Hello,
Apologies if this belongs elsewhere.
My Maverick Audio TubeMagic D1 has started to fail (volume faltering/wavering, static in the sound). As such I'm eyeing a new DAC.
My use case it connected to the TV's optical out almost exclusively for TV/movies/Apple Music. I'd like to keep my options under $500, the lower the better. I see plenty of options available from Topping, SMSL, etc. I don't need balanced output, MQA/DSD support, etc. My priorities are price-to-performance ratio, the best possible chip/fidelity possible, "it just works" reliability.
I have my eyes on the Cambridge Audio DACMagic 100, even if it is a little old. I can't really seem to differentiate the SMSL SU-x, Dx, Toppng E/Dx, etc.
A side-question: would I be better suited to a network streamer with an optical in? Or grab a cheap AVR for TV/movies and a cheap DAC/streamer for streaming music?
Apologies if this belongs elsewhere.
My Maverick Audio TubeMagic D1 has started to fail (volume faltering/wavering, static in the sound). As such I'm eyeing a new DAC.
My use case it connected to the TV's optical out almost exclusively for TV/movies/Apple Music. I'd like to keep my options under $500, the lower the better. I see plenty of options available from Topping, SMSL, etc. I don't need balanced output, MQA/DSD support, etc. My priorities are price-to-performance ratio, the best possible chip/fidelity possible, "it just works" reliability.
I have my eyes on the Cambridge Audio DACMagic 100, even if it is a little old. I can't really seem to differentiate the SMSL SU-x, Dx, Toppng E/Dx, etc.
A side-question: would I be better suited to a network streamer with an optical in? Or grab a cheap AVR for TV/movies and a cheap DAC/streamer for streaming music?