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Need advice for DAC between PC and Adam Audio T5V with T10S

DougG

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May 22, 2024
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Hello and thank you for this great forum. I've been browsing for a few weeks and there is a ton of great information on here, even if most of it seems Greek to me ;o)
So here is what I have:
PC with Gigabyte GA-Z170X Gaming motherboard which has a S/PDIF output, as well as USB-C and USB 3.0
Adam T5V Active Monitors along with the Adam T10S sub. Got a great deal on them locally here in Nashville.

My situation:
I would like to hook up the speakers to the PC in the best way possible. I have my music collection on the PC in FLAC format and want to be able to play those as well as
streaming audio from the PC, which is running Windows 10. The speakers will be nearfield, placed on the far right/left corners of my desk, either on stands or foam pads.
I do have some decent headphones (Ultimate Ears Triple-Fi 10 and audio-technica ATH-A700), and I may want to occasionally pull them out but for now the emphasis is on the speakers.
Streaming bluetooth is a nice to have option.

Thusfar I have scoured the board for reviews of DAC's that have Toslink Optical input as that seems to be the "cleanest" way to get a signal from my pc.
From a budget perspective, I would like to stay under $300 or so.
DAC's I have looked at:
Loxjie D40 Pro - a lot to like about this but slightly above budget. Also I sent an email a week ago asking a warranty question and they could not be bothered to answer, so that does not bode well for support later, should it be needed. Also have not updated their Facebook page since 2021. SINAD 123.2.
Sabaj A10d - one of the ones I am leaning towards and also has an amp for future headphone use if desired. SINAD 120
Sabaj A20d - has the PRO version of the 9038 chip. Above the budget but can find used or "cosmetically damaged for less. SINAD 122. Also has an amp built in
SMSL d-6S - universally good reviews and a decent price. SINAD 121.9. Would need an amp in the future for headphone use.
SMSL DO-100 - same commends as the d-6S. SINAD 120. Would need an amp in the future for headphone use
Topping D50III - the newest one I saw reviewed. Great SINAD at 122.7. Would need an amp in the future for headphone use

Now for my questions and would greatly appreciate and advice:
1 What DAC would you choose, either from the list or something completely different?
2 Am I correct in wanting to use a S/PDIF out from the PC to the DAC as some have pointed out here or is USB better? I know USB has wider bandwidth but would I ever use it (ripped CD's)?
3 Someone mentioned using XLR for the T5A's and RCA for the T10S sub. Why is that and is that best? The Adam site has: DAC to the T10S then from the T10S to the T5V's.
4 Should I go for a DAC with an amp built in, will that have any affect on the Active speakers or is the power just sent to the headphone output?
5 The Topping is powered by USB-C while the rest have 100-240v separate power. I would assume the separate power is the better option?
6 The Adam site states that the T5V's have built-in DSP controlled driver crossovers and equalization. I am not sure what this means and how it fits in with a DAC?

I did look at the seemingly more "reliable" vender, JDS labs and would have jumped on their El DAC II but the SINAD was 112, much lower than the others. I did like their customer service reputation and two year warranty. I seems with the others above service issues are a total crap shoot.

Thank you for taking time to read my post and apologies for the "newbie" questions.
 
Hi @DougG! Welcome to ASR.

1 What DAC would you choose, either from the list or something completely different?
SMSL C200 or DL200.

2 Am I correct in wanting to use a S/PDIF out from the PC to the DAC as some have pointed out here or is USB better? I know USB has wider bandwidth but would I ever use it (ripped CD's)?
Toslink will do just fine if you don't need > PCM 192kHz.
Plus it offers electrical isolation from your PC.

3 Someone mentioned using XLR for the T5A's and RCA for the T10S sub. Why is that and is that best?
Advantages:
-Can use Subs that lack Line out (negated, because the T10s has Line out)
-May give your Mains a cleaner signal, in case the Sub's Line out adds noise

Disadvantages:
-RCA out to Sub may cause a ground loop
-Can't use the Sub's High-pass filtered Line out to reduce distortion in the Mains

Overall, I'd just do DAC->XLR->Sub->XLR->Mains.

4 Should I go for a DAC with an amp built in
I would.

will that have any affect on the Active speakers
None.

or is the power just sent to the headphone output?
The built-in Amp is just for the Headphone output.

5 The Topping is powered by USB-C while the rest have 100-240v separate power. I would assume the separate power is the better option?
For DAC+Amp combo units, separate power is preferable.

Pure DACs OTOH, can perform excellently even with just USB power.

6 The Adam site states that the T5V's have built-in DSP controlled driver crossovers and equalization. I am not sure what this means and how it fits in with a DAC?
It means that the monitors do not have traditional analog crossover boards.

Instead, the Line input is digitized, then digitally split up for each driver, converted back into Analog, and finally amplified by a separate Amp per driver.

This has some clear advantages over analog crossovers and it's how many of the very best monitors that money can buy, achieve their neutral response.

As for how this relates to your DAC, it practically makes no difference.

In theory, if the monitors had a digital input, using that would be preferable over any external DAC no matter how expensive, since you'd get greater transparency as that digitization step would be removed from the chain.

In practice, the built-in ADC is more than good enough and the added noise is likely negligible.

I did look at the seemingly more "reliable" vender, JDS labs and would have jumped on their El DAC II but the SINAD was 112, much lower than the others.
Still miles better than the human hearing, therefore exactly as transparent as all those other DACs with 120+ dB SINAD.

The SINAD is not the issue. For me, it would be the lack of balanced Line out and lack of built-in Headphone Amp.

Currently, JDS has no device with both.
Schiit has one, but it costs $500.
 
staticV3 - THANK YOU so much for your detailed reply. It was very helpful. I do have a few follow up questions:

Both of the DAC's you mention use a single chip. Would I be better off with one running dual chips? Asking as I read that you need dual chips for true balanced audio being able to process the signal in parallel.

Of the two the DL 200 is newer and uses the newer chip but does not have the ratings that the C200 has (78.9 - 17.5 - 0.9 - 2.7). Also between the two, the C200 has a "superb" recommendation from Amir while, over a year later, he has not even reviewed it. Should those things concern me (seems like the C200 might be more "reliable")?

Looking at JDS, their El Dac II+ does have a balanced output (TRS) for $299. Adding their El Amp II+ is $249. The problem, as I see, is that you use the balanced TRS of the DAC to go into the TRS of the AMP, only leaving RCA outputs to the monitors. Or can you use the RCA output from the DAC to go into the AMP saving the Balanced TRS to run to the monitors? If one were to do this, using good RCA cables, would the signal to the amp degrade much over using balanced? Going this route would let me get the DAC (with balanced outputs) now for use with the Adam monitors, and at some point in the future get the AMP for use with headphones. Oddly, they list the SINAD of the AMP as 119 over RCA and 114 over TRS, while the DAC is listed at only 112.

Thanks again!!
 
Both of the DAC's you mention use a single chip. Would I be better off with one running dual chips?
No.

Asking as I read that you need dual chips for true balanced audio being able to process the signal in parallel.
You don't. A single DAC chip can do true balanced audio.

Of the two the DL 200 is newer and uses the newer chip but does not have the ratings that the C200 has (78.9 - 17.5 - 0.9 - 2.7).
Not sure what those numbers mean

Or can you use the RCA output from the DAC to go into the AMP saving the Balanced TRS to run to the monitors? If one were to do this, using good RCA cables, would the signal to the amp degrade much over using balanced?
It would not degrade.

Looking at JDS, their El Dac II+ does have a balanced output (TRS) for $299. Adding their El Amp II+ is $249.
Going this route would let me get the DAC (with balanced outputs) now for use with the Adam monitors, and at some point in the future get the AMP for use with headphones.
That's $550 for what you could achieve with the C200 for like $150. Quite the hefty premium.
 
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