DAC Suggestions

[veloceleste]

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[Thaddeus Smith]

4 hours ago, rplace said:

 

Nowhere....yet....I downloaded, installed, configured on my work laptop (very powerful) and got it working with SmartTV's built in version of PLEX client (the one with audio content problems we discussed with my .MKV files) and it seemed to work just fine. I was going to buy a Shield but never did. Had some "issues" with laptop that may or may not have been PLEX related so I uninstalled and forgot about it till now.

 

My particular QNAP NAS is not powerful enough to run PLEX

 

Nice read on your Yahama set up on Tech forum. I too need foolproof simple for my wife music and TV; in addition to nobody else cares about ultimate audio for me. However, my Xilica does not do digital inputs as far as I know. Right now I can keep it all analog:

TT>>Phono step up for MC cart>>Preamp>>Xilica (DSP to Analog)>>Amps.

 

If I go DAC I don't see how to keep it all digital because I have to go:

DAC (digital to analog)>>Preamp (analog)>>Xilica(DSP to Analog)>>Amps

 

Movies would be:

Digital from network>>OPPO (D2A 8.1 out analog out)>>Sunfire Pre/Pro>>L/C/R direct to Xilica then to amps, but surrounds analog to amps to passive networks/speakers

 

Hmm.. gotcha. I don't really have a solution for you that doesn't involve running PMS directly on a NAS (unRAID in my situation) or some sort of dedicated computer. Being in IT and always having some idle gear in my homelab means it's never much effort to just spin up something like this and tinker.

[rplace]

2 minutes ago, Thaddeus Smith said:

 I don't really have a solution for you that doesn't involve running PMS directly on a NAS (unRAID in my situation) or some sort of dedicated computer

 

I must have not been clear. I not against it. I just started (local machine) with what I thought was the easy route and got distracted. I've got an older i7 64bit laptop with SSD. All I'm using it for is measurements for REW. I was just asking if I went the NUC route or dedicated box can Plex and Roon live on that same box. My work laptop was just to get a Plex account and see how things worked out. They seem to have worked.

[Thaddeus Smith]

3 minutes ago, rplace said:

 

I must have not been clear. I not against it. I just started (local machine) with what I thought was the easy route and got distracted. I've got an older i7 64bit laptop with SSD. All I'm using it for is measurements for REW. I was just asking if I went the NUC route or dedicated box can Plex and Roon live on that same box. My work laptop was just to get a Plex account and see how things worked out. They seem to have worked.

 

ohhhhhh, now I'm tracking. They should absolutely be able to coexist on a single box, though it'll be interesting to see if you run into resource constraints if you try to access media which requires both pieces of software to serve up media at the same time. That's an easy "try it and see" situation though. If performance is poor, a NUC is an easy next step to seek out for something in the ~$500 or less range.

[rplace]

21 minutes ago, Thaddeus Smith said:

That's an easy "try it and see" situation though. If performance is poor, a NUC is an easy next step to seek out for something in the ~$500 or less range.

 

That is what I was thinking. Should work can't see why not. If problems then buy hardware. Having problems now Roon tells me I don't have Open 3gl on said laptop which was pretty beefy in its day. It is not connected to Internet so trying to get proper intel driver for win 7 pro is proving to be a chore. <sigh>

[rockhound]

1 hour ago, rplace said:

 

I must have not been clear. I not against it. I just started (local machine) with what I thought was the easy route and got distracted. I've got an older i7 64bit laptop with SSD. All I'm using it for is measurements for REW. I was just asking if I went the NUC route or dedicated box can Plex and Roon live on that same box. My work laptop was just to get a Plex account and see how things worked out. They seem to have worked.

That i7 has the horsepower I would think just make sure ya got plenty of RAM.

[rplace]

Hijacking my own thread, forget a new DAC, I've been playing with Roon for 30 minutes and love it.

 

I installed just Core on the i7 then connected to it with my other computer. Configured my NAS share and it found all my Sonos/Oppo devices. So cool! I'm afraid it will be a huge time suck.

[pbphoto]

1 hour ago, rplace said:

Hijacking my own thread, forget a new DAC, I've been playing with Roon for 30 minutes and love it.

 

I installed just Core on the i7 then connected to it with my other computer. Configured my NAS share and it found all my Sonos/Oppo devices. So cool! I'm afraid it will be a huge time suck.

have fun!

[OO1]

-

[Thaddeus Smith]

2 hours ago, rplace said:

Hijacking my own thread, forget a new DAC, I've been playing with Roon for 30 minutes and love it.

 

I installed just Core on the i7 then connected to it with my other computer. Configured my NAS share and it found all my Sonos/Oppo devices. So cool! I'm afraid it will be a huge time suck.

 

Excellent!

[Thaddeus Smith]

Does anyone have a good "getting started with FLAC playback" guide? I've grown up in parallel with this format and take a lot for granted - I just helped @babadono get access to some FLAC files on an external USB drive and find myself at a loss with where to point him for next steps. Foobar is an obvious free player, but that bit of software can be absolutely daunting to the uninitiated.

[glens]

Anything current ought to be able to digest FLAC.  Outside of Apple's exclusive sphere it's the gold standard.

[rplace]

Agree that just about anything will play flac. It is the UI/UX that it typically the road block. I had decent luck with Hi-Fi Cast prior to going all Sonos away from my turntable.

 

Is he using a computer for playback? I'm not a user but people seem to like JRiver

[glens]

I paid my 99 cents for Hi-Fi Cast and don't regret it in the least.  Fantastic app!  I'm able to feed my NAD C338 via its Chromecast with gap-less, replay-gained music with it through either phone.  Highly recommended.

[babadono]

13 hours ago, Thaddeus Smith said:

Does anyone have a good "getting started with FLAC playback" guide? I've grown up in parallel with this format and take a lot for granted - I just helped @babadono get access to some FLAC files on an external USB drive and find myself at a loss with where to point him for next steps. Foobar is an obvious free player, but that bit of software can be absolutely daunting to the uninitiated.

No worries Mate. I WILL figure this out. Just cuz I've been in a cave for the last 25 years don't mean I'm a neanderthal. I have a win10 laptop, this USB drive(now) and an Oppo BDP95. I'm not against purchasing additional hardware resources if they are absolutely necessary.

.

[Thaddeus Smith]

Oh excellent! The bdp95 has usb ports so you can connect the driver directly to it. The built in file browser is a bit clunky, but it'll enable you to browse and play the files directly for starters and then branch out to using a pc later if you wish.

[babadono]

The oppo feeds a Marantz 7007AVR. Perhaps it has some connectivity also.?? This is all in the family room HT. Eventually I want capability on the 2 channel sys. downstairs also with the Jubes.

[rplace]

3 hours ago, babadono said:

and an Oppo BDP95

 

I assume you Oppo works like my 203, perhaps a bad assumption. But as TSmith says you can simply use the Opps interface. Start at the main menu and click your way onto the Folder/sub-Folders to find the artist/album you want and let them play. There is typical previous/next/paus/play buttons. Should be fairly obvious.

[babadono]

  @Thaddeus Smith @rplace @DrumNBassNThePlace

Did the easiest last night and succeded!  Baby steps man...baby steps. USB drive directly into Oppo, listening to tunes in about 30 seconds. S-W-E-E-T.

USB Drive -> Oppo BDP95 HDMI -> Marantz 7007AVR Preouts->Emotiva XPA3 Gen3 ->RF7 IIs

                                                                                             |-> Sub outs -> RSW-15s (x2)

This is in the family room HT.

If this place is rockin' don't bother knockin' just come on in

[ClaudeJ1]

On 3/31/2020 at 10:36 AM, Thaddeus Smith said:

Interestingly also.. the concept of DAC shopping has completely gone out the window with my current active setup, since everything will ultimately have to go through the 24/96 DAC in my Yamaha SP2060 XO. So the latest pursuit has shifted towards keeping things in the digital domain as long as possible, with sonic "improvements" now happening in software. Head over to my build thread in the Technical section for last night's latest efforts on this.

Except for my now "ancient" Emotiva XDA-2 running as a DAC with headphone amp, I would look for any DAC that uses the ESS Sabre Chips as it's core. I just got a tiny little "road unit" from Monoprice on sale for $61 using Sabre DAC chip with IC amplifier running that sounds absolutely marvelous with my new Heil Headphones (using the AMT tweeter inside those nice wooden earmuffs!). It has enough "juice" to power the amazing  Monoprice M1060 Planar open back cans, which at $260, give $1,200 headphones a run for their money. Not tried Klipsch offerings yet.

 

I know this isn't what you are looking for, but I'm a huge fan of the Sabre Chips, which is what I had in my Oppo SE, and now in my Yamaha Pre Pro for stereo and Atmos listening on my main system.

 

I'm pretty sure you will find a solution for just over 1 Kilobuck with the advice from others here since your aim is only 2 copper wires per channel, and not a Digital Xover with PEQ's and time delays.

 

I got a chance to talk to AIX founder Dr. Mark Waldrep and he too agrees with my comment about anything over 24/96 digital recordings is stupid overkill that is overpriced BS and useless to those who understand the science.