Tír Na HiFi

Hi guys,

I would appreciate your thoughts. I currently run a mac mini using Audivarna feeding a Ciunas dac. My amplification is a nightingale adm 32 tube amp driving Audio Physic Virgo 1's. The upgrade bug is back and I am thinking of changing my DAC. What are your views on purchasing a legacy high end dacs such as a Weiss dac 2 ? Has technology moved on so much that equal performance can be achieved from modern cheaper dacs?

regards

jc

Hi John the current limiting factor in your set up is as we discussed when you originally where considering the ciunas is the mac mini. Money spent on a decent pc set up I think will yield you more bang for your buck. 600-1000k will do the job imho. But I understand you are married to the Apple so probably not a runner!

You could spend a lot on a fancy dac and not necessarily get a massive improvement.Don't know the Weiss products but I know from PFM that they are 'properly engineered' dacs. Sebastian has a nice dac for sale with preamp and headphone output(Eximus DP1). Sort of in the range you are considering. Maybe try to get to hear it and see if it does anything for you.

I am probably biased because this is what I do but if you use a asynchronous High Speed USB to digital audio interface between the Mac Mini and DAC then there is no problem using the mini or another other standard Apple laptop.

HiFiFan wrote:I am probably biased because this is what I do but if you use a asynchronous High Speed USB to digital audio interface between the Mac Mini and DAC then there is no problem using the mini or another other standard Apple laptop.

I agree. The Apple platform can be very good as a transport; compared to the awful Windows that is. Mini and PC are not really very different from a hardware perspective, in that they run similar Intel CPU and hardware configurations.As with PCs though, it can be improved. Depends on what vintage the Mini is, but power supply is the obvious first place to try upgrading.

Macs OS is of course Linux-based under the hood, which IMHO has the better potential for SQ than Windows. It supports UAC2 natively for instance which even Windows 10 still does not.

I am biased (!) but I would check out WTFPlay a minimalist Linux-based player on your Mini and see what difference that makes to your current set-up's SQ, before lashing out on expensive DACs. See the thread on Tir NA for details.

tony wrote:Hi John the current limiting factor in your set up is as we discussed when you originally where considering the ciunas is the mac mini. Money spent on a decent pc set up I think will yield you more bang for your buck. 600-1000k will do the job imho. But I understand you are married to the Apple so probably not a runner!

You could spend a lot on a fancy dac and not necessarily get a massive improvement.Don't know the Weiss products but I know from PFM that they are 'properly engineered' dacs. Sebastian has a nice dac for sale with preamp and headphone output(Eximus DP1). Sort of in the range you are considering. Maybe try to get to hear it and see if it does anything for you.

ill build your next pc for 500k save you some cash and maybe upgrade the citreon

macos and run of the mill linux is not great for audio, win 8/10 will easily better it

try daphile (most user friendly) or wtf play (better) on a usb key on the mac for an experiment

upgrading from a cuinas is difficult because you will likely have to spend 3-4 times as much for decent gains
id proceed with caution because there are many more expensive dacs that just wont outperform it

Not sure if you can get under €500 using a streacom case. It is Citroen btw.

If a computer upgrade is a path worth considering here, look at a Sonore uRendu. I assume the 600-1k for a decent computer is in GBP. For about 500k GBP, you can get a uRendu with the baseline iFi power supply.

While I suspect a super-tricked out, tweaked, linear/battery powered, and highly modified custom machine may beat the uRendu, you won't do that for 500 GBP... and it requires a LOT of work and ongoing care. The uRendu is pretty plug-and-play and getting rave reviews as a network endpoint USB source. Get one, spend your DIY funds and time doing better power to the uRendu, and then spend your extra funds on other areas of your system.

YMMV

Greg in Mississippi