Hello, I’m new to the Community.
Sorry if this has been covered but having lived and loved my Supernait for a while I am considering my next move. To gain a useful increase in performance I was considering a purchase of Hicap second hand when able. However, I see some would suggest a move upto the Supernait 2 would be a better idea. I like the idea of the built in DAC of my Supernait and for sure it is the equal of a Audiolab Q-DAC I also own. Would the Hicap enhance the performance of the built in DAC of the Supernait and the Stageline I have hooked up to the Supernait? I still listen to a lot of Cds via an Audiolab transport. Thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks
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Hicap would be a good improvement.
Yes it does. I use the Supernait with its internal Dac and using a hicap is a massive increase. Hicap DR is what you should go for, but a normal hicap is also an increase. I don’t know about the Stageline, but my feeling tells me that it gets improved too.
I have auditioned my SN1 + Hicap DR vs SN2, and they sounded very similar to me. It must have been the DR effect.
That was my experience too.
Adding a HiCap DR to the SN2 was a further improvement but not substantially so (unlike adding it to the SN1).
Thanks for the responses. Looks like the HiCap or Hicap DR is the way to go. A move to a SN2 would be similar cost wise if I went used but then there is the DAC issue. A DAC V1 would be the logical step if indeed this is an upgrade or side ways step. Interested in your thoughts or further experience. Thanks
I did the Hicap upgrade on my SN1 and it was indeed a fabulous improvement.
I remember the discussion on this forum back when I did the upgrade regarding The DAC and iirc it was confirmed that the DAC is improved too. Can not confirm the stageline.
I’d be interested how much better the DAC V1 is. The difference between the SN DAC and the Naim DAC wasn’t enough for me to outlay.
Thanks for your input and confirming the benefits of the Hicap upgrade. I think the DAC is extremely good in the SN1 and to gain a worthwhile improvement from a separate DAC would constitute a fair outlay.
Agree it would be interesting to hear the DAC V1. The headphone amp in SN1 is also good easily outperforming my Rega Ear. It would be interesting to hear if the Headline is a justifiable improvement. Thanks
It is interesting that the SN1 DAC gets a lot of negative comments, but I have tested it against quite a few and never blown away, including a Naim DAC, which was better but only marginal (which is the case with lots of Hifi…I know!)
Yes but if you tested it with the SN1 without Hicap, the SN1 was really the botleneck. I have positive experience with the Chord dacs on the SN1. Not better / worse, just another take on music which I like.
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