I think I'd start by looking at the cd drive/transport. I had been using a Cambridge cd4se player as a transport for an Sonic Frontiers/Assemblage 2.7 Platinum dac. When, on the advice of a dealer, I tried the new Cambridge Azur 640c as a transport, I was floored by the difference. Far more improvement than I would have expected. I tried using a glass toslink interface and found it was lacking a little musicality. Very clear and great treble extension, but not as fully fleshed out in the midrange as the Aural Symphonics cable I use. I am getting a Sterevox digital cable today to try as well.
Getting more from my DAC
I need some advice. I've put together a mid-fi office system over the last few months:
Sony XE500 CDP acting as a transport
MSB Link DAC III with 24/96 upsampling
McCormack Micro Integrated Drive amp with upgraded PS
Tannoy System 600 nearfield monitors
Toslink cable between transport and DAC. Ratshack gold series interconnect between DAC and amp. Audioquest Type 6+ wire between amp and speakers.
I was fairly happy with this system until I tried connecting the Sony CDP directly to aux posts on the amp and switching back and forth between the CDP/DAC combination and the stand-alone CDP. On a straight A/B comparison, using the selector switch on the front of the amp, I hear almost no difference, even with well recorded piano music/female vocal/jazz.
This is disappointing. The amp is low powered but pretty transparent, I believe - as are the speakers, which were designed as pro monitors and have a reputation for being revealing. So why aren't I hearing a more perceptible improvement - change, even - in the sound when the DAC is introduced into the system?
Are my crappy cables strangling the DAC? Is the transport too cheapo to let the DAC do its work? Do I need to follow the MSB/Modwright upgrade path before the DAC will really shine in my system? Or is the whole system a bit too bargain-basement to benefit from a decent DAC?
Words of wisdom gratefully received.
Sony XE500 CDP acting as a transport
MSB Link DAC III with 24/96 upsampling
McCormack Micro Integrated Drive amp with upgraded PS
Tannoy System 600 nearfield monitors
Toslink cable between transport and DAC. Ratshack gold series interconnect between DAC and amp. Audioquest Type 6+ wire between amp and speakers.
I was fairly happy with this system until I tried connecting the Sony CDP directly to aux posts on the amp and switching back and forth between the CDP/DAC combination and the stand-alone CDP. On a straight A/B comparison, using the selector switch on the front of the amp, I hear almost no difference, even with well recorded piano music/female vocal/jazz.
This is disappointing. The amp is low powered but pretty transparent, I believe - as are the speakers, which were designed as pro monitors and have a reputation for being revealing. So why aren't I hearing a more perceptible improvement - change, even - in the sound when the DAC is introduced into the system?
Are my crappy cables strangling the DAC? Is the transport too cheapo to let the DAC do its work? Do I need to follow the MSB/Modwright upgrade path before the DAC will really shine in my system? Or is the whole system a bit too bargain-basement to benefit from a decent DAC?
Words of wisdom gratefully received.