Big DAC

Hi Graham,
Would building a CD player be impractical?
Main reason for asking is because my CD transport has only L/R dual mono AES/EBU
& no SPDIF or optical o/ps & can only be used with it's matching DAC!

More seriously though I agree that sound quality should be the top priority over
features such as switchable filters etc etc. It would of course have to have USB
input & 96/24 capability as certainly any new DAC without them is a complete
non-starter & doomed to commercial failure.

Personally computer audio isn't of interest yet but getting the max out of CD still is.
A player/DAC with a sound capable of giving people like dCS, MBL etc. something to
think about at a price less than a banker's bonus!
Cheers

My ideal DAC would do the standard 44.1/16 up to 96/24 (I have no HD files, for some reason the music I like is still at CD quality). For inputs at minimum 1 x coax, 1 x optical and 1x USB. Output RCA. Ideal sound quality would be highly musically accurate rather than clinically accurate.

I currently have 3 DACs of various vintages. I have a Meridian 203( with a Meridian 200 transport) a DAC in the AstinTrew 3500+ CD player and a Benchmark HDR DAC1. I currently play computer music through Audirvana/iTunes into a first generation Apogee Duet and into active Genelec speakers. I am looking for a DAC which will replace the Apogee Duet and the Meridian 203. So I need USB ( asynchronous I think) and coax/ optical inputs. I also want a DAC with a really good quality analogue preamp, as I want to feed the DAC straight into my Active speakers. I absolutely need a high quality headphone output. Basically I need a DAC/pre/headphone amp that will make the best of high resolution downloads AND my large CD collection. ( a phono stage too would be the icing on the cake).   Options for me just now include Burson Conductor, Wadia 121, or maybe new Nain v-DAC. So if Graham had an option in this category, it would be of high interest to me, regards, Paul

Graham Slee wrote: TIM wrote: My requirements for a DAC would be very simple indeed - something to sit between my aged but dearly loved early 90's cd player and amp that would make it sound even better. It could look as ugly as a toad, in fact you could house it in a crisp packet and I wouldn't care, it would be priced to reflect the quality of whatever goes inside so that's your call really. How about a DIY high quality DAC kit Graham, is that even possible, something like the Genera phono amp but more digitally? If you can do this I suppose a kit would be OK