Help choosing new DAC

[Vinylshadow]

@cany89

Thanks and thanks for all the guidance. I very much appreciate it.

I have 3 separate dedicated lines from the breaker box. 30A(10g wire) and 2 20A lines with soon to be placed upgraded receptacles(P.I. Audio UberPuerto's). I will tell you, the P.I. Audio UberBuss could be the best power device on the market and the most reasonably priced. Mine has 7 outlets. With 3 of them DigiBuss; specifically for digital and noisy components....

All upgraded Hubbel P&S 5362A outlets with final filters for isolation and upgraded internal wiring. Very neutral sounding....A 32A Neutrik connector so I can plug it into the 30A dedicated line...It isn't a conditioner more than a noise eliminator with unlimited current and a power factor correction of 1. A non metal box to eliminate Eddy currents.
AQ has surge suppression so that eliminates it for me. PS Audio, I am not buying any of their components. Voodoo!

Noise isolation from the UberBuss is primo. So, I'll be plugging everything into it. Digital or otherwise.

I'll likely give the Benchmark a try. With an upgraded power cable. I'll tell you, I know the Classe's DAC can be bested but I've been listening to jazz the last few days and it sounds so good. But, I imagine it could sound better. Maybe a lower noise floor? Better separation in the mids and treble?

Thanks!!

 

[ShiZo]

I like topping d70s or just wait for the topping d90se. There is a lot of transparent DACs at this point though.

https://www.l7audiolab.com/f/topping-d90se-dac-prototype/

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/topping-d70s-mqa-review-dac.18728/

 

[Vinylshadow]

I like topping d70s or just wait for the topping d90se. There is a lot of transparent DACs at this point though.

https://www.l7audiolab.com/f/topping-d90se-dac-prototype/

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/topping-d70s-mqa-review-dac.18728/

Thank you.

I cannot read Chinese but the reviewer seemed pleased on the d90se.... The d70 seems to be impressive as well. But I just say no to MQA. Can I bypass MQA?

There are a lot of folks who use a topping d10 in their cars so I've heard Toppings name and quality for awhile.

Are these Toppings better than the Benchmark DAC3 B? I need 2 coaxial inputs and both Toppings look to have only 1. So, again, my BluRay/CD player would have to be optical which is 24/96 only.

 

[ShiZo]

Thank you.

I cannot read Chinese but the reviewer seemed pleased on the d90se.... The d70 seems to be impressive as well. But I just say no to MQA. Can I bypass MQA?

There are a lot of folks who use a topping d10 in their cars so I've heard Toppings name and quality for awhile.

Are these Toppings better than the Benchmark DAC3 B? I need 2 coaxial inputs and both Toppings look to have only 1. So, again, my BluRay/CD player would have to be optical which is 24/96 only.

Actually, if you are going to use an input that isn't usb that changes things. The d90se has perfect jitter using any input. But I don't think it will have 2 coaxial inputs.

 

[Vinylshadow]

Actually, if you are going to use an input that isn't usb that changes things. The d90se has perfect jitter using any input. But I don't think it will have 2 coaxial inputs.

Unfortunately, neither my Node 2i nor my Marantz BR have USB's. Coax and optical, but I want to stick with coax. Only because of opticals 24/96 limitation.

I'm not sure why anyone would want to use optical with the 24/96 limitations. Or in what situation they would choose optical over coax or USB.

I think the only time the Marantz would use 24/192 is DVD Audio. Maybe some BluRay too?

Is USB sonically superior to coaxial?

 

[ShiZo]

Unfortunately, neither my Node 2i nor my Marantz BR have USB's. Coax and optical, but I want to stick with coax. Only because of opticals 24/96 limitation.

I'm not sure why anyone would want to use optical with the 24/96 limitations. Or in what situation they would choose optical over coax or USB.

I think the only time the Marantz would use 24/192 is DVD Audio. Maybe some BluRay too?

Is USB sonically superior to coaxial?

It really depends on implementation. I think ess designs have better coaxial performance, but that would have to be a good implementation. Make a post about the best dac with the features you're looking for and maybe someone will know which one would be best.

I think so far the benchmark dac 3 seems to be viable.

So 2 coaxial and good performance is the important factors then right?

 

[Gradius]

I'm not sure why anyone would want to use optical with the 24/96 limitations. Or in what situation they would choose optical over coax or USB.

I think the only time the Marantz would use 24/192 is DVD Audio. Maybe some BluRay too?

Is USB sonically superior to coaxial?

Coax/Optical (SPDIF) can do 24-bit @ 192kHz.

Of course, optical is better (for SPDIF), just use real fiber optics (not those cheap plastic ones).

This translates into: 12.288Mbit (total bandwidth) for stereo.

In comparison USB 2 can do ~424Mbit (real max).

USB2 wins by over 34x.

 

[Vinylshadow]

Coax/Optical (SPDIF) can do 24-bit @ 192kHz.

Of course, optical is better (for SPDIF), just use real fiber optics (not those cheap plastic ones).

This translates into: 12.288Mbit (total bandwidth) for stereo.

In comparison USB 2 can do ~424Mbit (real max).

USB2 wins by over 34x.

Optical is better than 75 ohm coax? I've not read that before. All I've read all times is that optical is limited to 24/96. My Classe's user manual specifically states that its optical can only support 24/96. Coax 24/192.....

Even a dealer I spoke to said the same. But that anything above 24/96 does not concern him. And he has a Mytec Manhattan II....

Hmmm. Maybe I should have bought a different music streamer that has a USB. Oh well.

Since not, maybe a separate Benchmark DAC3 B might not help as much? Very confusing to this digital neophyte.

 

[Vinylshadow]

It really depends on implementation. I think ess designs have better coaxial performance, but that would have to be a good implementation. Make a post about the best dac with the features you're looking for and maybe someone will know which one would be best.

I think so far the benchmark dac 3 seems to be viable.

So 2 coaxial and good performance is the important factors then right?[/QUOTE]
Yes. But better performance than my Classe SSP-800's Burr Brown 1792 DAC chips and their implementation.

 

[Gradius]

Optical is better than 75 ohm coax? I've not read that before. All I've read all times is that optical is limited to 24/96. My Classe's user manual specifically states that its optical can only support 24/96. Coax 24/192.....

Coaxial can be affected by EMI, so yes, optical is better.

The optical limit only depends on transceiver and receiver model. The old version (those old Toshiba) was indeed limited to 24/96.