AV Receiver as a DAC

Posted by: Geoff P on 18 December 2009

OK so I have never contributed here before so if I am asking a question that has been done to death already apologies...just pop a link in and that will be that...otherwise here goes.

Has anybody compared the audio results using the likes of a Denon ( or similar) AV Reeceiver as a DAC vs the usual suspects in the dedicated DAC arena discussed here ( Lavry and such).

I am using my portable PCs S/PDIF socket to stream digital from the HDD. In the absence of a dedicated DAC I am streaming into my Denon AV3xxx which I have setup to feed its front stereo pre-amp outputs into my 552 A/V input and onward to the 500 and my Kharma speakers. This sounds bloody excellent to me, streaming WAV files. In principle since the DAC's in the AV receiver are full spec Burr Brown 192/24 bit I suspect they are just as good as those in a dedicated DAC but I don't have one to compare.....hence I wondered if anybody here had done this comparison.

regards
Geoff
Posted on: 18 December 2009 by Mr Underhill
Hi Geoff,

Whatever floats your boat!

I have used a number of DACS, inc. those in the AV2 & Chord, before I settled on the Benchmark DAC1; in the context of my system it sounds fantastic ...but many others wouldn't give it house room.

I am going to be borrowing a Naim DAC to compare.

If you are unsure whether you are getting the best bang - can you borrow a well considered DAC and do a comparison?

M