A DAC/Hi-Fi question

[SimonK]

Sorry if this is a silly question, but I am really in the dark with current music source technology and Googling just leaves me more confused.

I have a Denon standard HiFi amp, plugged into which there is a turntable, cassette deck, CD player and the TV (via the aux input) and then out to two floor-standing, column speakers. When I listen to Spotify I connect my phone to the tuner input of the amp and it sounds OK.

But, would it be sensible/advisable/a massive improvement/a stupid idea/a waste of time to plug the phone into a DAC and then connect that to the amp? And what about a (cool looking) valve DAC?

Any views gratefully received.

[TimeOut]

Depends how good the DAC is in your phone and how powerful the preamp is.

To hear any improvement you'd need to connect the phone via LIghtning/micro USB to a good DAC/pre amp and then to the Hifi.

I connect my phone via an ARCAM Bluetooth module (with a high end 24 bit TI DAC inside) and then to the amp via a valve pre amp that I've tube rolled some Russian ex-mil spec valves into. Sounds great with old blues music and anything heavy on lead guitar but probably doesn't make any technical improvement to sound quality.

[Captain Morgan]

You could also consider a chromecast if you are a android user or a second hand apple airport express if it's a apple household

[Eamon]

What streaming quality are you using in your spotify settings?
As an aside, I recently replaced my old amp with a digital tuner amp, a Yamaha rn-602. A convenient one box solution.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SimonK]

Thanks for the answers so far.

I already use a Chromecast, but it is plugged in the back of the TV and I only use it for watching Netflix. I'm not sure how it could help with Spotify.

I've just looked at the settings on my phone, and quality is set at 'automatic'. I guess I could use Spotify on the laptop instead and put the quality to maximum.

[gavsw20]

If your streaming then a DAC makes a huge difference, but it also depends on the source material.

If you stream Spotify Premium via a Chromecast Audio (CCA) then it will sound good, but throw a DAC inbetween the CCA and your Amp and it'll sound amazing.

Look for a used Arcam DAC on eBay for Under £130 and be amazed at the sound quality via a Optical or RCA. Then stream FLAC to it and dribble with the right material played.

[Captain Morgan]

Thanks for the answers so far.

I already use a Chromecast, but it is plugged in the back of the TV and I only use it for watching Netflix. I'm not sure how it could help with Spotify.

I've just looked at the settings on my phone, and quality is set at 'automatic'. I guess I could use Spotify on the laptop instead and put the quality to maximum.

Chromecast audio is a separate device from the video one with your tv, not having either (I use Sonos) I don't know if you can simply stream audio to your existing one without using the tv

[LuBee]

Cant really help with the phone issue but to my ears DAC makes a big difference to streamed mp3's. It puts some of the depth back into the music

I stream from mac>airport express>optical cable>firestone spitfire dac>fatman tube amp>Kef floor speakers

Might be an old fashioned way of doing things with airplay devices but sounds alright to me :)

Fiio do some DAC designed for phones maybe that would be a simple/inexpensive route to try

[lordloz]

You can use an audio chromecast which i do to run on hi -fi. I dont know if it will clash if you have one for the TV though.

Sent from my SM-G920F using TZ-UK mobile app

[jcm3]

Yes, you can get better sound quality from Spotify than you are now, and it could be easier to run.

Bluetooth 4.0 has the ability to send audio between devices without compression, but that doesn't mean it always uses it. Often Bluetooth communications are set up in the least common quality setting, and it can take adjusting both the send and receive devices to overcome this. Further, many times the beast quality audio solution for Bluetooth requires an encode/decode series of steps. For example, aptX is a licensed codec solution.

A better solution is to use a Spotify connect enabled player for your Spotify stream. Such a player would allow your Phone to act as the remote control, and the stream is handled by a separate playback device. The Chromecast Audio device mentioned above is one such player. The Amazon Fire TV makes a great Spotify Connect device for audio systems, and it has a Toslink digital audio output that you can connect to your DAC. I have been using a Denon HEOS Link hooked up in a similar fashion, with very good results.

[mindforge]

Peachtree Audio make some good products with excellent built in DACs. The one I have has multiple digital and analogue inputs, a built in headphone amp and a chamber to hide a Sonos Connect in.

[julian2002]

Take a look at the Chord Mojo. It's the current dac darling for mobile. Might be a bit more than you thought about paying but I can confirm that it gives my full size, Audio Synthesis DAX a run for it's money which was about 6x more expensive.
There is a soon to be available add on for Mojo called Poly which will allow playback via pretty much any wireless channel (blue tooth, wifi, DLNA, Chromecast, Roon, etc.) as well as give you an sd card reader and the usual usb / spdif inputs.

[SimonK]

Thanks for the replies, some food for thought.

[Apersonofsorts]

Take a look at the Chord Mojo. It's the current dac darling for mobile. Might be a bit more than you thought about paying but I can confirm that it gives my full size, Audio Synthesis DAX a run for it's money which was about 6x more expensive.
There is a soon to be available add on for Mojo called Poly which will allow playback via pretty much any wireless channel (blue tooth, wifi, DLNA, Chromecast, Roon, etc.) as well as give you an sd card reader and the usual usb / spdif inputs.

I have the Mojo and while fantastic for headphone use while on the computer and portably with the phone, I would say it is not suitable for a home hifi setup as there is only a headphone output.

Getting something like a Chromecast audio (allows spotify to connect wirelessly) which has optical output and connecting that to a dac, like the Cambridge Audio Dacmagic (which has RCA output) would work much better in a hifi setup.