[LadyDog]

I could use your advice all you dac experts.  Understand the dynamics, just have never used one.  Generally opted for a designated single cd player like my nOrh CD1 and Arcam 23.

Anyway, I am looking to put together a little 2 channel system which that will tie into a 5 disc changer.  Not looking for real high-end stuff but something decent when having company that can benefit from my favorite cd feature, the random mode.  

Budget somewhere in the $300-400 range.  Please let me know if you need any further details like speakers, amps, etc.

Thanks in advance for your time.

Best Regards,
Jeff

[JLM]

Jeff,

Sorry but don't understand what is it you're after.

Are you looking for a $300-400 DAC to add to a changer?  Scott Nixon has DAC options in that range.  The ART DI/O is cheaper than that.  The Ack dAck! v.1 can be found used in that price range (analog sound but can only run about 5 hours per battery charge).  Check audiogon.  Another option is Squeeze Box ($250 wired or $300 wireless) to provide internet radio.

I bought Sony's cheapest 5 disc SACD changer ($150) for the HT system and plugged it into the main system to make sure it worked.  For yucks I ran it through my Ack dAck! v.2 and was is no hurry to pull it back out for my Sony S7700 transport.  Don't know what you deem to be "little" or "decent" but that changer by itself did better than needed for the crowds I entertain.

[LadyDog]

JLM,
Thanks for the response.  Guess I should have clarified myself a bit better, but you are correct.  

I am wanting to hook a dac to my 5 disc changer to get a bit better sound than what the current player offers with its internal or my receiver's dac.  My personal preference whether by myself or with friends is to listen to music using the random feature on the disc changer.  

I thought about a squeezebox, just not sure I want to go there yet.

I will check out the suggestions listed, thanks again.

Jeff

[chadh]

I've been using a Rotel RCC 955 % disc changer, routed to a Bolder modded smART DIO, and have enjoyed it a great deal.

Chad

[Marbles]

Jeff,

The Scott Nixon Tubedac + is a VERY nice unit.

Also Danny Richie has some that are available that he thinks pretty highly of, especially the 60 after it has been modded by Jeff G of Sonicap.

Check the GR Research circle for the thread.

[fredgarvin]

I would ditto the bolder dio, It is a little better than the chip in my Marantz which I think is pretty good on its own.

[texasphile]

I have a DAC-AH and a DAC-72.  Both sound very good.  The DAC-72 is Extremely good for the money.  I also have a Meitner Idat-44 and an Ack! DAC.  All were good values for the money, but as for my favorite I always go back to the DAC-72.

http://www.gr-research.com/components/lite_dacs.htm

[Jon L]

I have a DAC-AH and a DAC-60.  Both sound very good.  The DAC-60 is Extremely good for the money.  I also have a Meitner Idat-44 and an Ack! DAC.  All were good values for the money, but as for my favorite I always go back to the DAC-60.

http://www.gr-research.com/components/lite_dacs.htm

How'about some specific comparisons bet. DAC-AH and DAC-60 (unmodded?).

[texasphile]

Not meaning to hijack this thread...

I should have written DAC-72 not DAC-60.  I got confused with the somewhat backward nomenclature between the 72 and 60.  (The only difference is the Burr-Brown 1702 20 bit Chip in the 72 versus the BB 1704 24 bit Chip in the 60).

The DAC-AH sounds very smooth and analog-ish, similar to the Ack! DAC and probably the Scott Nixon DACs which all use the same Philips TDA 1543 chipset, except the DAC-AH has 8 instead of one 1543 chips on its board.  The sound is very easy to listen to and would work extremely well in a lower end system...because it does not have the detail retreival/resolution of the DAC-72.  The DAC-72 just sounds more realistic in it's digital to analog existence.  I have not heard the DAC-60, but I am pretty certain that it will sound very close to the DAC-72 with probably further improved resolution.  The DAC-72 is the best sounding DAC that I personally have ever heard.  Having owned both types of DACs, I personally prefer the "holographic" sound of multi-bit DACs as opposed to the "dynamicism" of a 1-bit style DAC.   I currently own 5 different DACs all of which sound surprisingly different from one another.