cambridge audio 651a onboard usb dac or invest in a seperate dac
Wed, Mar 13 2013, 11:59PM
Hi everyone. i am new to hi fi and have just bought a cambridge audio 651a amp with a pair of tannoy mercury v4s and have to say that all the reviews i have seen on here have been really good in getting me to choose which amp and speakers i wanted to get. The main thing i need advice with is, all my music is on my computer so obv i connected my comp via usb, to use the amps dac, im thinking about gettin a arcam rdac or dac magic 100 instead of using the amps dac, would i notice a great improvement in the sound quality by gettin the dac, or is it not viable to spend extra cash on something im not goin to really notice. soz for the noobish question. ps: have got the software to convert tracks to 24bit 192khz. 
Nice to get a straight answer.
Nice amp
.
Make sure (as you can read in other parts of the forum) that the software-player & Windows you're using is well set-up
A Mac is a bit easier with that.
The USB audio input with the 651A is max. 16b/48k. ! So, its fine for everything like internet-radio/spotify and ripped CD's.
(It's no use to send the audio from your PC > USB-input with 24b/192k.)
Just enjoy and get on with your set and worry about upgrades and all later on if neccesary.
[ CambridgeAudio 350A + CambridgeAudio 651BD + Tannoy RS DC4 & Sub1001 + Schiit Bifrost + Sharp LC32LE705, Ixos/QED/Oehlbach/Audioquest. ] [ GDrive hdd 750GB -Firewire800 > Mac Mini -2010, 2.4GHz / 8GB RAM / (SnowLeopard) Audirvana Free & iTunes -ALAC > USB 16&24bit > Bifrost Dac. ]
[ Dual 505-1 (Ortofon) + CambridgeAudio 551P ]