Hi all, brand new here, but I've been reading a fair amount here about DACs on the forum here. I am a complete neophyte with regard to DACs/servers/streamers, etc. I bought a Stellar Gain Cell DAC before I knew anything much about DACS or even knew of this site. It seemed like a good option because I have a family room system for music and movies, so I needed this type of product because of the home theater bypass feature.
I started out here reading the review of the PS Audio Directsream DAC, and now I've read the review of the Stellar Gain Cell DAC. The testing measurements don't look good at all. I play music from my laptop to the DAC via a USB cable. When using the PS Audio's DAC function, it sounds pretty good on quiet and simple music, but when the music gets more complex and louder, something just doesn't sound right. Hard to describe it, but I might describe it as "hashy". In some ways, my Denon AVR-X5200 AVR sounds better, although perhaps not quite as dynamic. I have the PS Audio connected to my Krell FPB 400cx power amp by Wireworld XLR cables.
My question would be, does anyone know of a similar type of product that actually has great DAC and pre-amp performance? It would need home theater bypass and at least a couple of stereo analog inputs. I would like it to be balanced and have XLR outputs, since my Krell power amp has only XLR inputs on it. Thanks for any advice!
I started out here reading the review of the PS Audio Directsream DAC, and now I've read the review of the Stellar Gain Cell DAC. The testing measurements don't look good at all. I play music from my laptop to the DAC via a USB cable. When using the PS Audio's DAC function, it sounds pretty good on quiet and simple music, but when the music gets more complex and louder, something just doesn't sound right. Hard to describe it, but I might describe it as "hashy". In some ways, my Denon AVR-X5200 AVR sounds better, although perhaps not quite as dynamic. I have the PS Audio connected to my Krell FPB 400cx power amp by Wireworld XLR cables.
My question would be, does anyone know of a similar type of product that actually has great DAC and pre-amp performance? It would need home theater bypass and at least a couple of stereo analog inputs. I would like it to be balanced and have XLR outputs, since my Krell power amp has only XLR inputs on it. Thanks for any advice!