mlsstl;581759 Wrote: > Diego, I'm surprised you find the SBT's analog output unsatisfactory. I > had been using a Lavry DA-10 DAC (a very highly regarded $1,000 DAC) > .... I'd double check setting and connections if I were you. Equipment > location can also be an issue in terms of picking up radiated EMI.
Thanks for the advise! Well yes, you might be right that the sound is not bettered by an external DAC. However, I would locate the reason at another place: The digital signal of the SBT. Its really no surprise: Not only the price does not allow for real high end gear, also the design. This elegant small little thing is not much bigger than today's mobile phones... but there is obviously not enough space to put in the components needed to build a decent DAC. So one has to stay realistic! Don't take me wrong: The SB is a GERAT piece of gear for the cost, also sound-wise. For the money spent, I really could not expect more of it. But it is not for "audiophiles" as Logitech tells us in their publicity. By far not. My Creek CD 50 MK II is not either a piece of ultra fancy high end and costs about 1000 US$. But for this price, it makes just ONE thing and it does it right. The SB does a dozen of things for half the price. And it still sound OK, but it's still really far away from the Creek CD player's sound quality that is just way more dynamic, precise and natural. And there are much better ones out there, of course. So what I am looking for now is to spend about the same money I spent into the SB for only the last step that is one of the more crucial ones, sound-wise, that is, converting the digital signal back to analog. I guess it is not an irrational assumption that that it should be possible to really better the sound like that. Now, if the digital signal that comes out of the S/PDIF-connections is already so weak that it does not allow for a substantially better conversion to analog, I would also consider connecting a USB DAC (according to JohnSwenson manual, here: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=82110 , thanks for that, John!) - provided that it really gives a considerably better end result. Thanks again, looking forward for your answers! Diego -- diego ------------------------------------------------------------------------ diego's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=40897 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=82539 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
