[Zerogravity]

I was thinking about the Wadia for ease of use and since I already have lossless loaded in the Iphone, it would make it more convenient. Is there and affordable DAC that would work well for this? I have read about jitter issues, however I was curious if some DACS would eliminate the negatives, I was also thinking about connecting to my AVR ( Marantz) that uses a Crystal DAC? I know a few who have the Wadia and pace car set-up compared the sound quality more favourable compared to their computer set-ups. As for me, if one platform is slighly better in either direction, Im not concerned. It's the ease of use that is important rather then a very slight difference in S.Q. Thanks

[wywires]

I've had my Wadia for about 6 months and I use a PS Audio DAC Link. The setup is suberb with no issues although it's problematic with some older iPods. PS Audio DAC's retail for around $699 but can be had used for a lot less. The PS Audio also has a USB input so I have an old laptop dedicated to music hooked up to it.

[serengetiplains]

The Wadia with a Pace Car is a killer source.  I mean, knock your socks off.

[Zerogravity]

Thanks for the tips! PS Audio sounds good! If it were in my budget I wouldn't hesitate to jump on the pacecar! I was also curious of the Beresford or
certain types
such as NOS or USB or anything that would help the Wadia's Sound Quality!

[audioengr]

Lots of DACs claim to eliminate jitter.  It's simply not true.  The ones that resample or upsample reduce it to some degree, but they add their own internal clocks jitter, as well as the coloration of the resampler/upsampler.  This is precisely why I dont offer any DAC with an upsampler in it.  Spoils any chance of a world-class result IMO.

The best scenerio (and most industry experts will agree), is to minimize the jitter going into a non-upsampling or NOS DAC.

If you are on a budget, then you are better off to go with an inexpensive NOS DAC, such as the Chamelion on ebay and drive it with a low jitter source.

Steve N.

[Zerogravity]

I appreciate the advice Steve! I'll look into those you suggested! Not to say that I dont want your PaceCar, because I do! It's just very hard to justify spending anything for audio to the "wifey", considering I am saving up for speakers as well! I have a pair of SLS HT6.5S speakers now, although I'm not sure they would justify listening with Higher end components. I was in shock when I heard the Wadia had a jitter issue, but it made sense after reading your papers on jitter. I do have a internal DAC on my Marantz AVR that I believe is a Crystal made unit, although I'm not sure this is a NOS. I'm not sure if playing the i170 or i171 using the Marantz internal DAC would be as good as purchasing and inexpensive NOS DAC? Thanks again, Jim

[audioengr]

I appreciate the advice Steve! I'll look into those you suggested! Not to say that I dont want your PaceCar, because I do! It's just very hard to justify spending anything for audio to the "wifey", considering I am saving up for speakers as well! I have a pair of SLS HT6.5S speakers now, although I'm not sure they would justify listening with Higher end components. I was in shock when I heard the Wadia had a jitter issue, but it made sense after reading your papers on jitter. I do have a internal DAC on my Marantz AVR that I believe is a Crystal made unit, although I'm not sure this is a NOS. I'm not sure if playing the i170 or i171 using the Marantz internal DAC would be as good as purchasing and inexpensive NOS DAC? Thanks again, Jim

IME, there is not a SS processor on the planet that holds a candle to a good external audio-only DAC.

Steve N.