Picklgreen Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 Its time to upgrade my Meridian Explorer dac's and I've narrowed it down to the Arcam irDac or the Rega DAC. Anybody own either of these and can give me your 2¢? I need 2 of them so I may just buy one of each. Link to comment
Audio_ELF Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 Its time to upgrade my Meridian Explorer dac's and I've narrowed it down to the Arcam irDac or the Rega DAC. Anybody own either of these and can give me your 2¢? I need 2 of them so I may just buy one of each. Never compared the two ... but party I would say its down to the use of them. If you are using a computer, the Arcam has a much better USB implementation than the Rega. Having said that; there is a new version of the Rega due soon which improves on the USB implementation. You might also like to look at the iFi Micro and Nano iDSD DACs which are amongst the best for the price. Eloise Eloise --- ...in my opinion / experience... While I agree "Everything may matter" working out what actually affects the sound is a trickier thing. And I agree "Trust your ears" but equally don't allow them to fool you - trust them with a bit of skepticism. keep your mind open... But mind your brain doesn't fall out. Link to comment
davidian Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 I have the rDac and I must say it is a wonderful little device and the irDac should be even better than its predecessor, the rDac beats the crap out of more expensive dacs like my previous NuForce DDA-100 and Wadia 151 powerdac, my 2 cents... Mac Pro > Amarra / A+2 > Forza Audioworks FAW Copper Series USB > Bel Canto 2.5 DAC > Horn audiophiles "The Analyst" RCA > Naim Nait 5si > AudioQuest FLX/SLiP 14/4 > Mark & Daniel Ruby Link to comment
Picklgreen Posted October 24, 2014 Author Share Posted October 24, 2014 Im going to order the Arcam irDac. It has more features I am looking for than the Rega. Meridian has a 2nd version of their Explorer DAC coming out soon also. I'll have to give that a listen also (Ive been a huge Meridian fan ever since I first bought a 508.20 cd player over a decade ago. If you have never listened to a Meridian cd player definitely put it on your bucket list!) Link to comment
Ajax Posted October 24, 2014 Share Posted October 24, 2014 Im going to order the Arcam irDac. It has more features I am looking for than the Rega. Meridian has a 2nd version of their Explorer DAC coming out soon also. I'll have to give that a listen also (Ive been a huge Meridian fan ever since I first bought a 508.20 cd player over a decade ago. If you have never listened to a Meridian cd player definitely put it on your bucket list!) Before you do suggest you follow up on Eloise's advice to audition the iFi Nano - lots of great comments from CA members iFi Audio LOUNGE: Mac Mini - Audirvana - Devialet 200 - ATOHM GT1 Speakers OFFICE : Mac Mini - Audirvana - Benchmark DAC1HDR - ADAM A7 Active Monitors TRAVEL : MacBook Air - Dragonfly V1.2 DAC - Sennheiser HD 650 BEACH : iPhone 6 - HRT iStreamer DAC - Akimate Micro + powered speakers Link to comment
Picklgreen Posted October 26, 2014 Author Share Posted October 26, 2014 Just when I thought I made my decision I have discovered the NAD M51! This thing looks amazing! It is one of the inlt DACS that has HDMI (among the usual compliment of USB, toslink, coaxial) digital input! For the setup I want to use the dac in this is perfect. I guess now the only issue is justifying a $2000 DAC... Link to comment
Picklgreen Posted October 26, 2014 Author Share Posted October 26, 2014 Before you do suggest you follow up on Eloise's advice to audition the iFi Nano - lots of great comments from CA members iFi Audio Um the iFI isnt in the same class of DAC as the Arcam or the Rega! Im not looking for a DAC that costs less than the USB cable I would be using to plug it in!!! Link to comment
Audio_ELF Posted October 26, 2014 Share Posted October 26, 2014 Um the iFI isnt in the same class of DAC as the Arcam or the Rega! Im not looking for a DAC that costs less than the USB cable I would be using to plug it in!!! It's cheaper but that doesn't make it worse... And the Micro iDSD is similar price to the Arcam and Rega anyway!! If you're interested in the NAD M51, then the new NAD C510 is virtually identical to the old M51 but in a "classic" series style case. Eloise Eloise --- ...in my opinion / experience... While I agree "Everything may matter" working out what actually affects the sound is a trickier thing. And I agree "Trust your ears" but equally don't allow them to fool you - trust them with a bit of skepticism. keep your mind open... But mind your brain doesn't fall out. Link to comment
unsleepable Posted October 26, 2014 Share Posted October 26, 2014 If you're interested in the NAD M51, then the new NAD C510 is virtually identical to the old M51 but in a "classic" series style case. Eloise I've read comments from others saying that they had listened to both side to side, and the C510 wasn't as good. I lost interest because of that. Have you listened to them? How would you rate the C510 against the M51? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment
Picklgreen Posted October 27, 2014 Author Share Posted October 27, 2014 OK now I'm confused! What is the differences between the NAD M51 & C510!?! The C510 is $600 cheaper so there has to be some pretty big differences. Ill reach out to NAD and see if they can shed some technical insight. Link to comment
unsleepable Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 I've read comments from others saying that they had listened to both side to side, and the C510 wasn't as good. I lost interest because of that. Have you listened to them? How would you rate the C510 against the M51? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk I guess not? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment
Audio_ELF Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 I've read comments from others saying that they had listened to both side to side, and the C510 wasn't as good. I lost interest because of that. Have you listened to them? How would you rate the C510 against the M51? My understanding was that the electronics in each was identical expect for the addition of the volume knob on the C510. The big difference is in the case. No I've not listened to them both. I wouldn't take my or any one else opinion ... the only way to know what YOU think is to listen. Eloise --- ...in my opinion / experience... While I agree "Everything may matter" working out what actually affects the sound is a trickier thing. And I agree "Trust your ears" but equally don't allow them to fool you - trust them with a bit of skepticism. keep your mind open... But mind your brain doesn't fall out. Link to comment
unsleepable Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 Well, sensible, valid opinions are good to shortlist gear to audition. It'd be impractical to audition EVERYTHING. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment
Picklgreen Posted October 28, 2014 Author Share Posted October 28, 2014 I got a response from NAD today regarding the M51 and C510 and this is what they said: Thank you for contacting the NAD Electronics Support Centre regarding the differences between the M51 and C510 DAC's. Please be advised that both units use our DDFA chipset, the differences are the M51 uses high spec components, and different, all virgin alumimum casework. Link to comment
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