2. digital
  3. 137852-114624

DAC OR NO DAC???

I am a newbie here and just getting into hifi and I am sure this is a dumb question but if anyone can comment and help me out?

I am currently listening to a lot of youtube music videos(quality varies) and tidal from my hp laptop via hdmi connect to a marrantz 7704. the 7704 seems to be decoding the signal pretty well. I tried a audioquest dragonfly red and it gave me some interference or something. ( maybe I needed the jitterbug to go with it?) so I returned it and just using the hdmi. Happy with tidal also but really like the music videos. One question is hdmi sound quality not as good as I could get? Can a dac help from this source? a dac to try that uses an hdmi? or should I just forget hdmi? A dac to try for under 500 or should I just wait and spend more? Thanks


My startup system consists of bw 804 d3's ( I do see where people say they are a little bright but so far I am enjoying them:) Marantz 7704, McIntosh mc207, bw 805d3 and htm1d3 for movies, fathom 212 that I turn up for movies and back down for music, source as described above and audio technical at lp5 ( I know it is a cheaper one but wasn't sure how much vinyl I would listen to but I am impressed with the quality of the new vinyl and sound I am currently getting compared to digital) -room 13 x 15 no acoustic treatments yet




rwrightcpa
rwrightcpa OP
30 posts
 
I just bought the classe sigma ssp mkII last night on ebay for 3250 delivered. I figured I can't go wrong a that price. I am anxious to try out the stereo play back from my digital sources to see how it compares. I guess I will just switch back and forth the preamp connections from the 7704 until I find another amp and try the ht hookups as well just to sample:)
rwrightcpa OP
30 posts
 
caphill

If you don't mind me asking what you have in your designated listening room?

Your ht setup is to die for:)
caphill
665 posts
 
@rwrightcpa

Congrats on your purchase!
The Classe Sigma SSP is an AV preamp processor, it isn’t a dedicated stereo preamp. It takes care both your stereo and multi-channels (HT).
And you won’t need your Marantz AV7704 any longer.
For your stereo digital music file playbacks just use USB cable to connect to the Classe’s rear USB DAC input. The Sigma SSP also has stereo analog audio inputs (XLR & RCA).


caphill
665 posts
 
caphill

If you don’t mind me asking what you have in your designated listening room?

Your ht setup is to die for:)

@rwrightcpa

My main 2ch setup and system in my dedicated stereo listening room consists of the following :
* Magico M6 speakers.
* Naim Statement NAP S1 monoblock amps.
* Naim Statement NAC S1 linestage analog preamp.
* Digital front end consists of : DCS Vivaldi full four stacks (Vivaldi master clock, Vivaldi upsampler, Vivaldi DAC, Vivaldi CD/SACD transport).
My Analog front end rigs consist of the following :
* Kronos Pro turntable with dedicated Kronos stand specifically designed for the Kronis Pro.
* 12" Black Beauty tonearm.
* Air Tight PC-1 Supreme mc cartridge.
* Discrete linear class A PSU.
* Audio Research Reference 10 phonostage preamp.
* Shunyata Research Hydra Triton triple combo power products.
Speaker cables are Transparent Magnum Opus. Interconnects and power cables are Transparent Opus.

My bedroom setup consists of the following :
* Naim Uniti Nova.
* B&W 805 D3 stand-mount speakers.
* Audioquest Niagara 1000 power product.
* Shunyata Research Sigma speaker cables.
* Transparent Reference USB cable.
* Audioquest Diamond ethernet cable.
rwrightcpa OP
30 posts
 
caphill

Wow that is impressive. You must be the very small percentage of people that are on this forum to have such a system. Enjoy:)

Thanks again for all of your input and sharing.
More to discover