Dac V1 upgrade?

Whichever input you choose to use, USB, BNC or S/PDIF, with a good quality source DAC-V1/NAP100 is a difficult combination to beat at the price.

So you think it's a step up from the Qute NAP combo?  I don't know much about using a Mac as a streamer, is there some sort of iPad app remote to enable its use without a monitor?

Qute = DAC-V1 price wise so all things being equal you have a better DAC and the NAP100 should be better than the Qute PA stage, i.e. 50W against 30W/8ohm. Some people on this forum use the Qute as a streamer into DAC-V1/NAP100 but then you have a lot of redundancy. Others use a Mac mini as a streamer into USB with excellent results.

I tried a mac mini / dac v1 / nap 100 with kef ls50s and was very happy with the sound... I would say it had the edge over the qute2 but controlling the audio being streamed from the mac was not convenient for me so I opted for the qute instead. It lacks a touch of authority, compared with the dac/nap, but still sounds very good and is more convenient.... and figured I could add a NAP100 at a later date if I still felt something was missing.

If you have a mac mini spare, I'd suggest connecting it to the qute and try out how you would use it (if you are in an all-apple ecosystem you might be very happy). For me, streaming is meant to be convenient and I couldn't balance the sonic improvement with the hassle + cost. Like dave says, keeping the qute as a streamer would give convenient streaming but would also be an expensive duplication of features.

If do use a Qute, you would still need to find a convenient way of accessing music stored from somewhere (NAS?).  So, that would the right comparison against a Mac mini.  Unless of course you use Spotity or a similar, or internet radio only. MOther options include stuff like Vortebox Squeebox, etc.

Thanks for the reply's 

All of my Hi Res music is on a NAS drive, I have ripped a few CD,s using DB power amp (and an old laptop) to try out the SQ with excellent results.  I have lots of apple gear dotted around the house and a large iTunes library that I currently stream using airport and fibre optic into the qute (the weakest link I feel)  The reason I am leaning towards the DAC V1 and a mac mini is the superior link via USB, I would then re rip into Apple lossless my CD collection (only done a few so far so no biggie) and then use Audirvana integrated with iTunes to access the Flac 24 bit files.

If anyone has done this or using similar then I would love your feedback, I am a little new to this so I may have it all wrong ;-/

Lee

All sounds good to me. I've not used a Mac mini myself with DAC-V1 but as stated previously very good results have been achieved by others.

To my ears there is no difference in SQ between FLAC and ALAC files. dbpoweramp is preferred to iTunes for ripping though.

Hi Lee, some thoughts on this.....

You're considering a V1, and sounds like you haven't yet bought the Mac Mini ?  That would be a chunky little investment for an as yet unproven gain.  Is there any way you could demo the V1 in a similar set-up to yours at a dealer, before taking the plunge ?  Or will this have to be a leap of faith purchase ?

For the sort of money at stake you could also be looking higher up the Naim streamer ladder, such as the NAC-N 172 XS, for example.  This model never gets discussed much on here, but offers zero redundancy with a NAP 100 and would allow you to "carry on as you are" streaming from the NAS....

There's another current thread discussing this very same comparison and makes interesting reading.

Hmmm not really considered that, would that still require the optic link from the airport? Or can it stream lossless from iTunes and use Audirvana for Flac?

In SQ terms Mac Mini / Audivirna + /Dac V1 is difficult to beat and demonstrates the astonishing quality of Naim's little dac/pre. Control via Remote is IMHO just as good as nStream, considerably quicker and integrates playlists far more effectively.

The SQ is easily better than a Uniti level unit streaming and considerably better than using an optical in from a Mac. I would guess that it would give the NDX a run for its money.Mine is currently plugged into a Nap 200 and I'm loving it!.

In addition, you get access to Airplay and Spotify (use remoteless to control on ipad) both of which have been a major source of contention in this forum for ages. The Dac V1 makes Spotify truly listenable again.

Tog

Awesome stuff, definitely leaning towards the V1/Mac combo, with the extra functionality, I like the small form factor as I am a bit anal and the fact it would match the Nap 100 is a bonus ;-)

Well, the Mac is up and running, Audirvana is doing its thing from my NAS (looks like that will take a while) so while all that is happening I thought I would have a go with Spotify. I simply cannot believe the difference in sound and it's not run in yet! Delilah's Go sounds better tham ever. I can't wait for Audrivana to finish up so I can try some Flac!  It's just crashed part way through as I type this, perhaps I need to let it finish and stop messing with it, oh it looks like I need to start the whole process again as it's forgotten what it was doing.........bugger. 

I would replace the qute with the DAC V1.

In fact I though about this for ages, should I buy a qute or a DAC V1.

I have the dac V1 plugged into my home theatre system downstairs with yamaha amp/Kef 2005.1

I am now steaming Youtube through my Airport express into the V1.

It sounds very good to me.  Source first really works !

Streaming duties of the qute can be easily done by any laptop.

Congratulations Lee

As you have gone down the mac & Dac-V1 route, I would recommend using AIFF as the codec, rather than FLAC or ALAC.  While all are lossless, there's less processing of the file to do with AIFF as it doesn't need to be decompressed (Simon in Suffolk explains this so much better than I can) and to both George and I, the same file in AIFF just sounds better.

Fortunately, dBPoweramp can batch convert your files for you, as can XLD.

Hope this helps, FT

Thanks for the tips, I am absolutely loving the V1! I personally think it's quite a step up from the Qute which I also loved. As mentioned even Spotify sounds OK.   I Just wondered if there was a decent internet radio app for the mac iff possible with iPod control?

Thanks in advance. 

Lee

Hi,

I posted recently on the hi-fi forum and the kind chaps suggested that I ask here for further info, so when I saw this thread I thought it would be appropriate to do so:

So, I have an M-dac fed by a Windows laptop connected by Wireworld Starlight USB cable, and amplified via Nait XS2. The question is, would the DAC V-1 be a significant upgrade on the M-dac? And, does anyone have experience with the nDAC fed by a laptop with a USB/SPDIF adapter? Does it sound even better than the DAC V-1 (The folks there were quite sure it does).

Thanks 

just got rid off a linnDs - rotten soft ware and endless drops with airplay

now DAv1 with either mac mini /audirvana on usb or sonos connect on optical

bloody good and it all just works!

Glad to hear thar you are enjoying the V1. For internet radio, I use iTunes.  It is easy to stream any internet radio station with iTunes (just copy and paste the URL for the station in ITunes).  

For remote control, I use the free Apple Remote app On an iPad and iPhone.  This app allows you control anything on iTunes  or Apple TV.  

Simples and it works...

HTH

Jude

Thanks Jude, got it figured now, didn't realise that iTunes Radio was as easy to use as I have never used it before, really happy with the set up now awesome stuff!

Yep - I have a Uniti sitting doing very little since the Dac V1 arrived and muscled in on my Nap 100.

Spotify sound far better than it ought Audirvana is linking my flac files on my Vortexbox to ITunes and remote is playing very nicely ( with ludicously intuitive playlists) with my istuff. As an alternative my bespoke Vortexbox server is happy to connect via mpd and a USB cable to the Dac V1 and submit to control via MPad on the iPad.

Fantastic.

Tog