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Question

Intergrated DAC advice

Feb 25, 2015 1:08AM PST

Hi,

I don't seem to be able to find the answer I need in any article on the internet.

I bought a NAD viso 1 ap powered speaker. It has seperate integrated amps to each speaker, and an intigrated DAC taken straight from their £6000 models. It has an optical input capable of 24/192.

I don't own a computer. I currently use TIDAL, a CD quality streamer (equivalent to spotifys lower quality streaming), from my Android Bluetooth mobile phone to the speaker. The speaker uses Bluetooth APTX and claims to bypass the circuitry of my phone to receive the signal in its pure form. Already I am hearing much clearer and precise music than of any previous set-up I have owned.

However, I am only playing CD quality music, and I expect there is also a slight drop in quality over Bluetooth Aptx despite claims to the contrary.

What do I need to take advantage of the optical input and play 24/192 files, baring in mind that the amps and DAC are already integrated?

Thanks for any help.

Discussion is locked

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Answer
CD quality isn't that bad.
Feb 25, 2015 1:15AM PST
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Thanks!
Feb 25, 2015 4:31AM PST

Thanks for the quick response!

I will have a read of the link you have provided. It's refreshing to know that my steps so far haven't been too shabby. I have read on some pages that the human ear can't detect anything above CD quality, so I'm at a quandary since I have no prior experience. But if that were the case, I would wonder how the higher resolutions would receive such extensive coverage, from what would seem to be very reputable sources!

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It's the job of sales to talk it up.
Feb 25, 2015 4:47AM PST

It's ours to vote with ears and wallets.
Bob

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Answer
Dump the phone & bluetooth in the process
Feb 25, 2015 10:03AM PST

Your issues are the phone & bluetooth, neither of which is capable of supplying ideal sound quality that I believe you are looking for. The phone (& bluetooth audio streaming in general) is for more 'on the go' casual listening, where you won't be able to discern the difference between your higher quality 24/192 sources & your simple 320 downloads.
I am someone with a large digital music collection, including plenty of FLAC. Wireless simply does not factor in for lossless content. Things I wish to take along or throw to the small speakers in the kitchen I stream mostly the lossy (MP3) versions.

Return to a traditional wired connection by using a different device which can connect to the digital optical input. This will improve your sound quality. I know there are some newer DACs that can work with iOS, so you could wire it up and use the VLC app or another one which supports lossless FLAC files. Not as certain about the Android side, but I'm confident there should be something similar. If you actually have a newer, high end Android device, it's possible that you have the necessary hardware and audio output jacks. YMMV.

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Looking for alternative sources
Feb 26, 2015 7:35AM PST

Thanks for the advice. The phone is really just a stop gap until I find the ideal set up. I am using a HTC One M8 at present to stream from TIDAL via Bluetooth Aptx. Apparently since the speaker and phone both support Bluetooth Aptx, this is as close to a wired set up that wireless gets. I don't actually know very much about this subject other than what I have read, but it is claimed that the NAD Visor 1 Ap is capable of bypassing the circuitry of the phone to process the signal in its purest form. If this is the case then I should be hearing something resembling CD quality at present. Of course I may have just fallen for the old marketing spiel, though it does seem that NAD are fairly well respected (although I had never heard of them before!).

However, streaming from my mobile phone isn't exactly what I am wanting to do long-term. Ideally I would want a form of storage to which I can download High resolution files from somewhere like HD tracks, and a source to play these files through the speaker via the optical input of the integrated DAC. Optical is the only option I have to input a source capable of up to 24/192. I would prefer to be as minimalist as possible i.e. no big noisy PC taking up limited space in the bedroom. And finally, this is the killer, money isn't exactly flowing!

I have been toying with the idea of a laptop, since I have acquired enough points from work to pick one up. Unfortunately, these points are only redeemable at Argos, so not exactly computer specialists. Add to that I am a complete novice in that regard, I'd prefer to know exactly what I'm doing rather than going by trial and error. The more I read on the subject, the more confusing it becomes when I am made aware of essential sound cards and further DAC's etc. So just to be clear that I am along the right lines here, I shouldn't require a further DAC to the one integrated into the speaker as this would essentially be converting the signal twice right? Therefore an optical cable from the laptop to the DAC should be all I need? It seems that Argos don't stock a laptop with an optical output, though I have been made aware of USB to optical converters, which seem to vary wildly in price! Again, I wouldn't really know where to start here. Would I require a certain spec laptop? A preferred soundcard? Software?

If there is a better alternative to the one I've discussed I would very much appreciate any advice.

Thank you for your time.

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You might not like what I am going to say now
Feb 26, 2015 2:30PM PST

Understand, you are either streaming or plugging into what is arguably ultimately a very high priced (some might say, overpriced) bluetooth speaker. Yes, it has been reviewed positively, but still doesn't necessarily provide what you would get with a basic pair of bookshelf speakers & AV receiver with digital input. In this regard, I would have somewhat limited expectations about what you can expect, sound improvement-wise, even with a dedicated PC. Being able to physically separate the right/left speaker can go a long way.

That said, you could connect directly from a PC/laptop/etc. that outputs via standard digital optical (toslink), or mini-toslink (3.5mm). Some PCs/laptops achieve this via a headphone jack that doubles as the mini-toslink (=digital) connection. This way you can avoid the whole Apt-X codec marketing nonsense/questionable device support, and cut to the chase with wires. Nothing high powered is really required. I have some older Compaq laptops & HP netbooks that can output digital sound, with not much under the hood per se besides a single core processor and 2GB of RAM. Newer PCs can handle this (and video streaming) even better. It may take you some digging on manufacturer's support pages to figure out which laptop @ Argos does output digital content via the headphone jack or a separate audio connection in back. Otherwise, you could try one of the small HTPCs, or a cheap desktop that you could throw a soundcard on. Relatively inexpensive process. Don't forget you could hide an HTPC/equivalent in a closet to help minimize noise.

Regarding the DAC issue, since you would be digital to digital (wired), it will only matter on the speaker end, where the digital sound is converted to analog and then mechanical energy via the speakers.