nyhifihead
Well-Known Member
schiit freya, parasound JC2/p3, used bryston/ARC all offer good value with multiple price points
I would advise getting a strictly analog preamp and having an outboard dac. But for different reasons than most. I think being able to change your digital source is vital and you should be able to see the changes downstream by keeping the pre constant.
I don't agree with with the whole "dacs constantly are changing and improving, warranting an upgrade" The "new" dac chips with the best objective stats (SNR, Dynamic Range, THD) such as the ESS 9xxx and AKM 4xxx have for the most part fallen out of favor compared to multibit implementations.
To my ears delta sigma is dead, multibit can only get better with increasing the accuracy of resistor matching & tolerances, as well as new (unorthodox) implementation of chips. Take schiit for example, who uses LITERAL MRI military grade imaging chips (Analog Devices AD5791) in a dual differential configuration in their flagship yggdrisil.
No other manufacturer including the uber expensive 10K+ DACs even bothered to explore this option.
I would advise getting a strictly analog preamp and having an outboard dac. But for different reasons than most. I think being able to change your digital source is vital and you should be able to see the changes downstream by keeping the pre constant.
I don't agree with with the whole "dacs constantly are changing and improving, warranting an upgrade" The "new" dac chips with the best objective stats (SNR, Dynamic Range, THD) such as the ESS 9xxx and AKM 4xxx have for the most part fallen out of favor compared to multibit implementations.
To my ears delta sigma is dead, multibit can only get better with increasing the accuracy of resistor matching & tolerances, as well as new (unorthodox) implementation of chips. Take schiit for example, who uses LITERAL MRI military grade imaging chips (Analog Devices AD5791) in a dual differential configuration in their flagship yggdrisil.
No other manufacturer including the uber expensive 10K+ DACs even bothered to explore this option.
