Hello, I have a 3 yr old Yamaha CD player with Burr Brown DAC chip. What are the advantages of having a separate DAC? What would you recommend to compliment and upgrade this for under $1,500? Thank you.
An upgrade is only worthwhile if it actually is an improvement. Problem is that the medium itself is intrinsically flawed. Garbage in gives garbage out as the old saying puts it.
An external DAC might be an upgrade or it might not. I'd recommend choosing an external DAC with a multibit (sometimes called R2R) chip and substantial power supplies, preferably one free of opamps in the audio chain.
What model of Burr Brown chip does it have? There are tons of really good DACs on the market in the $1000 range. But if your Yamaha's existing BB chip is good, then you may not notice too much a difference.
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