@Handymann,
My experience and opinions just represent one data point, of course, and certainly there are those who would prefer to use a DEQX in conjunction with a traditional line stage.
But FWIW my bias, generally speaking, is to place the burden of proof on adding anything to the signal path that isn’t necessary in terms of functionality. And I’ve been sufficiently happy with the sound of my system that I don’t have any desire to consider adding a separate line stage. Also, finding a place to physically put one in my system, which is in my living room, would be problematical from a practical and aesthetic standpoint.
In addition to numerous other system and listener dependencies that would enter into a preamp/no preamp decision it wouldn’t surprise me if in some cases the tradeoff would hinge on whether the DEQX’s balanced or unbalanced analog inputs and outputs are used. I’ve never tried the balanced analog i/o’s in conjunction with critical sources, as my power amp, headphone amp, and my one critical analog source (a Herron phono stage) have only unbalanced interfaces.
Another thing that may be relevant to that decision, depending on the particular system, is that a DEQX doesn’t provide much in the way of gain. See pages 165 and 166 of the manual. And in fact the default/as delivered positions of the internal jumpers which affect that produce a **negative** gain (-6 db) from the unbalanced inputs to the unbalanced outputs. As you’ll see at the bottom of page 165 of the manual that is done to provide headroom for equalization (and for speaker and room corrections, although that isn’t explicitly stated). Although changing the position of an internal jumper can raise the -6 db to approximately 0 db, while retaining the same amount of headroom (which I’ve done, btw).
Finally, regarding the possible use of your DAC in conjunction with a DEQX and/or your Calypso preamp for listening to CDs: I’ll mention FWIW that while I found connecting the AES/EBU output of my Bryston BCD-1 CD player to the AES/EBU input of the DEQX to be preferable to using the BCD-1’s internal DAC in conjunction with the DEQX’s A/D converter stage, the difference wasn’t huge, and in fact was smaller than I was expecting.
Best regards,
-- Al
My experience and opinions just represent one data point, of course, and certainly there are those who would prefer to use a DEQX in conjunction with a traditional line stage.
But FWIW my bias, generally speaking, is to place the burden of proof on adding anything to the signal path that isn’t necessary in terms of functionality. And I’ve been sufficiently happy with the sound of my system that I don’t have any desire to consider adding a separate line stage. Also, finding a place to physically put one in my system, which is in my living room, would be problematical from a practical and aesthetic standpoint.
In addition to numerous other system and listener dependencies that would enter into a preamp/no preamp decision it wouldn’t surprise me if in some cases the tradeoff would hinge on whether the DEQX’s balanced or unbalanced analog inputs and outputs are used. I’ve never tried the balanced analog i/o’s in conjunction with critical sources, as my power amp, headphone amp, and my one critical analog source (a Herron phono stage) have only unbalanced interfaces.
Another thing that may be relevant to that decision, depending on the particular system, is that a DEQX doesn’t provide much in the way of gain. See pages 165 and 166 of the manual. And in fact the default/as delivered positions of the internal jumpers which affect that produce a **negative** gain (-6 db) from the unbalanced inputs to the unbalanced outputs. As you’ll see at the bottom of page 165 of the manual that is done to provide headroom for equalization (and for speaker and room corrections, although that isn’t explicitly stated). Although changing the position of an internal jumper can raise the -6 db to approximately 0 db, while retaining the same amount of headroom (which I’ve done, btw).
Finally, regarding the possible use of your DAC in conjunction with a DEQX and/or your Calypso preamp for listening to CDs: I’ll mention FWIW that while I found connecting the AES/EBU output of my Bryston BCD-1 CD player to the AES/EBU input of the DEQX to be preferable to using the BCD-1’s internal DAC in conjunction with the DEQX’s A/D converter stage, the difference wasn’t huge, and in fact was smaller than I was expecting.
Best regards,
-- Al