Hi everybody. I'm a new/inexperienced Audiophile and I would like to get some information I've been trying to get my head around.
My plan is to set a new Hi-Fi system in my living room for very little money. I have a Cambridge Audio Azur 340a SE integrated amplifier, a pair of mission 702e speakers and I'm interested in playing only digital music from my mobile phone (Tidal MQA to be more specific) but later a move to vinyl etc.
My dilemma is technical. I am plugging my smartphone thorough a DAC dongle to the RCA Aux on the Amp. I can see that I can play 16bit/24bit 44kz music though the phone and the sound on my Mission speakers is quite good, lush, details, musical but I know I'm limited my the little DAC dongle that can only do 24bit max. Recently I bought a pair of Klipsch RP-600M speakers and plugged them to the Amp and playing the music the same way(phone dongle-RCA aux). Now the issue is that it feels like the Klipsch are worst sounding that the old Mission 702e(treble is harsh , all sounds feel a bit artificial, almost like a playing music on the radio and If I turn the volume past half , everything seems muddled and looses detail, treble crackles and I lose detail)
Also bought a NAD 316bee amplifier as I have seen on YouTube that it pairs very well with my new Klipsch, and to see if it's better than the Azur 340a SE
So my question is, is it a limitation of my Amplifier or do I crucially need an External DAC/network streamer. I was looking at the node 2i for an "All in one budget, streamer that can play MQA though Tidal ) OR is there another option that is similarly good to play though my phone, but on a budget way.
My confusion is that I don't know where my bottleneck is and what are my clear and defined budget options and very importantly, what's the best way to connect all these I need(phone to DAC, to streamer to Amplifier etc)
Going though different forums has made it even harder for me to find where my problem is in my system. If anyone has a budget streamer setup for want I'm looking for, please help. Thank you and sorry for the lost post.
My plan is to set a new Hi-Fi system in my living room for very little money. I have a Cambridge Audio Azur 340a SE integrated amplifier, a pair of mission 702e speakers and I'm interested in playing only digital music from my mobile phone (Tidal MQA to be more specific) but later a move to vinyl etc.
My dilemma is technical. I am plugging my smartphone thorough a DAC dongle to the RCA Aux on the Amp. I can see that I can play 16bit/24bit 44kz music though the phone and the sound on my Mission speakers is quite good, lush, details, musical but I know I'm limited my the little DAC dongle that can only do 24bit max. Recently I bought a pair of Klipsch RP-600M speakers and plugged them to the Amp and playing the music the same way(phone dongle-RCA aux). Now the issue is that it feels like the Klipsch are worst sounding that the old Mission 702e(treble is harsh , all sounds feel a bit artificial, almost like a playing music on the radio and If I turn the volume past half , everything seems muddled and looses detail, treble crackles and I lose detail)
Also bought a NAD 316bee amplifier as I have seen on YouTube that it pairs very well with my new Klipsch, and to see if it's better than the Azur 340a SE
So my question is, is it a limitation of my Amplifier or do I crucially need an External DAC/network streamer. I was looking at the node 2i for an "All in one budget, streamer that can play MQA though Tidal ) OR is there another option that is similarly good to play though my phone, but on a budget way.
My confusion is that I don't know where my bottleneck is and what are my clear and defined budget options and very importantly, what's the best way to connect all these I need(phone to DAC, to streamer to Amplifier etc)
Going though different forums has made it even harder for me to find where my problem is in my system. If anyone has a budget streamer setup for want I'm looking for, please help. Thank you and sorry for the lost post.
