Onkyo RZ800 internal DAC vs Caiman

[Utterchaos]

Just wondering on peoples' thoughts...

I have an Onkyo TX-RZ800 which I love and is a real step up from my Onkyo TX-NR609.

I feed the AV amp HDMI from a raspberry pi running piCorePlayer and it's quire happy to play 24/192 sounding great... but with a few adjustments could it be better I ask myself (and you)!

I have a "spare" Beresford TC-7520SE Caiman. Would I get better audio by feeding the AV amp an analogue signal from the Caiman and feeding the Caiman digital from the Pi via USB or optical somehow?

and if so... how big a step up would it be?

Cheers for your thoughts

[Utterchaos]

Incidentally, the TX-RZ800 apparently "uses the AK4458 DAC in the preamp section, a DAC known to provide transparency and musicality in some high-end audio equipment from other manufacturers"

[StanleyB]

The AK4458 is quite a good DAC chip. But that doesn't mean that what is coming out of the phono connectors at the back of the amp is anywhere close to what came out of the DAC chip. It's like being offered rum & coke. It is hard to tell how good the rum is once you add the coke to it.
In this kind of situation I wouldn't expect the TC-7520SE to make any positive difference. AV amps kill the sound in most cases IMHO. I got a stack of AV amps, and have even resorted to giving them away one by one. Their reliance on a myriad of digital switches in the audio path is what makes them sound less than satisfactory compared to an amp with mechanical switches.

[Utterchaos]

Hi Stanley,

If anyone was going to answer, I'd hoped it might have been you. So, even with the AV amp in Pure mode fed an top notch analogue signal from the Caiman, it'd still be like adding coke to the single malt?

[StanleyB]

Hi Stanley,

If anyone was going to answer, I'd hoped it might have been you. So, even with the AV amp in Pure mode fed an top notch analogue signal from the Caiman, it'd still be like adding coke to the single malt?

There is nothing stopping you from giving it a try since you already have the various pieces of equipment. If you need further help, it is best to email me.

[Utterchaos]

Thanks Stanley,

Just checked the Pi>Caiman connectivity and decided it may be the weak point so I have re-integrated the Caiman back into my Office system thanks loads for the offer of help though!

Kind regards

James

[feverx4]

I also had rz800 as DAC recently, and will buy DAC in the future, but I feed pre-out to another integrated amp rogue.

James can you tell me about your experimental, how much we can notice when changing DAC.

regards

Nop