Help with source

[oceanobsession]

Some advice needed, ive only one sorce at the moment which is a sb classic
put into a mf x dac v3, im not happy with the sound its not as digital as the
squeezeboxes dac but its lost detail like the dolby button was switched on,
this is what seems to happen they try to filter out the digital sound loosing
detail in the process, anyway today ive had a listen to some vinyl which i
havent heard for twenty years on a old linn lp 12 sounded a bit dull lacking
top end, then we switched to another turntable which cost £2500 with
cart this improved things a lot gaucho steely dan was the lp, then we had a
listen to the blue nile a walk across the roof tops,he said this was a good recording and it was it sounded great just the sound im after, but how much
do you have to spend on a dac to get this level of sound, this is my dilemma,
what do i buy
1. turntable
2. dac
3.dacpre
4.cdp with dig out
My system is avi s2000 pre and monos with phono stage in pre amp into
shahinian arcs, im happy with the sound from the speakers and i think the amps
do a good job in driving the speakers,£2500 would be my limit and it would
have to be on interest free but theres loads offering this, if i could get the
right sound from the pc that would be the way to go but how many can claim
this, any help or ideas please cheers ocean.

[The Grand Wazoo]

Hi,
Sorry, I don't know your name.
I find it very hard to read your posts because of the way that they're pushed over to the left of the page and without any spaces and little punctuation. I don't know if the justification is a software anomoly or something. I don't mean to criticise your grammar at all but it would be great if you could get some air in between some of your words, if you know what I mean?

[DSJR]

I own the same preamp as you (and used the S2000M's into ATC 20 passives for a good while before the active 100's came along) and can assure you that the phono input is anything but "bright" in balance.

It strikes me that the MF DAC may need looking at. Can you try it into someone elses system?

Rock-Grotto aren't that cheap with their upgrades, but my X10-D was transformed very much for the better with one of their kits (£42 I think it was, plus £26 for valves). They do one for your DAC as well, including designs for an uprated power supply.

CD CAN sound decent and involve you like a good record player can, but you have to be very careful with your money I think. Modern players and DAC's should be light years better sounding than a lot of what went on twenty years ago, but I'm out of the loop now and can't do loads of comparisons.


As long as you keep interconnects short and very low capacitance, you could try a Beresford Caiman straight into the AVI mono's, although it must be said that retaining the very transparent AVI MP+P pre will enable you to put the amps directly close to the speakers with long interconnects (as recommended by AVI at the time) if you're not doing this already.

Sorry to ramble, but I still think it's the DAC that needs looking at...

[Alex_UK]

I must be learning something because DAC problem was my first thought... :)

How many records do you have? Would you intend buying releases on vinyl in the future? (Note they are usually a fair bit dearer.) These would be fundamental questions to ask before hocking yourself for a 2.5 grand turntable! ;) If you want to get back into records then by all means, but I'd fix your digital issues in any case.

I guess I won't be the last to suggest giving a Caiman a listen (whereabouts are you - there may be a friendly owner nearby) or maybe the new MF M1 (http://www.musicalfidelity.com/products/M1-Series/M1DAC/M1DAC.asp) (£400) at a local dealer? (There are of course others.) At least this will confirm or not that you can get the sound you are after from digital which IMHO you should be able to as vinyl and CD are not light-years apart in my system in overall sound.

[oceanobsession]

Hi,
Sorry, I don't know your name.
I find it very hard to read your posts because of the way that they're pushed over to the left of the page and without any spaces and little punctuation. I don't know if the justification is a software anomoly or something. I don't mean to criticise your grammar at all but it would be great if you could get some air in between some of your words, if you know what I mean?

Sorry for the lack of english but i struggle to put things in the proper manner
due to not taking notice at school the name is phil (oceanobsession) also into
diving cheersl

[goraman]

Phil,
where are you from?
Throw up some personal info man...
I could recomend the Music Hall 25.2 DAC not horrable expencive but sounds great.

[oceanobsession]

Phil,
where are you from?
Throw up some personal info man...
I could recomend the Music Hall 25.2 DAC not horrable expencive but sounds great.

birmingham england

[Stratmangler]

Hi Phil

I'm surprised the first "post police" haven't caught up with you yet.
Pop into the welcome section and say hello.
Thanks in advance.

With regard to your source issue, I use a Beresford Caiman DAC on a daily basis, and it does the business for me.
My main source is a Squeezebox Classic with digital (coax) out into the Caiman.

[John]

Lol Chris has now joined the dark side and become part of the first patrol police;)
Welcome

[DSJR]

MF DAC's aren't bad at all as I remember, although I obviously haven't listened to a Caiman, let alone a later X-DAC or Dacmagic. A trip to the local Sevenoaks is probably called for, X-DAC in hand to check it out...

[Stratmangler]

Lol Chris has now joined the dark side and become part of the first patrol police;)
Welcome

I know - the irony of it all:lolsign:

[Alex_UK]

A trip to the local Sevenoaks is probably called for, X-DAC in hand to check it out...

Toss up between trudging to Cambridge or Norwich, then... Hi-Fi World reviewed the new M1 in the August issue and gave it 5 Globes, DP summarising "a brilliant value budget audiophile digital convertor, but must be matched to superior quality, smooth sounding systems" - I'd certainly be interested how close it is compared to a Caiman - given the savings in going direct with the Beresford, they probably started out as the same sum of parts, though retail for the MF is nearly double...