticeable upgrade to the sound quality compared to the internal DAC? I appreciate your advice and thank you!
 
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So far can't any info on the (24-bit 192 kz) Burr Brown 1392 DAC chip.
Audio-CD are 16-bit 44.1khz recordings.
So hard to recomend a a DAC, for a reasonable price, that would for sure improve audio quality.
 
So far can't any info on the (24-bit 192 kz) Burr Brown 1392 DAC chip.
Audio-CD are 16-bit 44.1khz recordings.
So hard to recomend a a DAC, for a reasonable price, that would for sure improve audio quality.
Thanks. I got the part number wrong. It is a PCM 1792. T I has the spec sheet for this chip. Apparently the 1792 was considered high quality in its day. I know that there is more to getting high quality output than the chip alone. Trying to stay to a budget of around $200 and if this only gives me a marginal gain it isn’t worth it, but 20 years on even an entry level DAC may make an improvement?
 
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Unless your player is faulty or poorly designed, you won't hear any differences.

put your money into better speakers if you want to improve the sound and/or into a more powerful amp if necessary
 
A high quality DAC from 20 years ago is still a good quality DAC today. Despite what a lot of the subjectivist audiophile community might say, even 30+ years ago, DACs were a pretty mature technology. Burr-Brown chips were also quite a selling point back then.

I think you probably have nothing to worry about. An external DAC would give peace of mind, but the odds are against it giving better sound.

And welcome to ASR!
 
There are instances where I have heard differences between for instance Denon DVD-2900 and Benchmark DAC1. The sound became quite a bit cleaner with the DAC.
In your case I'd probably try something like a SMSL PS200 DAC to see if you hear any difference. Or an used DAC which costs more. You can always sell it if doesn't add anything to it the listening experience.
 
Thanks. I got the part number wrong. It is a PCM 1792. T I has the spec sheet for this chip. Apparently the 1792 was considered high quality in its day. I know that there is more to getting high quality output than the chip alone. Trying to stay to a budget of around $200 and if this only gives me a marginal gain it isn’t worth it, but 20 years on even an entry level DAC may make an improvement?
Burr Brown (24-bit 192k) 1792 DAC chip (nice).
Newer chips have improvements like being able to do 32-bit 384khz audio, that feature does not improve 16-bit 44.1 khz audio (CD-audio).
New chips are smaller and use less power, that improvement does not improve 16-bit 44.1Khz audio.
If the Sherwood player was creating electrical noise, that could be picked up by the analog audio signal inside the CD player,
than an external DAC would help elimate that noise, if there was any in the first place.

My gut says chances are you would have to spend more than what you would want, for a chance of improving audio quality.
 
A high quality DAC from 20 years ago is still a good quality DAC today. Despite what a lot of the subjectivist audiophile community might say, even 30+ years ago, DACs were a pretty mature technology. Burr-Brown chips were also quite a selling point back then.

I think you probably have nothing to worry about. An external DAC would give peace of mind, but the odds are against it giving better sound.

And welcome to ASR!
 
Thanks! I appreciate your advice. I paid $200 for this player brand new in the box about 9 years ago. Haven’t had a stereo system in a few years so I’m resurrecting my old gear. I believe this player sold for $800 in 2005 so it was considered to have quality. I Iike to get the most bang for the buck and if a $200-$300 DAC would give me little or no improvement, might as well save my money.
 
So, the question is, 'Do I need an (external) DAC to upgrade my DVD player'? And the answer is : No.
 
Start playing music and think about new gear later. A good streaming service is also a nice to have and maybe a NAS to stop fooling around and storing those jewel cases. Headphones are also kind of fun, too. Anyway, welcome to ASR.
 
Short and sweet. I like it!
I'm glad you do. I see you're new here, welcome to ASR! If I may, I'd like to offer you three pieces of advice. First, listen to our membership (most of whom know more than I do) and don't be afraid to ask a question. That's what we're here for. Second, stick to tried - and - true gear. Yamaha, Marantz, Rotel, JBL, Polk, KEF to name a few. Third -- most important -- never spend a yard's worth of money to get three inches of improvement. Once you go down that rabbit hole, there's no coming back. (and if you like what you see here, make a small donation now and then if you're able!) Again, welcome to ASR and happy listening!
 
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