Hello,
I am less an audiophile than a music obsessive, and I'm looking for DAC advice as I am ripping all my CDs to FLAC and plan to get rid of my CD player.
My system is a Unico Unison integrated amp, Monitor RS6 speakers and (for now) an NAD C545BEE CD player. As I say, I'm not really an audiophile, so I don't know how well-synergized this system is, but I love the sound for the most part. If I can find a DAC that gets more low end bass definition that would be great (though I'm guessing this is largely a limitation of the speaker).
More than specific recommendations (though I'd welcome those as well), I'd be eager for general advice about what kind of DAC technology would be best for me. I find all the info about oversampling vs. upsampling (or are those synonyms?) vs. non-oversampling, different bit rates, etc., pretty bewildering. I listen mostly to rock, with a little bit of everything else thrown in. So pace, rhythym, dynamics are more important to me than neutrality, harmonic resolution, etc. I'm pretty happy with the soundstaging and imaging of my system as it stands, so improving that is not a huge priority.
What do these preferences (and my current equipment) dictate about what kind of DAC I should look for?
I'd spend up to $1000, though I'd rather keep it around $600 (and it seems like there are a lot of good options at that price point.) Also: my computer has a coax digital out, so I don't need a USB input (though it might be nice for the flexibility)
Many thanks for any advice!
Mike
