Puncher wrote:

DoubleU wrote:

Just a Cambridge for an Express? Hmm, not sure if I would do that...

I would trade the Express for the Squeezebox Touch. It has a very good DAC, a really good review from the critical Stereophile magazine:

link

and has a lot more to offer then if you stick with the Airport Express.

Doesn't this review recommend using a DAC other than the one built into Squeezebox?

Dunno how the Squeezeboxes perform now that Logitech bean counters have had a go at them, but the original "Classics" designed by Slim Devices apparently were excellent. The review says that it was't quite at the level of high-end DACs - in the context of this thread, I still read that as "a lot better than Express"!

Just today I talked with a friend that raved about his Squeezeboxes. He has (among others) an older box, Duet I guess, which has a two-way remote with a display. At some point, a software update added the ability to listen to music with the remote (it has a headphone jack). Sounds like a developing platform...

Alex wrote:

Is this for use with your BeoLab 5s? If so I would definitely suggest the Benchmark DAC, which really is absolutely excellent.

 

Of course the most ideal route to go down would be digital out of the Airport straight into the BeoLab 5s, which will sound quite a bit better, but this isn't always possible with more complicated setups...

Yeah that would be the best option, but since my Beolab 5's can't sync, it's out of the question... 🙁

Hello Bayerische,

Two options you should definitely also consider are:

1/ Apogee Mini-DAC: price/quality very good, probably nicer sound than the Benchmark

2/ Bel Canto DAC: by far the best. The DAC 3 is a reference high end DAC but expensive. But I know that Bel Canto recently also released a series of less expensive DAC's. I would strongly recommand you to check out these ones if to be used with BL 5...

Greetz, Paul

First, go get a DAC! It makes a huge difference. In my case it comes in between Airport Express and BeoSound Ouverture. Since the external DAC is better than Ouverture's own, I find the CDs improve by playing them on the Mac instead of directly on the Ouverture.

Make sure it is easy to operate, though. I bought a Stello DA100 from April Design and would probably not have chosen the same again. The sound is superb. Problem is it gets hot, so hot that I don't want to have it turned on at all times. There is no standby power saving mode. Listening to music means turn on the Ouverture, turn on the DAC, turn on the Mac and choose music. That's awkward compared to B&O's easy and remote-controlled environment.

If you can find a DAC that is a little easier to control or that has a decent standby modus, that's a real advantage.

Sigmund