wgscott Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 Is it significantly superior to, say, the $100 NuForce microDAC? If so, I probably will get one. I like that the LEDs are color-coded to match sampling frequency... Link to comment
wgscott Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 Also, how does the analogue volume control work? Is there a nob or is it controlled by the computer volume slider? Link to comment
wgscott Posted June 15, 2012 Share Posted June 15, 2012 Please, can someone tell me how the analogue volume control on this thing works? Link to comment
wgscott Posted June 15, 2012 Share Posted June 15, 2012 I think if you set it up to "variable", you can control the volume with the computer volume slider. That was my guess too, but I am hoping for confirmation. If so, this is exactly what I need, and if not, it will be a PITA. Link to comment
wgscott Posted June 15, 2012 Share Posted June 15, 2012 Bill, I think you're just wondering if there is a knob or . . . there is no knob, the device is solid with no moving parts. It simply follows the volume you set in your music player or overall via your system volume. How that's actually implemented inside the device is something I can't answer. Thanks. The part in bold is all I really wanted to know. Based on this, I am about to buy one. The plumber that just installed my water heater charged me more than this for a couple extra pipes that I probably didn't really need... Link to comment
wgscott Posted June 15, 2012 Share Posted June 15, 2012 Just ordered it on Amazon. Maybe I will get it on Saturday... Link to comment
wgscott Posted June 15, 2012 Share Posted June 15, 2012 I have a $100 NuForce micro-DAC doing this now. I connect that to a Velodyne Microvee and then to AudioEngine A2 speakers. I am hoping this will be a bit of a bump up in performance. If not, I will have to resort to cables with wolves on them, rather than DACs with dragonflies. Link to comment
wgscott Posted June 17, 2012 Share Posted June 17, 2012 Amazon still hasn't shipped mine. So much for this Prime 2 day delivery. Grrr. Link to comment
wgscott Posted June 17, 2012 Share Posted June 17, 2012 I'm not seriously complaining. But I did notice they now say backordered, so maybe that is what is going on. With Prime, I've often ordered things on Friday and had them arrive on Monday. My schedule is such that it often will take me considerably longer than that to go to a hardware store or something, so I've been pretty much buying everything with Prime lately, since I've already paid for it. Link to comment
wgscott Posted June 17, 2012 Share Posted June 17, 2012 This has dragonflys on it, so it sounds more airy. Mine shipped and will be here tommorow about noon. I think as an excercise in restraint, i will leave it in the box for a week. Link to comment
wgscott Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 Beats me. Doesn't really matter what I think. The only thing that really matters is whether there are measurable differences. This has the potential for a more direct signal path. Depends how good the analogue volume control is. Link to comment
wgscott Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 It arrived. It was here when I came home to take care of the puppies. I may have to get another one. The biggest single advantage over everything else is that it is portable. It is extremely small and unobtrusive. It is the size of a conventional USB "thumb drive." I am currently listening from my MacBook Air, via AudirvanaPlus, this thing, and my Bower and Wilkins P5 headphones. The is the first time I have actually enjoyed using these headphones at home (usually I just use them on airplanes). The fit and finish is quite nice. I may have to stop making fun of AudioQuest. I didn't have to read any instructions. I just plugged it in and it worked. Volume control: There is no knob or any physical moving part. I have to take their word for it that it is analogue volume control. It sounds fine. When I am adjusting it I can hear a very faint "pip pip pip" but it is fine one I am done. I am using Audirvana's "DAC Only" volume control setting, to avoid the software dithering anything (I assume). One irritation: The keyboard mute and volume down buttons work properly with Audirvana Plus, but the volume up button does not. I need to check this on another computer before I conclude it is a bug. Sound quality is quite good. Link to comment
wgscott Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 The volume up problem with Audirvana occurs when it is the non-system-default output, and does not occur when using the build-in interface, so it seems specific to the Dragonfly. Link to comment
wgscott Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 Now listening on 10.7 with integer mode on AudirvanaPlus-beta. Sounds great. Kernel panic the first time I tried. Lost keyboard volume control. Link to comment
wgscott Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 No, but then I don't see any reason why Copperhead cables would be any better than something from BlueJeansCable or and of the other quality no-voodoo manufacturers. Link to comment
wgscott Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 It will. I started with the volume on full and it took an hour to get my ears to stop bleeding. Link to comment
wgscott Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 I think the headphones will be fine, thank gawd. Link to comment
wgscott Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Sorry to hear that Bill. I hope there was no permanent damage. What? Link to comment
wgscott Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Why would the volume be on full by default? Because I turned it up. Could someone post a screen shot of the settings for Mac? Link to comment
wgscott Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 As Edward Abbey would say, "he had a tendency to over-exaggerate." Link to comment
wgscott Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 also there is hardly any manufacturer of hi-fi cables that make them with 3.5mm TRS plug. you mean other than AudioQuest? Link to comment
wgscott Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Well, it turns out this was responsible for my "bug" described above. In short, it only appears when I do max volume limiting in Audirvana. Once I turned it off (system volume defeats it anyway), all behaves as expected. Link to comment
wgscott Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 More reason for the Halide price to come down. My guess is they will find your non-sequitors non-compelling. The laws of supply and demand will most likely determine their pricing. Link to comment
wgscott Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 I'm now using it with a 2012 iMac (8 Gig memory, 3.4 GHz Intel Core i7), internal SSD, internal conventional drive, USB port is a high-speed one (unlike my Halide Bridge), but it always is shared. Sounds great. I have this connected to the 4' minijack input on my Velodyne MicroVee sub under my desk, and the passthrough from that via a second 4' minijack to my AudioEngine A2s. I'm playing with the latest Audirvana Plus, 10.7.4. Everything (including volume control via my Logitech solar wireless bluetooth keyboard) works flawlessly. I bought 2 Mediabridge 3.5mm male to 3.5 mm male 4' shielded audio cables. This really does make a difference. My objective test is activating a $10 cell phone. It sends a signal that the stock cables picked up and the resulting noise was horrific. This time, when I did it on another copy of the same phone, it was absolutely silent. The shielding evidently does work. These were $8 each on Amazon.com. BlueJeansCable wanted $30 per cable, so I decided to pass on that. Link to comment
wgscott Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Also, it works great with this as a volume, etc, control: It allows me to do everything from one knob: Link to comment
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