I have recently acquired a Technics SL1500 vinyl record player. I am missing the component where the signal goes from analog to digital (ADC), or through a phono preamp. My first question is:
Can the NAP 100 handle both the DAC-V1 and Superline simultaneously?
Superline might be out of my budget range in any circumstance, so the next thing I wonder is if anyone could advice me is
what budget friendly options would you recommend for an ADC between the Technics and DAC-V1? One that does not impair the sound quality considerably.
I am not fully familiar with the DAC v1 but I think as it cannot handle an analog input nor can the NAP100 act as a pre-amp you will need to add a pre-amp in between the DAC V1 and the power amp to handle a phono input.
I would also say you would be wasting your budget on a Superline in these circumstances the rest of the gear won’t match its performance. A 2nd hand Naim pre-amp and if not one with a built-in phono stage a Stageline would be fine or cheaper the Ifi ZEN Phono is a great budget phono stage and very flexible to types of cartridge.
There are ADC units out there that perhaps could take a phono stage output and then put digital signal into the DAC V1 but I am even less familiar with these units and cannot say what they would do to signal/sound quality.
Another option could be to get something like a Nait XS3 integrated amp which has a built in phono stage (or a pre loved Nait XS2 and use it with a Stageline via the powered input) and trade in the NAP100. You can then set the DAC V1 to fixed output to use into one of the other inputs on the Nait.
A Superline would not only be overkill, but it also doesn’t have power, so needs a HiCap at a minimum. At U.S. prices a new SuperNait 3 is nearly $2k less costly. It has a MM phonostage built-in. If you ever go to a LOMC you could alsways add a SUT for still less than the cost of a Superline + required PSU.
NAP 100 won’t power anything but speakers. As a longtime V1 owner, I wanted to add a turntable a few years back. Unfortunately there was only one phono amp on the market with spdif out and that was the PS Audio, which was $$ (and now $$$$ used since discontinued. So I ended up with a Project that has an onboard ADC. Sounds ok but the problem I found with it is lack of gain. So you might be able to bypass that issue with a proper phono amp into an ADC (which can range from a $20 Amazon jobbie to a multi thousand dollar recording studio unit). Or I should have bought the used PS Audio one my local dealer had at the time which looks a bargain now, but wouldn’t have left budget for the TT itself!
At the time the Project Optical Box E Phono wasn’t released, and that actually would have been the best solution.
This could be a viable solution for the OP if keeping the V1 is his preferred option.
The Rega Fono Mini could be a good option too as it has ADC built in, with adjustable output level. I’m not 100% certain that it would be compatible with the V1 USB input which was designed to take a digital feed from a Mac or PC, but it should be easy enough to find out.
Went with the Project Optical Box E Phono suggestion. Does the trick at a reasonable price, and avoids major surgery to my system. Again, thanks @gthack and all for the very helpful comments.
Chord Mojo!? I have one of those too. The mk1 Mojo now pretty cheap. Both sound objectively better than my Naim CD5. Not that I don’t enjoy the CD5. No idea about the DAC V1 I’m afraid. There’s a vibrant market for the Chord DACs, and DAC V1s come up often too, might be one you have to buy and see how you like it, selling it on if it doesn’t suit.
[edit: both the Chord DACs are battery powered, might not suit a permanent installation, even though plenty are used like that. I’ll let others extol the virtues of other manufacturers, I’m busy enjoying Ríoghnach Connolly’s singing ]
Agreed @Bobthebuilder. However, I did read that there were a lot of problems with battery resilience and malfunction on the mojo mk1 though…I made a mental note at the time…
I get c. 4 hours of of my mojo, easily double that out of my Hugo. I run the Hugo as part of my main hifi streaming setup, charging it when it gets low, with a Primare NP5 network streamer. I run the mojo as a headphone amp with my phone as streaming source.
The issues, as I understand them are with running the mojo on permanent charge, the battery didn’t like it. I run neither of mine that way, but the Mojo would be a bit inconvenient in a main HiFi if you decided to keep it disconnected and charge it when it ran low - you’d be charging it up quite often (obv contingent on how much you listen! )
For around or under $1000 one can get a well built and sounding Chinese made DAC with preamp capability. That said, the sound will be different from Naim as they mostly use ESS or AKM chips. I know this as I bought a Matrix mini-pro 3. Great little unit, but I moved it on after my Unitiqute came back from repair. It was a lot more detailed, but just didn’t have that warm, enveloping, pair of favorite old slippers sound of the Naim. The UQ has since been moved on as trade-in for a pair of KEF LS50W II’s but the V1 remains as the heart of the office system.
But if one wants to truly go full in on vinyl, the V1 is the wrong device to do so imo, as any ADC (except for the PS Audio NuWave Phono preamp) will be a compromise in sound.
Possibly. But having said that, my little DAC v1 on the end of my MacBook still surprises me sound wise. And actually, when you pause for a second look at these little fellas, they’re still very good value for money - if it’s offered at the right price.
You get a hefty solid industrial looking box with 5 digi inputs. You get a very good USB implementation courtesy of audiophilleo and it’s remote controlled. The class A Headphone output is very good too. And the solid remote is a nice bonus. The DAC chip’s still decent - a Burr Brown PCM1791A - and 40bit SHARC DSP chip handling filtering and oversampling is not to be sniffed at. Stick it into a power amp or an integrated = plenty of options. It’s all rather well implemented too. A second hand one - at the right price - is very hard to beat vis-a-vis IFI audio and Burson et al, to name but a few…
But I do get where you’re coming from. There’s a ton of well priced budget DACs out there, all sporting the latest DAC chip tech. Implementation of said DAC chip is another story of course…I’ll shut up now…sorry. to go on
As you can tell, I think @SveinungA’s done the right thing, by keeping his DAC V1 and trying out the Optical E Box phono solution. Let us know how it works out @SveinungA
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