PietervE
New member
Good day everyone,
This is my first post, please be patient if I don't abide by any unwritten rules of the forum. BTW, I didn't see a sticky in the general forum to introduce myself, if it is somewhere else, please tell me and I will do so. So I'm going to jump straight in with my query, and hopefully I can get some opinions from all you knowledgeable guys.
I am by no means an audio expert, to be honest, a week or so ago I didn't even know that something like a DAC exists!
So all happened when I stumbled across an old NAD AV 713 with Mission speakers for R500. I know NAD is more towards the top end (not your typical Samsung home entertainment system), so I decided to buy it. I want to use it at my television, as the normal TV speakers are pretty much useless. Given the amp's age, there are no digital inputs, and my Bluray player has only an HDMI output.
So I did a bit of online reading and discovered that there are things like DACs, and that they can easily run over R10k! Now I am far from being an audio expert, and there is no way that I can afford that amount at this stage. So I searched for cheaper versions. Came across a few on Takealot for around R500, but their reviews were bad. I do realise it can be very subjective though. Audio that sounds good to me might sound terrible to people with a greater appreciation for audio. (Those that can make proper use the R10k DACs...) I also found the following DACs:
https://www.henractech.co.za/store/HDMI-Audio-Extractor-Digital-Audio-SPDIF-Optical-&-AV-outputs-Full-HD-p111922351
https://www.loot.co.za/product/hdcvt-hdmi-2-0-to-hdmi-with-audio-extractor/zhgc-5697-g320?referrer=googlemerchant
https://reliablestore.co.za/products/hd-to-hd-and-optical-spdif-rca-l-r-1080p-5-1ch-audio-extractor-converter
At this stage all that I am looking for is something that can convert the audio from the Bluray HDMI into a stereo analogue RCA output, and also an HDMI through for the video. The audio quality needs to be at least on par with a PC-out plug. I read that it is easy to beat that quality with a USB DAC, so I am hoping these small ones that I posted above might do it as well. To give you an idea of my level of audio "maturity", I currently use a set of Bose QC15 in the office, which works well for me. Please don't swear at me, I have seen on some forums that audiophiles hate them!
Can anyone comment on the ones in the links? Or at least about the brands, if they are trusted or if they produce junk. Will appreciate all opinions.
Thanx a lot!
This is my first post, please be patient if I don't abide by any unwritten rules of the forum. BTW, I didn't see a sticky in the general forum to introduce myself, if it is somewhere else, please tell me and I will do so. So I'm going to jump straight in with my query, and hopefully I can get some opinions from all you knowledgeable guys.
I am by no means an audio expert, to be honest, a week or so ago I didn't even know that something like a DAC exists!
So all happened when I stumbled across an old NAD AV 713 with Mission speakers for R500. I know NAD is more towards the top end (not your typical Samsung home entertainment system), so I decided to buy it. I want to use it at my television, as the normal TV speakers are pretty much useless. Given the amp's age, there are no digital inputs, and my Bluray player has only an HDMI output.
So I did a bit of online reading and discovered that there are things like DACs, and that they can easily run over R10k! Now I am far from being an audio expert, and there is no way that I can afford that amount at this stage. So I searched for cheaper versions. Came across a few on Takealot for around R500, but their reviews were bad. I do realise it can be very subjective though. Audio that sounds good to me might sound terrible to people with a greater appreciation for audio. (Those that can make proper use the R10k DACs...
) I also found the following DACs:https://www.henractech.co.za/store/HDMI-Audio-Extractor-Digital-Audio-SPDIF-Optical-&-AV-outputs-Full-HD-p111922351
https://www.loot.co.za/product/hdcvt-hdmi-2-0-to-hdmi-with-audio-extractor/zhgc-5697-g320?referrer=googlemerchant
https://reliablestore.co.za/products/hd-to-hd-and-optical-spdif-rca-l-r-1080p-5-1ch-audio-extractor-converter
At this stage all that I am looking for is something that can convert the audio from the Bluray HDMI into a stereo analogue RCA output, and also an HDMI through for the video. The audio quality needs to be at least on par with a PC-out plug. I read that it is easy to beat that quality with a USB DAC, so I am hoping these small ones that I posted above might do it as well. To give you an idea of my level of audio "maturity", I currently use a set of Bose QC15 in the office, which works well for me. Please don't swear at me, I have seen on some forums that audiophiles hate them!
Can anyone comment on the ones in the links? Or at least about the brands, if they are trusted or if they produce junk. Will appreciate all opinions.
Thanx a lot!
