Try this...a DACMagic with the $99 Pangea P100 power supply. I've been a fan of the DACMagic for a while using the balanced outs and high quality cable all around (a key factor in my experience)...even after schlepping it to a friend's house to compare it to much pricier stuff. The P100 really kicks it up into another level (Sam Tellig raves about P100 in the new Stereophile)...in my case at total cost of around $400 for both (used DACMagics are plentiful) I'm blown away with the sound.
To DAC or not to DAC
I have somewhat of a dilemma. I got an Amazon gift card for Christmas and had forgotten about it. I just ran across it and have to spend some money. I kind of got all up into doing the digital thing, starting off with a Sonos unit, but I think that I want to run down the road of some quality CD music.
I'm currently running an XDA-1 DAC. Right or wrong, I kind of view it as being a budget solution, but it's doing fine as the converter for my Sonos and Apple TV. My dilemma is whether I should get something along the lines of a decent CD player in the form of a Cambridge Audio 550C and either run that through my XDA-1 or get a better DAC. The second choice would be to get something like the 650C which has dual DACs and just run that straight through the analog outs.
I guess what I'm asking is, will I get better results with the 550C and an external dac or with getting the 650C using its internal DACs.
My next question is whether something like a DacMagic would be an upgrade from the XDA-1, if I go the route of the 550C and external dac. For that matter, would the internal dac of the 550C be better than either the XDA-1 or the DacMagic?
I'm just lost.
Thanks.
I'm currently running an XDA-1 DAC. Right or wrong, I kind of view it as being a budget solution, but it's doing fine as the converter for my Sonos and Apple TV. My dilemma is whether I should get something along the lines of a decent CD player in the form of a Cambridge Audio 550C and either run that through my XDA-1 or get a better DAC. The second choice would be to get something like the 650C which has dual DACs and just run that straight through the analog outs.
I guess what I'm asking is, will I get better results with the 550C and an external dac or with getting the 650C using its internal DACs.
My next question is whether something like a DacMagic would be an upgrade from the XDA-1, if I go the route of the 550C and external dac. For that matter, would the internal dac of the 550C be better than either the XDA-1 or the DacMagic?
I'm just lost.
Thanks.