Is my DAC up to the task?


First, thank you for vewing and sharing your thoughts on this post with me.
After several months of research and thought, I decided my next upgrade would be a music-streaming device. I looked at the Sonas, Transporter, Squeeze Box, ( single room application) and am looking forward to checking out the Logitech Touch that just came out. Several have told me that it would offer me a wider range of flexibility if I just got the transport without the built in DAC’s, like the Sexy Transporter, and added a separate DAC of my choice, after thought I can see where they have an excellent point.
So Question? How about if I just let the Burr Browns (24-bit/192-KHz PCM-1791) that are included in my Denon 988 do the job and save money to boot. What kind of quality of sound can I expect? CD quality?
Thanks again
Ag insider logo xs@2xoldtexasdog
i think you won't really know till you give it a try, which i highly recommend. i have been listening to the dac in my older theta casanova from a transporter digital out, while i am waiting for delivery of my new dac, and it sounds surprisingly good. i certainly did not expect it to be this good and do not miss my cd player in the least bit. it may be quite satisfying and certainly worth experimenting with.
I also have the 988 and have tried both the MHDT Paradisea and the Musical Fidelity V-DAC. For me, in my room and my setup, could not tell a difference with and without the Paradisea. The V-DAC simply did not sound as good to me as the 988 by itself, especially bass. Used optical toslink from both a cd player and an AppleTV. Still interested in trying other DACs, but would concentrate first on speakers and room treatments (which I have).
Did you use the 988 with analog connections to the DAC? If not then the on-board Denon DAC still does the job.
Analog connections -from- DAC -to- Denon 988: source (cd player or appletv) --> optical toslink interconnect --> DAC --> analog interconnects --> Denon 988.