Dr. Edgar Choueiri, creator of all things BACCH, believes he has the single answer for any question. He told me that now that I have a BACCH-SP I no longer need a preamp or a DAC. Nonsense! One day my bunny ate a cable that took my preamp out. So I used the good doctors advice and fed it straight to my amp. It was pretty sweet. For a week or two I used it that way. Cable fixed, plugged it into the Preamp. I don’t know what to say, the Preamp gives life to music. I don’t know why. He is correct about the DAC though! I will never have DAC envy again.
But then I did. The Grimm MU2 arrives. (After a four month fling with a Tambaqui). I hooked the Bacch thing to play through the MU2 DAC. Oh my! The MU2 has a great preamp, and a much better DAC, so I hooked it up to my amplifier. It sounded great. But much better when fed through that overachiever preamp.
Then one day a new pair of interconnect’s arrived and I could listen to either DAC. It’s an easy win for Edgar’s DAC. But through the preamp!! To be fair, I would not wish to do a double blind test between the MU2 DAC and the Bacch DAC, they are equals in achievement, subtle seasonings the only difference. Equals, for certain.
In my case I have a preamp in my system for when I want the listen to vinyl. But playing my MKII direct sounds better. It’s not even close. On occasion I will pair the DAC and preamp for its extra drive and for variety. Usually it doesn’t last long though. Maybe someday I will run across a deal on a used preamp I can afford that doesn’t compromise on the sonics of going direct. In the meantime I’m pretty happy. A preamp would be nice however just because I wouldn’t need to be changing cables around all the time.
Leaving off the key attribute of my comment, spinning vinyl? This is where IME preamp selection is key.
A DAC straight in to my amplifier(s) for digital does not sound as good as my preamp options, or integrated amplifier for that matter. Possibly a limitation of my PSA DSD Mk I DACs. Having heard the Playback Designs MPD-8 with its integral preamp into a BAT REX 500 solid state amp was a revelation. Theoretically, with the right DAC and without vinyl, one could make an argument for skipping the preamp regardless of adding tubes to the mix.
I also find a good quality pre is necessary. Before, BHK pre inserted between DS MK2 and amps sounded way more musical than without. Now, with MU2’s pre I could not even finish one song playing directly without it.
