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A DAC to beat NAD C541i?

I've had NAD for about 6 years. It used to be a good one 6 years ago in my system, but now I think it is a bottle neck in my current system -- Tyler Taylo 7U, Linn AV5105 amp, Rogue Magnum 99 preamp.
My friend brought his Rega Apollo CD player and compared it with my NAD on my system, but I did not hear much difference, except Apollo sound a little bit more warm. But I liked NAD's more bright sound.
If Apollo is a real good one at $1000, I guess I need to spend over $2000 for a new CDP to for better sound.
Instead, if I want to go for DAC with NAD, which DAC (at $500~1000) would be best to beat both Apollo and NAD?
Which CD player (used at $500~1000) would be far better than Apollo or NAD?
Thx
128x128ihcho
tobias
1,534 posts
 
Apogee Mini-DAC in all probability far superior to GDA-700 but no HDCD.
mmarvin19
157 posts
 
You might consider the Benchmark DACs. They are selling for under $800 used here on AGon.
ihcho's avatar
ihcho OP
609 posts
 
Thanks again.
I am leaning to Mhdt paradisio 3 (or used paradisio +) for budget wise and its USB support. Whatever I end up, I will get back and report how I feel. It will be compared with Marantz DR700 and NAD C541i.
ihcho's avatar
ihcho OP
609 posts
 
I got mhdt Paradisea+.
After 3 days of continuous play (the seller said that he had used it for about 30 hours), it still sounds pretty much similar to C541i and DR700. Most jazz albums I tried, there is hardly any difference. Some orchestral music revealed tiny noticeable difference on C541i.
Using C541i as transport produces a little bit warmer sound with a bit less muddy in full orchestration. But the difference is still very subtle.
Using DR700 as transport reveals no audible difference at all. Maybe changing the digital cable (currently $40 IXOS cable) and upgrading the tube may help a little bit, but I am not quite sure. I'll wait a week and see if it would improve any bit.

Would TosLink cable be better than digital RCA cable if the price is the same?
tobias
1,534 posts
 
Toslink won't be better except perhaps if you use a glass (not plastic) one.

How long is your IXOS? If your digital cable is not 1.5m long you are not hearing all the DAC can do. Try again if you have not been using a 1.5m length.

If cable length is not a factor, your Paradisea may simply not be a big enough upgrade from the 541i's internal DAC. The 541i is a pretty good player. You may need to look for a DAC that is better yet.
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