Question about DAC's

[Fergymunster]

My setup is the CA azur 640c v1 using the AQ king cobra rca running from the CA into the Creek 21se headphone amp and then using the the Sennheiser HD 650 with Cardas cable as my speakers.My question is what's wrong with the built in DAC?I've been wondering around the internet and people are paying good money for a seperate DAC to by- pass the CA azur 640c's DAC.If anyone out there who is using a seperate DAC can you tell me what's wrong with the DAC I'm using.Does a seperate DAC sound better? Or are seperate DAC's now becoming obsolete?Also understand that I'm quite impressed with the set up I just descibed.Thanks

[Kaboom]

If it ain't broken, why fix it?
if u're very impressed, then upgrading is just a way of burning money in another box which seem like much of an improvement, mainly because u don't really know what you are looking for.
the Azur series is said to be very impressive for the price. I have the C540 cd player as a transport, and it did sound very, very good as a CD player. I know use a Musical Fidelity Tri-Vista 21 dac that i got in the used market. Yes, it does sound MUCH better in terms of spatial presentation and timbral qualities. Much better of everything. at roughly 6 to 8 times the price of the 540.
As i see it, the point of getting an external DAC is to get better sound from ur current CD-player, but specially at ur price point, improvements are going to cost you BIG bucks. At 500 clams you're right at the thin line separating sensibly-priced components from the huge outlays required to get minute improvements in sound. But spending tens of thousands of dollars to play the same music over and over is of course what Hi-Fi is all about.
A separate DAC doesn't sound better, only if its better than the built-in one. And only you can judge "better"
if u're impressed with the way things are, keep 'em that way. Yeah, try a friend's DAC or borrow one from the shop every now and then, but don't obsess over improving something u're in love with.
cheers!

[Fergymunster]

If it ain't broken, why fix it?
if u're very impressed, then upgrading is just a way of burning money in another box which seem like much of an improvement, mainly because u don't really know what you are looking for.
the Azur series is said to be very impressive for the price. I have the C540 cd player as a transport, and it did sound very, very good as a CD player. I know use a Musical Fidelity Tri-Vista 21 dac that i got in the used market. Yes, it does sound MUCH better in terms of spatial presentation and timbral qualities. Much better of everything. at roughly 6 to 8 times the price of the 540.
As i see it, the point of getting an external DAC is to get better sound from ur current CD-player, but specially at ur price point, improvements are going to cost you BIG bucks. At 500 clams you're right at the thin line separating sensibly-priced components from the huge outlays required to get minute improvements in sound. But spending tens of thousands of dollars to play the same music over and over is of course what Hi-Fi is all about.
A separate DAC doesn't sound better, only if its better than the built-in one. And only you can judge "better"
if u're impressed with the way things are, keep 'em that way. Yeah, try a friend's DAC or borrow one from the shop every now and then, but don't obsess over improving something u're in love with.
cheers!
Hi Kaboom,Thanks for the reply.I posed that statement a while back and at the time was just curiuos why people where upgrading seperate DAC's for the 640c.I'm newbie about this CD player stuff as this is my first quality CD player. Your right I now know I answered my own question.If it ain't broke don't fix it.I like that.Good luck to you.

[accastil]

If it ain't broken, why fix it?
if u're very impressed, then upgrading is just a way of burning money in another box which seem like much of an improvement, mainly because u don't really know what you are looking for.
the Azur series is said to be very impressive for the price. I have the C540 cd player as a transport, and it did sound very, very good as a CD player. I know use a Musical Fidelity Tri-Vista 21 dac that i got in the used market. Yes, it does sound MUCH better in terms of spatial presentation and timbral qualities. Much better of everything. at roughly 6 to 8 times the price of the 540.
As i see it, the point of getting an external DAC is to get better sound from ur current CD-player, but specially at ur price point, improvements are going to cost you BIG bucks. At 500 clams you're right at the thin line separating sensibly-priced components from the huge outlays required to get minute improvements in sound. But spending tens of thousands of dollars to play the same music over and over is of course what Hi-Fi is all about.
A separate DAC doesn't sound better, only if its better than the built-in one. And only you can judge "better"
if u're impressed with the way things are, keep 'em that way. Yeah, try a friend's DAC or borrow one from the shop every now and then, but don't obsess over improving something u're in love with.
cheers!

which would be a better move? to buy a separate MF dac for my 540c player or just buy a MF CD player. i have a second system and i was thinking of putting the player there so that i could just buy an entire player instead of buying a DAC. in this way, both set ups will be updgraded...which one do you you think is a better move? is MF better than an Acam cdp of the same price range?

[Kaboom]

first off, which MF DAC? the current xDac or are you considering goin to the second hand market and getting hold of sth different?
also, DAC technology has vastly improved so going too far back in the timeline in the search for what seems to be a good deal in a DAC might not be a great idea. Sure a DAC is not only the digital but also has an analog stage and that has barely improved. Just saying that paying 500 bucks for a DAC that retailed for 5000 in 1990 might not be such a good deal, because the 500 buck xDac might outperform it.
If you need a new CDp, buy a new CDp. A dac makes sense as an upgrade path because it means u can keep ur current CD as a transport and save some bucks.
but if u need a new CDp anyway because you are setting up a second system, then send the 540 over to the second system and spend the dough on a nicer single-box solution for ur main system. This is all, however, my subjective opinion and in no way should be taken as the gospel. Just what i think makes some sense. At least to me.
Cheers!