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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
caphill
665 posts
 
@rwrightcpa 

what were the issues with the Sigma SSP? 

The McIntosh MC 2600 seems to be a fine choice and will probably mate well with your McIntosh MC207 power amp. 

rwrightcpa OP
30 posts
 
I could not get any sound out of it. Tried alot of different Video fine, but no sound at all. Talked to support and did a factory reset and still nothing:(
caphill
665 posts
 
@rwrightcpa

Sorry to hear about your recent Classe Sigma SSP Mk2 purchase which was a defect unit. 

All Classe AV preamp processors (Sigma SSP & SSP 800) require each speaker configuratio, inputs, etc to be assigned to each individual profiles and input names. Setting up Classe processors are very different from say your Marantz AV7704 processor. If you never had any previous experiences setting up Classe processors you might find it a bit confusing the first time, but once you know how imo it would be easier than most Japanese AV processors or receivers.

But it seems like you got it set up correctly and done your part cause you said you got the video to work but not the audio. And you tried factory reset and everything and still no audio. Obviously it’s a defect unit. Could have been HDMI switching or board failure, dunno.

No wonder you got it real cheap and you said it was the Sigma SSP Mk2 (the latest version) which supports the latest formats and codecs eg Dolby Atmos, DTS-X, 4k video pass through, etc.

It was suspicious in the beginning why an AV processor that supports the latest AV formats was being sold for less than half of its MSRP or retail price and obviously this is still a current model (Mk2 version).
audioengr
3,282 posts
 

@caphill  - I highly recommend using the iFi SPDIF iPurifier between your cable box or blu-ray player and your SS processor.  Lowering this jitter for $150 is a no-brainer.  Elevated my movie experience significantly.  It's the only reclocker that does Dolby Digital.  I do not sell it BTW.  Get it on Amazon.

For 2-channel, I recommend the Synchro-Mesh, which delivers 7psec of jitter.

Steve N.

Empirical Audio

caphill
665 posts
 
@audioengr

This is not for me. It is for the OP.
The OP just recently purchased a used defective unit of the Classe Sigma SSP Mk2 AV processor on eBay. I do not own the Classe Sigma SSP.
I think you got it all mixed up.
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