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T+a dac 8 dsd


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I just got a second hand DAC8DSD.

 

For some reason I can't get it to work with the volume control. If it's set to LINE it works fine (USB). If it's on VRBL there is no sound. How can I make it work?
 

Regardless of this, my first impression after a few hours of listening to PCM  (redbook, hires) using mainly BEZ2 filter and WIDE setting is not so good. It sounds different and less impressive than my older cheaper EE minimax plus DAC. It is too forward in mid, the bass is too aggressive/dominant and the tweeter sparkle is missing. It sounds somewhat dull and missing the finesse and sparkle l have in my older DAC.

I did see comparisons to well known and respectable DACs so it is strange to me that it is not performing any better than my previous DAC.  I wonder if anyone else has similar impressions.

 

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I tried using it with pre-amp + amp setup. According to T+A this is not recommended and they say it's better to use LINE and pre-amp volume or use it only when DAC is directly connected to AMP.

I should still get the sound even in this setup. I was told to try and put it on max volume and also put the pre-amp on high volume and test again. I will try it and see if it works.
 

Currently I am much more concerned with the PCM performance which is much less than I expected and as good as my old DAC.

 

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I just go the volume control working. I had to put it very high and also put my pre amp volume high.

It works fine. Thanks for the advice. I will try using DSD512 as I understand it is the sweet spot for this DAC. I still want PCM to work much better that it current is. I hope it will get better.

 

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I am using T+A DAC with my vintage system which is Accuphase P-300 (power) and C-200 (pre). :)

I have no balanced inputs on either the pre or amp (I think it was not invented yet when this system was born ;)). 

I currently use both pre and DAC pre and it works very well. I can adjust the volume without problems and I don't see any sound quality issues. I can try connecting the AMP directly to the DAC and see if this makes anything better.

 

I wonder if connecting the balanced output using XLR to RCA can make it better. I saw some good cables, Cardas XLR adapters and the JENSEN adapter. If this can make a difference it can be interesting.
I still need to change the AC power cable and I heard that good feet for isolation/vibration (Cardas?) can also improve the sound.

 

After a few more hours of run-in/burn-in I can definitely say sound quality improved significantly. I am starting to get the hi-end quality I am looking for in PCM. I also use PUC2 lite to connect from USB to AES which also helps addinfg quality to the sound (but limited to 192kHz)

 

As for DSD, I tried using foobar2k to test DSD512 but no matter how I configure it, it cannot do more than DSD128.

Anyone has experience with it? I currently can't use HQPlayer so I am looking for alternatives to test DSD512 with direct connection to see how it compares to PCM and if it really does the "magic" everyone talks about. 

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I first want to try HQPlayer trail but after installing it says it expired.

I probably installed it many years ago and did not use. I sent a message but I did not get answer yet.

I currently look for alternatives (foobar2k, anything else?) until I get answer about it.

 

I will try connecting directly to amp later on today. I have to admit it started sounding pretty good (PCM) so I see very little room for improvement.

 

 

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I am not familiar with Roon. I already sent Jussi mail and I'll wait for his answer.

I use directly connection from PC. My usb chain is very minimal for now. I only have AQ jitterbug. I also have PUC2 which is great but only for PCM up to 192kHz so it's not relevant here.

 

I do want to get recommendations on the best cost/effective usb chain as I hear from many it can be significantly improved. How about REGEN (usb or iso) or other isolators? Any other recommendations?

 

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I will check it. It's not a cheap option. Both together get as high as $720.

That's about third the price I spent on the DAC.... :(

Improvement has to be significant for this price. BTW, anyone knows if I can use TeraDak U9 LPS with ISO REGEN?

 

 

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I did more listening and I find the PCM setup I have really wonderful. It is definitely at the highest levels now.

It may still not be in the same level of DSD512 but it is not far and holds it own.
I think the combination of USB->PUC2 (w. LPS)->AES is pushing the sound quality up very nicely.

 

Since this is only good for PCM, I now understand I need to find a good usb chain solution for DSD.

I was almost settled on ISO REGEN but I then found there are so many solutions out there that I really got confused.
I am not sure which is the right one for me. There is the ISO REGEN, JCAT Intona, Ifi new solution, SU-1, SU-1 modded, SoTM SMS-200, Sonore uRendo, Mutec MC-3+USB, W4wyre and many others. O.o

 

I know there are not all exactly the same but they do compete on the USB line. Since these are all in the range of few hundred dollars to thousand, I will have to choose which one to bet on. Any thoughts?

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My assumptions so far:

1. ISO REGEN provides hi-end isolation and re-clocking. It is probably in the levels of the hi-end products such as ultra uRendo or SoTM sMS-200 ultra. I don't think using both will give much maybe a very minor benefit.

2. ISO REGEN combined with LPS seems to be superior to JCAT intona and similar solutions (e.g. ifi , w4s, etc.). I don't see any reason to use similar products on the same usb chain

3. I am still not sure about Mutec and SU-1. I don't know what they give and if they are sufficient alone or need isolation.

4. SoTM and uRendu are acting as bridge/server so they have the benefit of not needing extra computer. They may be a full solution on their own. The current draw back is they are Linux based which is currently not supported for T+A.

 

I think the decision is either if I want a "closed" server solution or if I want to build my own bridge/server. Building my own gives my freedom choosing Windows/Linux as well as choosing components/mods (may not be cost/effective).

Currently I did not find anything better than ISO REGEN for what it gives for "open" solution (with exception of what I don't know as mentioned in point 3).

I tend to go with ISO REGEN for now as I can't use Linux solution yet. Once it's out I may reconsider and can always add or change.

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From what I understand it will probably improve sound quality for uRendo and SOTM but may not be significant or even minor for the ultra versions which already include the same hi-end capabilities.

I can't test it myself but this is what I could understand from people's experiences. If it does have significant improvement even with hi-end server that's even better and makes it easier to decide to go for it.

 

 

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Great comparison!

It does prove what I was already concluded:

1. ISO REGEN is top notch nicely competes with tX-USBultra

2. Adding them together is not as significant as having either of them.

 

I think this just give additional proof that ISO REGEN by itsef is delivering to the highest expectations.

 

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After additional reading/investigation it is not clear what is needed for a perfect usb chain/streaming.

 

It is clear that hi-end products have significant improvements on their own but which ones should be combined to get the most cost/effective soution?
It is not clear why I need both sMS-200 and tX-USBultra and ISO REGEN or SU-1/Mutec at the same time and how much combining them really increase quality or cost/effective enough. There seem to be too many components and no clear path. Actually the only clear path I current see is to buy them all and convince yourself that sound-quality wise it's worth the money.

 

It is also very interesting that I can buy DAC costing between $500-$4000 but at the end I need $2000-3000 extra dollars to get the best out of it. This is multiple the amount invested in the DAC iteself!

 

The puts the question if this is the right path or is it not better just to invest in a $7000+ DAC and forget all about it.

Interesting questions. Too may different options.

 

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The PCIE is interesting option for a dedicated desktop PC solution.

I still wonder if I need a few options together or if just using one of them is good enough. It should be noted that each option works best with it's own LPS which also adds footprint and costs.
 

I am NOT looking for taste or for subtle SQ improvement as costs for each component are high.
I want to see if there is any single part in agreement with significant change to SQ for DAC8. Currently I see agreement on ISO REGEN or StOM sMS Ultra.

I am trying to figure out if ISO REGEN on it's own is good enough for significant improvment and anything on top may only be small. In any case even if I settle on single solution it will be just starting from ~$700 (with LPS included). Any additional component on top may cost the same or even more. It can get really expensive compared to the $2200 dollar I spent on the DAC8.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I asked the support a few days ago and this is the answer:

 

 

"up to now an update to support DSD512 on Linux is not available and actually we don’t know, if a stable playback with DSD512 would be possible on Linux.'

 

I am not sure if this is good or not. Maybe someone else should check again

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  • 4 weeks later...

@musicbuff,

 

1. GPU offload is a way to get advantage of the graphics card GPU for reducing load on CPU. This option is probably called "CUDA offload" in the parameters screen. You can check. Please note it only works with Nvidia cards that have Cuda capabilities (requires compatibility of 3+). This means you should have some graphics card that supports Cuda from the past years.

 

2. NAA stands for Network Audio Adapter - This is a way to connect the HQP to the DAC remotely. It enables you to use a good computer for the heavy computation even if it's not close to the DAC. NAA can work over wifi. You can get the NAA software on the HQP site. The HW requirements for running NAA are far less than those for HQP DSD upsampling and you can use a small computer/device for it.
Once you have NAA running, you need to configure HQP for network (in the same place you select the driver). Unfortunately, until there is a Linux update for T+A DAC, you need to have a Windows based NAA to be able to do DSD512 as Windows is the only way for now.

 

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  • 4 weeks later...
1 hour ago, CatManDo said:

When I got the T+A DAC half a year ago, I played around with the four PCM filters , but didn't notice a big difference. I settled for Filter 3 (Bezier 1), which is supposed to sound the most vinyl-like.

 

A month a go, I replaced my Dynaudio Contour s3.4 speakers with a used pair of Dynaudio Confidence C2, which have a much more revealing tweeter, while still sounding very smooth. 

 

Suddenly, the differences between the T+A filters where much more obvious. Filter 3 now sounds too polite, Filter 4 (Bezier 2) is more dynamic and forward. It is now my preferred one, except with poor sounding recordings which need to be tamed a bit, where I use Filter 3. I don't care about the two FIR filters, which offer no advantage over Bezier.

 

I also tested all PCM filters and with my system and speakers which are very revealing and forward (Yamaha NS 1000M).
Bezier 2 is definitely the best. It is slightly better than Bezier 1 but add a bit more clearness/crispness that for me makes a difference.
I have now settled down on it and I don't change it anymore.

 

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