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Bel Canto DAC 2 and Sonos

I have a Sonos ZP90 and was thinking of picking up a Bel Canto DAC 2 to use with it. They are selling routinely for $500 used on this site. Has anyone else used this combination?

If so, a few questions:
1) Do you think the sound is a noticeable improvement over the Sonos internal analog outs?
2) Does the Sonos' volume control as well as Line-In function perfectly fine using the Bel Canto DAC2 and the ZP90?

Thanks, and any listening impressions are welcome.
anchan

Showing 2 responses by pkubica

pkubica
134 posts
 
First, I don't use a Bel Canto DAC, I use a Benchmark USB version. However I do use it with a ZP-90.

The sound quality of the ZP-90 with almost any external DAC will be better than the analog outputs of the ZP-90.

If possible use the ZP-90 with "fixed" output for the best performance. Otherwise, try to keep the Sonos software volume control under about 75%.

Possibly the most important consideration is "jitter". The external DAC needs to have good jitter reduction, or a jitter reduction device, or a mod done to the ZP-90 to reduce jitter. It's important and can easily add another $500 to the cost.

Paul
pkubica
134 posts
 
OK, good that you know what to look for. I would think the Bel Canto would be a good DAC. There are a lot of new DAC's out there and that may account for all the activity.

Actually in playback there is much more variation in the quality of the music tracks than there is in the equipment. I have some real "stinkers". Poorly recorded CD's that yield poor digital files.
Paul
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