Advice sought on Dac

[NRG]

Yeah that makes sense, like you say coax has to be done properly too - cheap bell wire designed to carry audio (or something else) would have the same bandwidth limiting effect on a high frequency digital signal (even worse for multichannel Dolby encoded signals than standard S/PDIF).
Forgot to mention that in terms of coax, if you have the option of BNC, AES-EBU (i.e. the XLR type connector) or I2S (the network cable type connector) then that too is preferable to the standard RCA coax connectors.
Cheers
Tom

Don't you mean I2C? not the same as I2S that is used internally to the DAC over a few cm of wire/track. The AES3 / SPDIF data transmission rate is 64x whatever the sampling Fq is so 64x 44.1 = approx 2.8Mbs or 2.8Mhz - more or less as it dosen't quite work out like this in practice due to the biphase coding used.

As for Toslink sound quality all I can say is its not that it is optical as such but the way it's implemented with low cost tx and rx and cables with poor refractive capability.

[daveyboy]

Thanks for the replies guys, makes interesting reading

[jandl100]

Hi daveyboy

I do wonder why you think your Beresford 6/3 needs upgrading. What equipment do you use it with? My experience of Beresford DACs is that they are something of a giant killer, and I wouldn't be surprised if you can get more of an improvement by upgrading something else!

[daveyboy]

Ah what can I say, I think it sounds excellent but on whf forums and other forums I have read that there is a big difference between the 6/3 and the new Beresford. Now I might be being a wee bit naive of course and being drawn into the hype but as dac's are relatively cheap, it seems the best thing to do. I own a pair of AE Neo 3's, a NAD C352 amplifier and I play my music via my ps3 which has an external hdd attached to it. Now I am personally of the opinion that I would need to spent a lot more on either the amp or speakers to improve what I already have and therefore if I could get a substantial improvement by changing to a different dac, then I am all for it

[Gazjam]

Hi,

I've the new 7520 and it sounded significantly better than my MK6/FOUR (with latest mods), so I would think it would better the 6/3.

Thats said, you gotta ask yourself, are you unhappy with the sound you have?

The newer Dac WILL sound better, but you will probably get more change from upgrading speakers (or even moving them about the room a bit - try it!) than upgrading your Dac.

Or just buy more red wine and CDs?

[daveyboy]

Ah see another culprit! of what I was talking about . I am not unhappy with the sound at all but it comes down to if i can get a significant improvement for not much money, then I am more open to it. I am sure I can better the AE Neo 3's for instance but not for less than 400.00. It does sound superb, there is no doubt about that but then it comes to comparisons grrrr

[daveyboy]

Well I think the childish ignorance of the manufacturer has made my point up for me, I will stick with what I have. I simply asked with their being a described big difference between the opamps recommended, why he was using inferior op amps and of course I got a response which ignored the other questions and merely pointed out to me that these are the same which were used in previous dac's costing a lot more etc.

I am really not in the least bit impressed

[Marco]

Well I think the childish ignorance of the manufacturer has made my point up for me, I will stick with what I have. I simply asked with their being a described big difference between the opamps recommended, why he was using inferior op amps and of course I got a response which ignored the other questions and merely pointed out to me that these are the same which were used in previous dac's costing a lot more etc.

Davey, where did this occur? I can see no evidence of it, and Stan is also usually very helpful.

Marco.

[trailer]

And trying out a few different op-amps for yourself is hardly that much of a deal.

[Covenant]

You have to be realistic, step back and look at it from a manufacturers point of view. Yes Stan could have put more expensive op-amps in plus very high quality caps, processors and probably a dozen other bits. It would have lifted it completely out of the price bracket which he was aiming for.
In fitting sockets he has made provision for the relatively few people who can be bothered to open the lid and educated a few heathens like me a little along the way.
If you dont like his approach fair enough. Go for one of the big name brands and impress your friends, it wont impress us.