Ways to improve DAC performance???


Hello fellow A'goners,

I recently changed my system by selling my tube CD player and storing all of my CDs onto iTunes on my Macbook Pro laptop. I also subscribe to premium Spotify and really enjoy the quality of the sound.

I'm using a fairly inexpensive Ross Martin DAC, and the noise floor and detail are really excellent.

I'm new to this "music server" approach and I was wondering if there is additional software that would improve the quality of this setup.
It has to be Apple, not PC.

I've read of various programs and downloads that help, but I'm not sure if they are a substitute for a good DAC or something that can enhance a DAC's performance?

Any suggestions or advice is much appreciated, as I am a newbie in this new digital realm.

Thanks! Lincoln
lincnabby

Showing 1 response by tblewy

I also use a Ross Martin dac, the Super Beast. I suspect at its level of sound quality that only flavor of sound is different than the best you can buy not the quality when driven well. Yes, mine does sound slightly better being driven through an Asus STX coaxial output at 192 kHz I also find that going directly to a power amp (I use XLR cables to my Crown XLS2500 to drive my slightly modified (new tweeters) NHT 3.3's.
I also use Foobar2000 with the native ASIO drivers for the STX audio card and rip all my cd's to a lossless format, usually FLAC Frankly the quality of the recordings is now my main concern and I have started to gather remasters and better originals. Ross Martin dacs, RMA, are excellent and they all use very good op-amps, and components imho. If you don't have a sound card try both the dac's USB and the computers optical audio output if it has one and let your ears decide.