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Gear / Technical Help => Playback Forum => Topic started by: Nick Culbreth on March 27, 2004, 11:51:30 PM

Title: playback advice
Post by: Nick Culbreth on March 27, 2004, 11:51:30 PM

i'm finally getting around to upgrading my playback and i need some advice on a picking a dac.  right now i'm leaning toward a bel canto dac 1.1, is there anything else in the sub $500 price range that i should be looking into?  

here's what i'll be running:

tascam da-20 mii and laptop > emagic emi 2| 6 > (dac) > audio experience symphonies > b&k st-140 (probably) > magnepan mmgs

thanks for any advice.  

Title: Re:playback advice
Post by: Nick's Picks on March 28, 2004, 08:03:19 AM

are bel canto 1.1's going for that little used?
I dont know if Id bother to look any further.

a Benchmark DAC-1 would be a nice option.  You could sell the Symphonies to help fund it.  It has gain controll, and switchable inputs (all digital), so it acts like a preamp in that regard.
One less box to have to run the signal though.  Less is more!

Title: Re:playback advice
Post by: Nick Culbreth on March 28, 2004, 05:37:59 PM

Quote from: NicksPicks on March 28, 2004, 08:03:19 AM

are bel canto 1.1's going for that little used?
I dont know if Id bother to look any further.

a Benchmark DAC-1 would be a nice option.  You could sell the Symphonies to help fund it.  It has gain controll, and switchable inputs (all digital), so it acts like a preamp in that regard.
One less box to have to run the signal though.  Less is more!

thanks for the input nick, i decided to try out the bel canto and see how it works for me.  i thought about the benchmark as well but i'm partial to the syphonies sound so i think the bel canto will be a better option for me.

Title: Re:playback advice
Post by: Nick's Picks on March 28, 2004, 07:11:27 PM

i dont blame you
the symphonies sound is quite nice

Title: Re:playback advice
Post by: Tim on March 29, 2004, 02:23:18 PM

wow. weird...

I've got a Bel Canto DAC 1.1 that I'm toying with selling to finance a V3. I'd sell it for $500 + shipping.

I'm still not for sure that I want to sell it, give me a couple of days?

Title: Re:playback advice
Post by: Tim on March 29, 2004, 02:28:40 PM

oops, just looked at it a little bit closer and it looks like you found one to test already.

If I decide ti sell I'd prefer to sell this to someone on ts.com than some random person on the internet. If anyone is interested shoot me an email.

Title: Re:playback advice
Post by: Nick Culbreth on March 29, 2004, 04:33:00 PM

Quote from: Tim on March 29, 2004, 02:28:40 PM

oops, just looked at it a little bit closer and it looks like you found one to test already.

If I decide ti sell I'd prefer to sell this to someone on ts.com than some random person on the internet. If anyone is interested shoot me an email.

just picked one up off of ebay.  i wish i would have known earlier, i would have rather just bought from you than some random guy on ebay.  i'm sure you'd have no problem moving it on audiogon, they seem to get snapped up pretty quickly.

btw, what do you think of yours?

Title: Re:playback advice
Post by: Tim on March 29, 2004, 04:38:02 PM

I like it but the differences are subtle, though they are there. It really does seem to take the edge or bite off of the DA20mkII DAC.. cymabls are noticeably smoother etc. For the price I think it's great... a used Benchmark is considerably more money.

I'm still not sure I want to sell it, I'm looking for other ways to finance a V3 purchase.

Title: Re:playback advice
Post by: twoodruff on March 29, 2004, 05:15:51 PM

Quote from: Tim on March 29, 2004, 04:38:02 PM

I like it but the differences are subtle, though they are there. It really does seem to take the edge or bite off of the DA20mkII DAC.. cymabls are noticeably smoother etc. For the price I think it's great... a used Benchmark is considerably more money.

I'm still not sure I want to sell it, I'm looking for other ways to finance a V3 purchase.

sell the oade

Title: Re:playback advice
Post by: Tim on March 29, 2004, 05:21:44 PM

no way. I want to run m148->V3...