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Looking for a great DAC for my Airport Express....

Hello all,
I'm looking for a DAC around $1000 to link my Apple Airport Express to my Unison Research S2K integrated amp. Right now I'm using an Audience Conductor mini plug to rca interconnect straight from the Airport Express, but I know I can do better. The Airport Express has a Toslink, Mini headphone plug, or USB outputs.
Right now I've been thinking about a Bel Canto Dac 2 using it's Toslink input, or perhaps a PS Audio Digital Link III using it's USB input. Other's that I've thought about are the Wavelength Brick, and Musical Fidelity XDacV3.
I'd like something small and unobtrusive as I live in a NYC apartment. And I'd prefer something with multiple inputs (ruling out the Wavelength), so I can try connecting my Meridian 596 DVD and see if I can improve the sound there also.
Any ideas would be appreciated. I'd prefer not to spend over $1000, but we all know how that goes.
Thanks,
Glen.
g_goodwin
kublakhan
717 posts
 
I'm not sure what you're asking...you want to connect a dac directly to an airport express?

You could just buy an airport extreme which connects wirelessly to your computer and plug into it an external hard drive if you need one. Then the music streams wirelessly to your computer which then can have a USB dac connected to it which in turn connects to your integrated.

You can get a USB Benchmark dac-1 (small footprint and nice headphone jacks) for your price new (I think if you look around) or certainly used.
bora's avatar
bora
61 posts
 
hey glen
try either a 47 labs shigaraki or ack! 2.0 ..both are small and look and sound great, ack has more hook up options...but the shigaraki has a better edge on the sound.
my 2 cents worth
boris
sfar's avatar
sfar
1,756 posts
 
I'm using a Benchmark Media DAC-1 connected to an Airport Express with a glass Toslink cable. The Benchmark goes into a Simaudio I-5 integrated.

I also connect a Denon 2910 universal player to the Benchmark with a Stereovox digital coax cable. There's also an XLR input on the Benchmark and a front panel toggle that lets you switch among the three inputs.

I'm extremely happy with the setup and the performance of the Benchmark. It's very small, well-built and within your price range, as well.
mlsstl
1,391 posts
 
Consider the Lavry DA-10. It has multiple inputs (AES or SPDIF digital audio on XLR, RCA and optical link), volume control, front panel polarity switch and several clock modes. It has been highly praised by users and in the press, is small (half-rack size) and is under $1,000 new. I've had mine since the start of 2007 and am extremely pleased.
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