Wolfson 192 kHz/24-Bit WM8742 vs Cirrus Logic CS43

[Jean Genie]

Wolfson 192 kHz/24-Bit WM8742 vs Cirrus Logic CS4382A vs Analog Devices AD1955

Does anyone know if there are significant, if any. differences among these or is this another speaker wire/cables/motor oil is motor oil issue?
Should I (do you) prefer any one (or any other) over the rest for stereo sacd music?

Thanks for the education,
g

[Deleted]

Wolfson DACs have always enjoyed a very good reputation, my H/K Signature 2.0 had 'em and they sounded great. However, this is probably an area where even the least is good enough. I see folks splitting hairs over interconnects, spkr. cables and such and I'm always amused. The biggest arbiters of system sound quality are thus: The room/speaker intearction, the speakers themselves, and your source material.

I wouldn't even begin sweating about my DACs until I had those three areas well-sorted...

-RW-

[Jean Genie]

Thanks RW, I'm just wondering if I should hobble along w/ this Pioneer 'til I can put the scratch together for an Oppo, or use what I've got now for a less than ideal 'upgrade'. Either way, it's gotta be able to play sacd, so no ERC.

[doc1963]

rlw is spot on in his assessment.

IMHO, once you reach a certain plateau of quality DACs, it's more about how they're implemented and how much attention, and quality, is put into the output stages.

Just my opinion.....

[DYohn]

Jul 20, 2012 10:38:36 GMT -5 doc1963 said:

rlw is spot on in his assessment.

IMHO, once you reach a certain plateau of quality DACs, it's more about how they're implemented and how much attention, and quality, is put into the output stages.

Just my opinion.....

+1

[G-Man]

Ditto rlw's recommendations

[Jean Genie]

Thanks for the replies and opinions.
From the look of your signatures, I see an unspoken consensus toward Oppo... ;)which was probably the way I've been subconsciously leaning. Think I'll go back to stashing disposable income. ;D

[generalkorrd]

Yeah, there are some things that you can settle on, but I have found that if I settle with audio gear, I just go and buy what I wanted in the first place and have wasted money on the piece I settled with.

[eusebio]

Jul 20, 2012 12:24:53 GMT -5 generalkorrd said:

Yeah, there are some things that you can settle on, but I have found that if I settle with audio gear, I just go and buy what I wanted in the first place and have wasted money on the piece I settled with.

yup. sometimes i feel like this hobby is a disease. i either need to stay put with what i have or if i upgrade i need to make a serious leap rather than half ass it.

[Deleted]

Gaglione wrote:
"From the look of your signatures, I see an unspoken consensus toward Oppo... which was probably the way I've been subconsciously leaning...."

Shameless Plug Alert!! I have a very good condition Oppo BDP-83 for sale in the Emporium right now - $375. Buy it this weekend and I'll cover shipping, too...

-RW-

[Golden Ear]

Another component that play vital to its sound is op-amps. High quality and discrete will enhance the sound quality by a great margin. I was able to compare Marantz CC4003 vs CD5004 and both use same DAC but the difference is in the op-amps. The CD5004 uses a discrete op-amps similar to their reference player that they call HDAM-2. The difference in sound is that CD5004 produce much larger scale stereo presentation and very spacious whereas CC4003 sound is less exciting. Again both use same DAC. Like many said, it's the way its implemented.

[kellys]

I have always felt that the quality of a DAC is a very important part of the overall sound quality of a digital audio system. I have heard a limited selection of DACs, but going from a very good sounding, top of the line AKM based DAC to one using an ESS Sabre 9018 DAC, there was a noticeable difference. I personally believe that the DAC does play a large role in an audio system.

The output stage is equally important as well. The Buffalo DAC I have now can be customized. I have tried three totally different output stages and all sound good in very different ways. My personal is the one with the highest distortion (the transformer output stage), but it has the best common mode noise rejection.

I think comparing a high quality DAC to be similar to the effect of speaker cables is crazy. If I had a starter system that needed to be upgraded and limited money to choose between speakers and DAC? I would buy the DAC first and save up for better speakers. In a high-end system, I think that all components are audible to an extent. Cables to a very small extent. DACs to the same extent as preamp. Two really good DACs side by side should be comparable to two really good preamps, and there should be a different sonic character, but at a certain point I do agree there are diminishing returns.

[Deleted]

The point I was trying to make is that most modern DACs are very, very good - especially in comparison to what was available 5-10 years ago. But we have definitely hit the diminishing returns area here. You will find *much* more variance in speakers, rooms, turntables/cartridges, etc. Speaker cablng and interconnects are waaayyyyy down the list. And don't get me started about S/PDIF coax, TOSLINK, and USB cables. Spending big money on those is a fool's game.

Once you have settled on the very best speakers you can afford, and have situated those speakers properly in a well-designed, acoustically-decent room, AND have employed modern room-correction technology, THEN you should start fiddling about with your wires and such. Me? I never got around to messing with the wires except for the Goertz MI-2 Pythons for my Front L/R speakers. And I mainly did that because they looked very cool and gave me instant street cred with nearby dumbasses audiophiles.

-RW-

[Pauly]

Jul 21, 2012 4:31:49 GMT -5 @rlw said:

And I mainly did that because they looked very cool and gave me instant street cred with nearby dumbasses audiophiles.

-RW-

Hahahaha! I almost pee'd after I read that comment! Too funny. ;D

[Deleted]

It is but a service I offer to all mankind. Go forth and multiply, my children...

-RW- AKA Emotivus

[jerrin]

Jul 21, 2012 4:31:49 GMT -5 @rlw said:

The point I was trying to make is that most modern DACs are very, very good - especially in comparison to what was available 5-10 years ago. But we have definitely hit the diminishing returns area here. You will find *much* more variance in speakers, rooms, turntables/cartridges, etc. Speaker cablng and interconnects are waaayyyyy down the list. And don't get me started about S/PDIF coax, TOSLINK, and USB cables. Spending big money on those is a fool's game.

Once you have settled on the very best speakers you can afford, and have situated those speakers properly in a well-designed, acoustically-decent room, AND have employed modern room-correction technology, THEN you should start fiddling about with your wires and such..

-RW-

Totally agree, spot on.

[eirik84]

Jul 21, 2012 4:31:49 GMT -5 @rlw said:

The point I was trying to make is that most modern DACs are very, very good - especially in comparison to what was available 5-10 years ago. But we have definitely hit the diminishing returns area here. You will find *much* more variance in speakers, rooms, turntables/cartridges, etc. Speaker cablng and interconnects are waaayyyyy down the list. And don't get me started about S/PDIF coax, TOSLINK, and USB cables. Spending big money on those is a fool's game.

Once you have settled on the very best speakers you can afford, and have situated those speakers properly in a well-designed, acoustically-decent room, AND have employed modern room-correction technology, THEN you should start fiddling about with your wires and such. Me? I never got around to messing with the wires except for the Goertz MI-2 Pythons for my Front L/R speakers. And I mainly did that because they looked very cool and gave me instant street cred with nearby dumbasses audiophiles.

-RW-

So if im looking for a DAC/preamp for stereo-use, I could buy the UMC-1 rather than the upcoming XDA-2?
No audible difference and much more inputs sounds nice to me..

[Deleted]

All reports I see give high praise to the XDA-2. Since Emo has a 30-day return policy, why not oreder a UMC-1 and XDA-2 and see how they sound in your room?

-RW-

[eirik84]

Jul 30, 2012 7:05:27 GMT -5 @rlw said:

All reports I see give high praise to the XDA-2. Since Emo has a 30-day return policy, why not oreder a UMC-1 and XDA-2 and see how they sound in your room?

-RW-

Would be nice, but I cant since I live in Norway..
The extra shipping cost, 25% in tax to Norway on the whole package incl shippingcosts and shipping back on the product im not keeping would be very expensive.

My speakers are Dali Blue 5005 wich retailed for about $800-900 almost 10 years ago. Maybe hard to notice any difference between the dacs in the UMC-1 and XDA-2 unless I upgrade my speakers?

[G-Man]

I agree with many of the comments above and would like to add something I've learned the hard way. In the expensive quest to find the 'best' DAC, I've discovered that higher quality DACs usually make average quality source material sound worse.

That's a bit counterintuitive at first, but the high quality DACs like ESS Sabre in my Oppo 95 make my 80's - 90's rock and roll music sound worse than the Cirrus Logic DAC in my Oppo 93. The higher resolving DAC brings out the harshness in the original recordings.

I've concluded that it's best to have two DACs - a high end one for the well-mastered recordings and another 'middle-of-the-road' DAC for the lesser recordings.

Whether the DAC's are internal to your source component or external is a matter of personal preference and system configuration.