Yes I use an Audiolab 8200cdq and the sound is much better. Remember you are not only using the DAC in the deck but also the analogue sound circuitry which though good is not the best. I never found the digital filters on the deck made an improvement & I never liked the resulting sound of any of them. Also in my case since the dac is part of an all-in-one preamp thats one pair of interconnects no longer needed, just an optical cable, and one less thing to affect the sound. If you have a preamp with dac built in its a no brainer. Depends on whether you are happy with the sound?