DAC question

I would keep your system the way it is and play with some tweeks first. Damping the units themselves and isolating the speakers and making sure they are level and are on spikes...things like this can make more of an improvment in sound then a new DAC.

Matt M

Arnie Krueger says NO.

Seems you've put together a nice 1st system and I applaud your decision to wait a bit and enjoy. That being said, if you have any interest in computer audio a DAC will be in your future. The Bifrost, which has been well reviewed (I own one), is a terrific DAC in it's price range. Computer audio (DACs in particular) is advancing at a blistering pace thus bringing down the cost of some truly great technology previously unaffordable to many. It's a good time to be getting into audio. Cheers.

Thanks for all of your input which was helpful. Think I will sit tight for a while and enjoy my new system. Cheers

the sound of a dac depends upon factors other than the dac chip. i suggest you set a budget, then listen to as many dacs within your price range, comparing each dac to the dac in your
arcam player

Two units can use identical chips and yet sound very different.The quality and implenmentation of the analog stage and the power supply have significant influence(likely more). This is what you`re paying for with better sounding units,not merely the particular chip.
Regards,

I would listen to what you have for at least a year and become familiar with every nuance of the system before changing any gear. Then you'll have a true reference in your mind to make accurate comparisions. I've owned the Studio 20s and I've found that stands make a BIG difference, as they do with all monitors I've owned. If you're using cheap stands, I would upgrade them before the DAC. IMO.

the issue is whether the external dac is better than the internal dac in your cdp. your cdp utilizes a 192kHz/24-bit Wolfson 8741s dac, which is the same as arcam utilizes in its $2500 totl cdp. you wouldn't expect that you'd hear alot of improvement by bypassing it in favor of an inexpensive dac, but it's a very subjective determination, and price is a imperfect measure of sound quality. if you're able to try out the schiit to compare, that'd be your best option.