I used to have the same issue. CD’s played through my Simaudio Moon 650D player sounded better than the same ripped CD played through my Meridian MD600 storage and MS600 renderer and the 650D as a DAC. When I switched from the MS600 to a Simaudio MiND renderer the sound was the same, if not a little better than, the 650D playing the CD directly. I think that Meridian’s apodizing filter changes the sound of the audio. You either like that change or you don’t.
If you can output digital from the MS200 try using the CD6005 as your DAC. Also, go into the MS200 settings and turn off the upsampling. This should get you closer to the sound from CD directly.
You’re using the DAC inside the Yamaha receiver, which isn’t going to be as good as the one in the Marantz 6005. That’s the key difference. Everything before the DAC is just digital bits, and nothing will impact the quality of digital bits as long as they’re transferred correctly (not difficult for even cheap hardware).
You should get an outboard DAC (many options… where to begin… just do some research in your price range and ensure it has the inputs you require), connect it via USB from your MacBook or Optical from the streamer, and its output to your receiver.
The next upgrade after that should be your receiver. A good stereo integrated amplifier would be higher quality amplification. But the DAC should come first, especially if you enjoy the sound from the CD player—since that’s the main difference between those two. Therefore, the DAC is the thing you should change if you want your sound from ALAC to be more similar to the Marantz.
Great answer.
There is no question that speakers amp combination and your listening environment have the greatest (most noticeable) impact on what you hear!
If you don’t get this right then whatever you do up chain will not be able to show its benefits (or failings).
Then the way would be:
Optical from my Meridian to my ”Yet Unbought DAC” and then RCA to my Yamaha Receiver? And in the best of worlds I will get a fantastic sound after that?
I suggest you make friends with a local dealer. Ask him/her to loan or bring back a few options then sit back and decide what is a fantastic sound to you. No one can tell you your fantastic as everyone’s differs.
@Bernt_Mansson yep, that would be the order in the chain. The DAC goes between Meridian to Receiver.
Actually, looking at the Meridian MS200, what I would try first is a 3.5mm analog audio cable to your Yamaha receiver, rather than digital optical. Try the Meridian’s DAC (let it do the analog conversion, rather than your Yamaha). It may sound great, you never know—and at the very least it should be different. And the cost is a simple $5 cable (*3.5mm stereo to male RCA stereo) to try it, so it’s worth a shot.
For DACs otherwise, I agree with @garye: find a dealer and audition several and find one you like and that brings the life back into the music like you find with your Marantz CD player. Alternatively you could order a few and do the return thing if you find a shop with a good policy.
As for specific recommendations, I’m not too picky on DACs and currently run a Cambridge Audio DAC Magic and a modified Topping D10s, both of which I like, so I wouldn’t be good at recommending things that a good Google search for “Best DAC under $XX” wouldn’t turn up. Maybe others can give you specific recs.
@Bernt_Mansson that’s really great to hear! You nailed it, the Cambridge streamers are top notch pieces and a great balance of value and performance. Ideal for your situation as a digitial source and analog converter.
Thanks also for the follow-up! Feels great to have some closure on the conversation
In particular, in my experience as well, the digital source is completely irrelevant. Get the bits however you like, they’re just zeros and ones, unless your digital source is defective, and then you’ll hear it in the form of blips and pops which are immediately obvious, not subtle differences. The only thing that matters in digital is after the bit stream.
With vinyl, it is another story completely. Every part matters. I disagree with Paul that the turntable, cartridge, etc. aren’t as critical as the pre—though a preamp can make a huge difference and he’s right about that, so can the cartridge, so can the turntable, so can the alignment, so can the transport (more than any other cable, because of the low phono signals!)… it all matters, you can’t ignore a single variable in vinyl. That said, does a stellar pre make it all better? Yes, it can level it up an incredible degree, and in some system is the weakest link. Vinyl is harder and more fun because of that IMO.
But yeah, with digital, focus on the DAC. Everything else is convenient features for delivering the right bits to the DAC, so take your preference.
