Hi, been looking at buying one of these to use with an arcam cd73 cd player.
Can anyone offer any advice on performance/sound quality etc and if it's likely to vastly improve my listening experience,???
Many thanks
Tom
Can anyone offer any advice on performance/sound quality etc and if it's likely to vastly improve my listening experience,???
Many thanks
Tom
The CD player would have to have a digital output to connect it to the DAC-1. Most CD players don't have that except for computer CD/DVD drives. If you player does have digital out, it would have to be coaxial SPDIF. If optical out, IIRC you would need an optical to coaxial SPDIF adapter.
Other than that, DAC-1's are no longer made, but used ones are still available. Do they sound good? They are very accurate and detailed. If the CDs you want to play sound good, the DAC will play them with quality equivalent to a recording studio or mastering facility where the CD was made. Of course, it would still depend on your amplifier and speakers to make the final sound as good as it can be.
Another thing to consider is that if you have a good DAC such as a DAC-1, your computer CD/DVD drive will sound just as good as any other CD player. Most of the action for good sound quality in modern players has much more to do with the DAC than the drive. If the drive can read the CD without errors, that's all it needs to do. The DAC should effectively remove jitter that otherwise might be audible.
Other than that, DAC-1's are no longer made, but used ones are still available. Do they sound good? They are very accurate and detailed. If the CDs you want to play sound good, the DAC will play them with quality equivalent to a recording studio or mastering facility where the CD was made. Of course, it would still depend on your amplifier and speakers to make the final sound as good as it can be.
Another thing to consider is that if you have a good DAC such as a DAC-1, your computer CD/DVD drive will sound just as good as any other CD player. Most of the action for good sound quality in modern players has much more to do with the DAC than the drive. If the drive can read the CD without errors, that's all it needs to do. The DAC should effectively remove jitter that otherwise might be audible.
Looking at the cd73 specs it has both coax and optical SPDIF outs, so that's taken care of. As far as "vastly" improve the listening experience, who knows. The cd73 is using the well regarded Wolfson DACs and I don't see a reason to not trust Arcam engineers to do a good design around them. It will likely sound different than the arcam, but whether or not you are going to like is a different story. I came across reports some considered the DAC1 to be too analytical and detailed which they didn't like.
There is a Stereophile review of DAC-1 here:
Benchmark DAC1 USB D/A processor & headphone amplifier | Stereophile.com
And, a review of a DAC-3 in which they compare it to a DAC-1 here:
Benchmark DAC3 HGC D/A preamplifier-headphone amplifier | Stereophile.com
Benchmark DAC1 USB D/A processor & headphone amplifier | Stereophile.com
And, a review of a DAC-3 in which they compare it to a DAC-1 here:
Benchmark DAC3 HGC D/A preamplifier-headphone amplifier | Stereophile.com
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