Please provide advice....

[rickyhgarcia]

I have never owned a dedicated DAC. Except of what is inside my AV receiver and OPPO BluRay player, I have never dealt with a DAC before.

I have been reviving my old stereo pure analog components by sending them to their respective OEM´s for upgrades/repairs. My idea is to have a parallel analog stereo rig to my home theater rig. When I bought these high end pieces of equipment some 30 years ago, they sounded great, therefore, with up to date electronic components they can only sound better. So I have an Audio Research tube preamplifier, with only RCA inputs/outputs, as the heart of this stereo rig. The preamp is necessary so I can switch between a Rega Planar 3 turntable, an OPPO BDP-95 via its analog outputs, and an audio PC via dedicated DAC.

The advice I need is on the proper DAC to incorporate to this rig. Only the PC via USB cable will be hooked to the DAC for down streaming music/video and MP3 files. The OPPO has a good enough internal (audiophile DAC) so it is not necessary to connect it to the external DAC, maybe perhaps for A/B comparisons between the OPPO DAC and the external DAC, then decide how to listen to CD´s. I do not plan to connect headphones to this DAC, only speakers connected to my Moscode 300 amp. The DAC does not need to incorporate balanced outputs, since the preamp only accept RCA inputs.

I have been looking at the SINAD table published in this forum for clues, and would like a unit from the top tier. Price is a consideration, since DAC´s are mostly PC boards, would not want to go higher than $1000. It is quite a surprise how prices varies so much within the units in the top tier section of the table. I do not know what makes a unit with similar distortion measurements cost thousands more than others.

Thanks...

 

[MZKM]

I mean, a $100 Topping D10 has a SINAD of 106dB that’s better than undithered 16Bit. You can also get March Audio’s DAC1 for <$400. You can also wait for the upcoming Topping D50s.

 

[Zek]

The advice I need is on the proper DAC to incorporate to this rig. Only the PC via USB cable will be hooked to the DAC for down streaming music/video and MP3 files. The OPPO has a good enough internal (audiophile DAC)

You can connect PC to OPPO via USB if OPPO has USB-B digital in. (what OPPO model you have?)

 

[rickyhgarcia]

You can connect PC to OPPO via USB if OPPO has USB-B digital in. (what OPPO model you have?)

Mine is the BDP-95....no inputs.

 

[Daverz]

I second the Topping D10.

 

[Zek]

Mine is the BDP-95....no inputs.

As I can see there are optical & coax digital inputs, if your PC has either digital outputs, you can make this connection.

 

[rickyhgarcia]

As I can see there are optical & coax digital inputs, if your PC has either digital outputs, you can make this connection.

Those are outputs...

 

[rickyhgarcia]

Seems I am leaning for a Topping D50s with the Topping P50 linear power supply. Any idea how much better Topping’s own power supply would enhance the DAC?

 

[Willem]

How about a JDS LAB OL DAC? $100 for just usb, or a bit more for also optical in (which is what I would do so you can later add a Chromecast Audio or Sonos Connect with their optical digital outputs as well. Sonically I don't think it gets any better.