Got the Swan MKIII - now what?

[Zool]

I've been reading and reading on how to get the best sound quality out of my PC or Ipod. I believe the next step is to invest in a DAC and a decent sub - like the dayton 120. I have never used a DAC, but I know I need a place to hook up the sub. Any recommendations on a good but inexpensive DAC? Also, just to make sure - is a DAC the only way to go when needing a hook up from the subs?

 

[bikemig]

A good dac will make a noticeable improvement to the SQ of a computer based playback system. Getting better sound out of an ipod is a different story.

I wouldn't worry that much about a sub at this point. In any case, I don't know offhand of a dac that does 2.1 management. You could get a pre-amp to handle this. The emotiva pre-amp has pretty decent bass management.

In any case, the dac isn't about sub management but about improving the quality of the digital to analog conversion that would otherwise be handled by your computer (assuming this is your source). Are you going to keep your computer near your speakers? If you do, the HRT music streamer II is inexpensive and really good. It is powered by and uses a usb port for audio. If the computer is not going to be near the speakers, then you want something to stream your music. It's hard to beat the logitech squeezebox touch; it sounds and works great.

By the way, let me know what you think of the Swan MKIII; they look like really cool speakers.

 

[Zool]

"Getting better sound out of an ipod is a different story."

- I'm reloading all of my CDs at the present to take them from the original 128kbps to 320 kbps. I guess that is all I can do from an Ipod perspective

"In any case, I don't know offhand of a dac that does 2.1 management. You could get a pre-amp to handle this. The emotiva pre-amp has pretty decent bass management."

since I posted this question, I talked to a CSA from Swan/Audion Insider and he told me to just get a y splitter cable and feed each pair to both the MKIIIs and the sub. He said as long as the sub has a bass filter on it (I took that to mean a built in crossover) I should be set. The source could either be my computer (which is close to the swans) or through a DAC....or the music streamer II. That is some good advice on teh streamer II and I'm going to lean more towards it as the DAC seems overkill.

the MKIIIs are very nice - I"m listing to them now through my Nano and they are killer. They are about 6 feet apart, which is the length of cable they came with - and it sounds like the sound is coming from all six feet, meaning you can't really tell where the speaker is located if you aren't looking at them...pretty cool...

So is itunes a decent way to stream music at 320kbps???

 

[bikemig]

The y splitter makes sense and is an inexpensive way to add a sub to your system.

The HRT music streamer is a usb dac and it's great esp. for its price. I've been using one for a few months and it made a clear difference to the SQ of my system. You will have to control the volume from the speakers, though.

When you write that you are reloading your CDs, you mean that you are ripping your music from the CDs to make new files at 320 kbps? I'm asking because that is the right way to do it. You don't want to convert your 128 kbps files since that info is simply gone. In any case, you want a set of lossless files ripped from your CD collection.

I keep 2 full sets of my music files. One set is ripped at Apple lossless, the other at 320 kbps. I use the MP3s for my ipod to save space but listen to the lossless when using my computer.

The problem with the ipod for playback is that the sound from the headphone out is not very good. It's better from the line out but still not great. You can get a better sound by bypassing the internal dac; an HRT istreamer will do that. I don't see the point of using an ipod in the home when you can rely on your computer. A computer is just better than an ipod. It nearly always has a larger capacity hard disc and is much easier to set up for high quality playback with a dac.

 

[Zool]

thanks for your help bikemig!