New to thinking about DAC's: my Denon CDP & Fostex

[davstev]

Hi all,

Like my post title suggests, newbie to thinking about DAC's, but pretty experienced in analog audio.

Here's the deal: I have a Denon DCD-1520 CD player, circa 1988. Love it and use it frequently.

But I've been wondering if the DAC portion could be improved.

I have my eye on a Fostex HP-A8C Headphone Amp/DAC, which the internet tells me has the AKM 4399 DAC. (I'm particularly interested in this Fostex vs. other DAC's because it will provide me with a good headphone amp at the same time.)

If not mistaken, I can output optical cable from the CD player into the Fostex, thereby making the Denon a transport, and the Fostex the DAC.

My question to the forum is: would the DAC on the fostex provide noticeable improvement on the native DAC in the Denon CD player? Apparently the Denon uses NE5532 OP-AMP on the outputs, and PCM64P (two of them) for the DAC.

Informed opinions are appreciated!

 

[JoeESP9]

You have the gear. Give things a listen and tell us what you think.

 

[E-Stat]

Seems to be a lateral comparison. Optical Toslink connections involve high (4000 pS) levels of jitter.

 

[davstev]

Since both COAX and OPTICAL are SYNCRONOUS, meaning large mounts of information have to be streamed properly and there is no reclock involved, that is what E-Stat is pointing out.

So, in non-technical terms, the inherent flaws of optical transmission (via toslink) may outweigh the benefits provided by a 'better' DAC, resulting in little or no audible gains?

 

[gvl]

The higher jitter over optical is less of an issue these days due to modern SPDIF receivers that are able to recover the clock while rejecting at least some jitter and many DACs doing additional reclocking of the data (seems the Fostex does it, optionally) before passing it onto the actual D/A state.

Edit: and the DCD-1520 has a coax digital output too.

 

[gvl]

Another note, I have the DCD-1520 as well, I much prefer its built-in DAC over the sub 1k delta-sigma DACs I tried. Unless you have a need to play/stream hi-res material, or play from a computer, I'd say just invest in a decent headphone amp w/no DAC section and maybe save some money in the process.

 

[davstev]

Another note, I have the DCD-1520 as well, I much prefer its built-in DAC over the sub 1k delta-sigma DACs I tried. Unless you have a need to play/stream hi-res material, or play from a computer, I'd say just invest in a decent headphone amp w/no DAC section and maybe save some money in the process.

That is some sweet advice, thanks! I am actually now considering a few basic mods to the 1520, thinking that for little money and a bit of effort, an improvement in sound can come from this. It's already a very good sounding player. Cheers-