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HELP: is Monarchy Audio DAC a good idea?

Hi all,

I am a newbie to this WONDERFUL hifi world and am setting up my first/humble HiFi (if I may say so) system right now. I bought a Bryston 3B and PSB Stratus Mini (both used). I do NOT have any PreAmp. I am thinking of using a Monarchy Audio 18B DAC which has volumne control capability so I can completely bypass the idea of preamp. My questions are:

(1) is this 'no preamp' a good idea? (according to Monarchy it is !)
(2) is Monarchy DAC, particularly 18B, good for my system? (I noticed it does NOT user any Burr Brown chips)

Since I only have a SONY DVD player as source, no phono/FM/tape/..., Monarchy sounds to me a very reasonable/economical solution. My intention:

SONY DVD optical output --> Monarchy --> Bryston 3B --> PSB

any input is welcome.

Abe
abetongd719
abe_av
78 posts
 
Seandtaylor99:

Thanks for the tip. I am still skeptical about this jitter and DIP thing. I am an electrical/computer engineer and haven't been 100% convinced technically yet. Still searching for 'truth' and probable will convert soon :-)

Abe
seandtaylor99
1,262 posts
 
Think about how the waveform output of an D/A convertor will be distorted if the sampling rate is not consistent. Amplitude distortion, phase distortion. I too was skeptical, but after I heard the difference I thought about it a little more and it does make sense.
Also check out
http://www.dcsltd.co.uk/papers/jitter.pdf
which explains it better than I ever could.
tubemiser's avatar
tubemiser
98 posts
 
You can not go wrong with CC Poon's products, "high end,low cost". Just audition his 22C DAC with line stage, and order one.
abe_av
78 posts
 
--

Do you think a DIP will be an over kill for my extremely
humble system:

SONY DVD 5-disc ($180 new from CircuitCity!)
Monarchy Audio 18B (will buy soon)
Bryston 3b Pro ($400 used)
PSB Stratus Mini ($320 used)

I listen to all kinds of music 20%instrumental, 20%rock,
20%classic (if you count Charlotte Church), 30%jazz and
10%rest.

--
seandtaylor99
1,262 posts
 
It's hard to say ... your system is good, especially at the price, but not overly resolving (no offense .. you probably realise this). I'd say that you should either demo a DIP before buying, or just buy one here on Agon and worst case resell it and lose the shipping (probably no more than $20 on a small item like this). You'll have little problem reselling if you buy a DIP 24/96, and older DIPs can be found for <$100.
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