T+a dac 8 dsd

[emcdade]

It appears I'm a good candidate for this DAC.  I already have a powerful computer in my office that I use as my server (i7 2600k at 4.8ghz and a GTX 970) running Roon server and already have a Windows computer in my lounge that I use for an HTPC.  A couple of questions:

 

1.  Is this DAC still considered a leader in its price class when running DSD 512?

2.  Will my PC upsample to 512 without dropouts?  Nothing ruins the experience for me like skipping/stuttering tracks.

 

3.  I replaced with PC in the lounge with an SMS-200 and Sbooster and I noticed a fairly large jump in sound quality last year (much softer, less glare, more clarity).  This makes me very hesitant to go back to a standard PC's usb ouput.  What do you consider the best bang for the buck device to improve computer USB and make it similar to the SMS-200, for say under $500?

 

Thanks for any help!

[emcdade]

On 5/28/2018 at 2:05 AM, emcdade said:

It appears I'm a good candidate for this DAC.  I already have a powerful computer in my office that I use as my server (i7 2600k at 4.8ghz and a GTX 970) running Roon server and already have a Windows computer in my lounge that I use for an HTPC.  A couple of questions:

 

1.  Is this DAC still considered a leader in its price class when running DSD 512?

2.  Will my PC upsample to 512 without dropouts?  Nothing ruins the experience for me like skipping/stuttering tracks.

 

3.  I replaced with PC in the lounge with an SMS-200 and Sbooster and I noticed a fairly large jump in sound quality last year (much softer, less glare, more clarity).  This makes me very hesitant to go back to a standard PC's usb ouput.  What do you consider the best bang for the buck device to improve computer USB and make it similar to the SMS-200, for say under $500?

 

Thanks for any help!

 

Well I decided to take the leap and ordered the T+A Dac over a Vega G2.  Having the bulk of the PC hardware needed for this by happenstance put me onto the T+A.

 

To prepare myself I took the SMS-200 out of the loop tonight and went back to PC playback into my Fostex DAC.  Ughhhhh, it is just not as good as that little SOTM renderer.  On a whim I ordered the Matrix PCI-e USB card, and can power it with my Sbooster 9v supply.  It looks pretty decent for $150 http://matrix-digi.com/en/products/159/index.html#page4.  I wanted to at least try this before adding endless dongles and power supplies.

 

We'll see how it goes!  Definitely going to hold onto my SMS-200 for now and see how this firmware situation turns out.

[emcdade]

Also, has anyone tried Roon’s new DSD 512 upsampling vs. HQplayer?

 

 

[emcdade]

In your T+A experiences, which approach  do you think will sound better:

 

Native PCM—SMS-200 with Sbooster—T+A DAC8 DSD

 

DSD512–Windows PC with smps—Matrix X Hi pcie usb card — iso regen with Sbooster—T+A DAC8 DSD

 

????

[emcdade]

6 hours ago, Miska said:

With PCM inputs it is just an ordinary DAC with TI's PCM1795 DAC chips in mono mode... And the digital filter with limited output rate limiting the output resolution, so you get some correlated images in the output.

I'll be doing the DSD side, I think i'm just paranoid about using my Windows PC as a source again.  Excited to try out your software Miska, I've heard nothing but superlatives.

[emcdade]

Just got my T+A Dac installed yesterday, and have to say I really love it so far.

 

If I had to describe the playback at DSD512 its like it takes the PCM skeleton of sound and adds real body, density, and color to it.  Real flesh and blood. This was with Roon upsampling, no fussing with hqplayer yet.

 

This was also straight from a Windows pc with no usb gizmos.  I tried an Iso Regen with it but I don’t think it improved the sound.  It made it feel kind of sluggish to be honest.  I need to give that longer evaluation.

 

I also tried my SMS-200 feeding the PCM side and it was no contest; Win PC feeding DSD512 was just much better.  My PC fears have been alleviated.  So either DSD512 is just THAT much better or this DAC’s usb input is much less sensitive than my Fostex to the source.

 

When I compared the PS Audio DirectStream to my Fostex HP-A8 I was completely underwhelmed.  I’m so glad I sold that and got the T+A Dac instead.  It sounds fantastic.

[emcdade]

Also of note, I tried a pair of neutrik XLR to RCA ADAPTERS on the DAC since my integrated only has unbalanced inputs.  I immediately heard clipping distortion when I tried this and yanked them.

 

Do you think the balanced outs were trying to send 4.5 volts out instead of 2 volts?

 

Has anyone found a way to go XLR to RCA on this DAC?  From reading I hear the XLR output is cleaner and worthwhile to pursue.

[emcdade]

I am having such a blast since putting this Dac in my system, what an absolute pleasure to listen to.  It is absolutely perfect for my tastes.

 

I ordered some Benchmark XLR to RCA cables that leave pin 3 floating, since a standard adapter was causing distortion.  I’ll report back after it arrives.

[emcdade]

Anyone got DSD512 going on a Linux streamer yet?

 

I’m dying to try this out on my SMS-200, hear no difference to my Windows streamer, and put my SMS-200 on eBay lol!

[emcdade]

8 hours ago, ddetaey said:

I really believe we are all pulled too far in a race for the higher  DSD numbers, both audiophiles and by manufacturers (DSD1024 anyone).

I am absomutely convinced that the higher the sampling rate, the better it will measure. 

Question remains if these 'extra'  specifiactions do actually bring any value, and if/or we are able to really benefit from them listening to music.

 

I have tried the T+A 8 DSD dac  with (Audio)linux at DSD512, in combination with Roon/HQplayerEmbedded.

My claim is that filter choice in HQplayer is more important (noticeable) than the difference between DSD256 and DSD512.

For the record, I am using poly-sing-xtr-lp (1 step) as my filter of choice in HQplayer

 

Even more so, my pinkfaun streamer running Roon & HQplayer embedded  is based on a AMD Ryzen 2600x platform.  I prefer the 1-step (non-2s) filters in HQplayer compared to the 2-step filters. I.e. that even if DSD512 would be supported under Linux, I will remain using DSD256.

But this is my personal tast and choice 🙂

 

Dirk

 

Agree, to me it's all about the T+A's single bit converter and extremely well designed input and output stages over what DSD rate you are running.

 

I've also been quite happy with Roon's Smooth, minimum phase filter.  It scores very highly for me in the "just works every time" and "free with Roon" categories, not to mention it sounds very good.