Assuming that the processor (2.2 GHz quad core intel core i7) in my MacBook Pro is much more powerful than the processor in the DAC-V1, is there anyone who has done a comparison between playing back audio files from a laptop running something like Audrivana, versus off a laptop into a DAC-V1?
Thanks.
Hi, audirvana is music playback software designed to optimise the digital output from a computer to a dac, it doesn’t replace a dac.
The DAC in a computer is no match for a decent offboard DAC. Even a cheap one like the Audioquest Dragonfly series. I’m sure DAC V1 would be far better!
I don’t know what your laptop is, nut I use Audirvana on a Mac Mini. (MM is an ideal computer for it because it is possible to run it bypassing audio drivers etc, and with a dedicated USB bus, and run it headless, without a monitor or keyboard, minimising any possible interference.)
I initially used a Chord Hugo DAC, which I had first used as an upgrade external DAC for an ND5XS, and it was a step up from ND5XS performing the rendering (though Hugo needed an isolator to block the RF from the computer). I now use Mac Mini/Audirvana with Chord Dave DAC. And when I first tried tgat combination I had a brief comparison with Melco N1A into Dave, with no evident difference.
Apples and oranges. A CPU isn’t a DAC and can’t be used as a DAC. A computer uses a dedicated DAC or or integrated sound chip like any hifi component, only they usually cost pennies.
Not to mention, after the DAC section there is a line level preamp and the quality of that is critical too.
This topic was automatically closed 60 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.