NAD 546 CD Player/Wolfson Internal DAC?

[wldrns1]

This is a recent purchase. May return based on replies here. Equipment is Heresy HSM's, Scott 299. Working on TT-yet to use. Don't know a lot about DAC's xcept for what they are. Would members suggest an external over the 546's Wolfson 24/192 internal? No need for the USB on the 546. Satisfied with IHeart and TuneIn via tablet headphone jack....just soft background. I DO need a CD player. Trying to get a handle on this to comply with return policy. Thanks.

Edited October 31, 2014 by wldrns1

[beeker]

If it has a 24/192 converter give it a shot. Will likely be good to go

[Budman]

whats your HSM's look like. he's a shot of mine

Edited October 31, 2014 by Budman

[willland]

If your C546BEE is anywhere near as good a player as my C542, then you have a fine sounding CD player.

 

If you want both a CD player and an external DAC, you may consider the C565BEE instead.

 

Bill

Edited November 14, 2015 by willland

[willland]

If I am not mistaken, the C546BEE uses the Wolfson WM8740 DAC chip which is considered one of the better chips available.

 

My Cambridge Audio 751BD uses the WM8740 and it sounds pretty darn good to me.

 

Bill

Edited October 31, 2014 by willland

[wldrns1]

whats your HSM's look like. he's a shot of mine

 

Budman you might be interested in this post. I'll post a pic of mine.

 

 

 

https://community.klipsch.com/index.php?/topic/102568-heresy-slant-monitors/

[Schu]

This is a recent purchase. May return based on replies here. Equipment is Heresy HSM's, Scott 299. Working on TT-yet to use. Don't know a lot about DAC's xcept for what they are. Would members suggest an external over the 546's Wolfson 24/192 internal? No need for the USB on the 546. Satisfied with IHeart and TuneIn via tablet headphone jack....just soft background. I DO need a CD player. Trying to get a handle on this to comply with return policy. Thanks.

 

 

I think the Sabre ESS 9018 32 bit has the legs on most anything that Wolfson has put out and is considered pretty much state of the art. that being said most 24/192's are fairly good and have differences in texture that are fairly small. what is also important is the phase jitter reduction based on clock timing. most companies don't publish that figure but give you a range... Pico timing was standard just a year ago... now Femto timing is standard for medium to better end goods. if your company isn't stating a measurement, it probably isn't that great.

 

of course you never know how good something sounds even though specs look great on paper, but on paper is the good place to start.

 

did you want to add DSD functionality?

 

my personal preference is to separate the mechanism from the DAC, external, but that does require a monetary investment to achieve.

Edited October 31, 2014 by Schu

[wldrns1]

 

This is a recent purchase. May return based on replies here. Equipment is Heresy HSM's, Scott 299. Working on TT-yet to use. Don't know a lot about DAC's xcept for what they are. Would members suggest an external over the 546's Wolfson 24/192 internal? No need for the USB on the 546. Satisfied with IHeart and TuneIn via tablet headphone jack....just soft background. I DO need a CD player. Trying to get a handle on this to comply with return policy. Thanks.

 

 

I think the Sabre ESS 9018 32 bit has the legs on most anything that Wolfson has put out and is considered pretty much state of the art. that being said most 24/192's are fairly good and have differences in texture that are fairly small. what is also important is the phase jitter reduction based on clock timing. most companies don't publish that figure but give you a range... Pico timing was standard just a year ago... now Femto timing is standard for medium to better end goods. if your company isn't stating a measurement, it probably isn't that great.

 

of course you never know how good something sounds even though specs look great on paper, but on paper is the good place to start.

 

did you want to add DSD functionality?

 

my personal preference is to separate the mechanism from the DAC, external, but that does require a monetary investment to achieve.

 

Schu. What's DSD functionality?

[willland]

The ESS 9018 is definitely one of the top(if not the top) DAC chips available.  It is featured in players like the Oppo BDP-95 and 105, Audioquest Dragonfly, and many other mid level to high end DACs.

 

My Cambridge Audio 840C CD player/DAC uses the Analog Devices AD1955 chip which is also used on many mid level and upper mid level players and DACs.  

 

Many choices out there and to tell you the truth "most" ears will not hear a discernible difference in the major DAC chip mfr's flagship chip.  Though the ESS 9018 is the "flavor of the month" right now and the last couple of years.

 

Great chips from Texas Intruments(Burr-Brown), Analog Devices, ESS Sabre, Wolfson, Cirrus Logic, are used by many different electronics makers.

 

Bill

[wldrns1]

whats your HSM's look like. he's a shot of mine

One of them. Other is identical in and out Serial 1501. Both new Crites caps. Inverted up in corners of 18 x 12 family room on long wall. DeanG says should be angled down a bit. I can hear the difference standing vs sitting but for now, not a concern. This one is serial 1344.