for home system to be used with dvd player and or Iphone pandora. no computer setup. I dont want a tiny box. it can be as big as needed. $200 or less.
So you want the tiny DAC chip in a large box???
Buy a Network Receiver. They can be very large and still have a small DAC inside.
Edit:
Are you planning on streaming pandora from the phone by WiFi?
If you do you need a WiFi or Airplay receiver as well.
Eric
Cant the DAC be after the preamp and before the main amp? if so then why do I need a airplay receiver ?
The purpose of the DAC is a Digital to Analog Converter. It takes the 1's and 0's that make up digital music and turns them into an analog signal that can be amplified.
Your preamp would already be putting out an analog signal. So there would be nothing for the DAC to do at that point.
DAC's use a single digital RCA style (SPDIF) connection, and/or optical connection (Toslink) and/or USB input to get the digital (1's and 0's) signal into them.
The output on the DAC will be dual RCA connectors that output a low power analog audio signal.
To confuse things some DAC's have preamps built in and some preamps have DACs built in. The same way your DVD player likely has a DAC built in to allow it to output an analog signal as well as digital.
A DAC can't do anything to change the sound once it is analog. The only thing adding a DAC to a system can do is bypass a built in DAC and possibly do a better job of changing the 1's and 0's to an analog audio signal.
Oh boy, I wish I understood that before I started spending money on a DAC, I bought a Kenwood Basic C1 preamp and a DACmagic 100 and was going to use them with my Nikko Alpha II or new Yamaha MX600U that I bought used!The purpose of the DAC is a Digital to Analog Converter. It takes the 1's and 0's that make up digital music and turns them into an analog signal that can be amplified.
Your preamp would already be putting out an analog signal. So there would be nothing for the DAC to do at that point.
DAC's use a single digital RCA style (SPDIF) connection, and/or optical connection (Toslink) and/or USB input to get the digital (1's and 0's) signal into them.
The output on the DAC will be dual RCA connectors that output a low power analog audio signal.
To confuse things some DAC's have preamps built in and some preamps have DACs built in. The same way your DVD player likely has a DAC built in to allow it to output an analog signal as well as digital.
A DAC can't do anything to change the sound once it is analog. The only thing adding a DAC to a system can do is bypass a built in DAC and possibly do a better job of changing the 1's and 0's to an analog audio signal.
Sorry wrong, McIntosh has built in DACs in their latest tube and solid state preamps.DACs are in cd players not preamps
Sorry wrong, McIntosh has built in DACs in their latest tube and solid state preamps.