DAC vs. Preamp


I have just purchased Parasound JC1 Monos and will be getting Triton Ones soon. I will be using an Arcam cd player and Macbook Pro. I think I'm done with vinyl. Too much work. Would a good DAC be sufficient in this configuration or is a preamp still the way to go. I don't want the DAC to be a weak link yet money is definitely a concern. This is a brand-new system so I'm wide open to suggestions. Help,please.


                                                                                                                             Thanks, Mike

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Showing 1 response by phusis

[...] I'm getting the opinion that almost no one thinks going without a preamp is a good idea. I thought that would be the case.

I beg to differ. Check out Srajan Ebaen's review of the SOtM sDP-1000 DAC/preamp with volume attenuation in the analogue realm:

http://www.6moons.comreview/sotm2/1.html

For the single digital source approach I find there are (potential) advantages to be had omitting a separate hardware preamp, going instead with a dedicated DAC/preamp like the SOtM reviewed above (which I own). Could it be a lucky/stand-out combination here that isn't at all representative of what's generally the sonic outcome with DAC-direct approaches? I don't know, except that in my specific setup (and to my ears) this combo is the preferred solution. There's a school of thought indeed that holds the importance of an active preamp to be essential in acquiring the life and dynamics of live, acoustic music (or simply any kind of music in general), and while exactly the live imprinting is something I aim to achieve via my setup I don't find the integrated DAC/preamp solution (rather than "preamp-less") to be at odds with this quest. I'm saying this to make it clear that I don't pursue any particular "starved of life, meager, bleached, thinned, clinical, in-organic, dynamically robbed" sonic imprinting here  - on the contrary.