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Post by two89w on Oct 12, 2010 18:52:04 GMT -5
I was going to buy an XPA 2 and a USP 1, for 2 channel stereo listening. No sub , no TT, no HT , just a CD player. I do have a lot of music on USB sticks that I play in the car.
Now I have seen the XDA 1 pre/dac . I have no experience with DAC's or pre/dac combinations. Does anyone know if these two machines have the same sound characteristics?
I play all my music through my CDP however if the XDA 1 is as good as the USP 1 , I would then utilise my USB's.
Any help is appreciated.
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Lonnie
Emo Staff 
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Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain
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Post by Lonnie on Oct 12, 2010 19:05:28 GMT -5
I was going to buy an XPA 2 and a USP 1, for 2 channel stereo listening. No sub , no TT, no HT , just a CD player. I do have a lot of music on USB sticks that I play in the car. Now I have seen the XDA 1 pre/dac . I have no experience with DAC's or pre/dac combinations. Does anyone know if these two machines have the same sound characteristics? I play all my music through my CDP however if the XDA 1 is as good as the USP 1 , I would then utilise my USB's. Any help is appreciated. They have similiar characteristics but the XDA is more open and when you take advantage of the balanced output you will hear a definate difference.  |
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Post by oppman99 on Oct 12, 2010 19:09:32 GMT -5
I would be willing to bet the XDA will sound very similar to the USP with the same material. In other words, if you are using losless files (WAV or flac), the XDA may suit you perfectly. If you don't ever plan on adding a TT or headphones, the XDA is $100 less and you can use both your CD player with it and computer. Quick question: How are you planning to use your USB drives? Do you plan to use a computer or another device that accepts USB? Looks like I'm slow on the draw. Lonnie beat for the first answer.  |
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Post by two89w on Oct 12, 2010 19:26:53 GMT -5
Plan is computer  |
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Post by two89w on Oct 12, 2010 19:29:36 GMT -5
I had a look at the back of the unit,Where would I plug my cdp in?
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Post by oppman99 on Oct 12, 2010 20:08:17 GMT -5
You use optical or coax from the player to the DAC. Sounds like the XDA will be a very good fit for you.
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Post by two89w on Oct 12, 2010 20:38:23 GMT -5
You use optical or coax from the player to the DAC. Sounds like the XDA will be a very good fit for you. Thank you ,Now for the dumb questions....... will that turn my cdp into a transport only and use the dac in the XDA? The wife reminded me that we currently run our TV into our Primare I21 and through our speakers, How can I do that? |
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Lonnie
Emo Staff
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Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain
Posts: 6,999
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Post by Lonnie on Oct 12, 2010 21:35:54 GMT -5
You use optical or coax from the player to the DAC. Sounds like the XDA will be a very good fit for you. Thank you ,Now for the dumb questions....... will that turn my cdp into a transport only and use the dac in the XDA? The wife reminded me that we currently run our TV into our Primare I21 and through our speakers, How can I do that? Yes, when using an external DAC, your CDP then becomes just a transport. |
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Post by two89w on Oct 12, 2010 21:50:11 GMT -5
Thanks , I take it that the on board Dac is better than good? |
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Post by monkumonku on Oct 13, 2010 13:25:44 GMT -5
I was going to buy an XPA 2 and a USP 1, for 2 channel stereo listening. No sub , no TT, no HT , just a CD player. I do have a lot of music on USB sticks that I play in the car. Now I have seen the XDA 1 pre/dac . I have no experience with DAC's or pre/dac combinations. Does anyone know if these two machines have the same sound characteristics? I play all my music through my CDP however if the XDA 1 is as good as the USP 1 , I would then utilise my USB's. Any help is appreciated. They have similiar characteristics but the XDA is more open and when you take advantage of the balanced output you will hear a definate difference. I thought that balanced cables only make a difference on long cable runs? So you are saying that for normal use (let's say about 3 feet of cable) that we would hear a difference using the balanced output versus the regular RCA output? |
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Post by oppman99 on Oct 13, 2010 16:09:47 GMT -5
If your gear just has XLR connections, you probably won't hear a difference. If you gear is fully balanced, you should notice an improvement using balanced connections. I'm using a W4S Dac2, Anthem D1 processer and XPA-1's, and I notice a pretty significant improvement using the balanced connections vs. single ended.
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Post by roadrunner on Oct 13, 2010 18:17:14 GMT -5
They have similiar characteristics but the XDA is more open and when you take advantage of the balanced output you will hear a definate difference. I thought that balanced cables only make a difference on long cable runs? So you are saying that for normal use (let's say about 3 feet of cable) that we would hear a difference using the balanced output versus the regular RCA output? Monkumonku If I remember correctly, Lonnie said that the XDA-1 has separate output circuits for balanced and unbalanced paths; and the balanced path is a full differential, balanced output. It isn't the XLR connector that is resulting in the better output. It is because the amp circuitry in the balanced path is superior to the unbalanced. |
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