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Showing results for tags 'dac8'.
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I just got the hyped T+A DAC8 DSD (second hand). My first impressions are not as good as I expected.So far I used it for a few hours with PCM only (redbook & hires). It is connected to source using USB and I use the BEZ2 + Wide settings.The sound seems to be very forward, with mids being too dominant, bass being too heavy and tweeters sound without sparkle. It is as though the sound comes from behind a screen. It sounds dull/muffled and not exciting and even causing some listening fatigue.It does seem to have a big soundstage and dynamics but it does not have the finesse and sparkle I expected from hi-end DAC. This DAC is compared to very well known and respectable DACs in the market so I was expecting a much more refined result.As comparsion, my old cheap DAC, EE Minimax plus (with dexa), sounds much more refined and definely not as dull.I wonder if anyone else has the same impressions and if this is related to burn-in time or anything else I should be aware of.
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I am using DAC8 dsd connected to pre-amp using RCA cables. Both my pre-amp and amp only have RCA. I undertstand that the XLR output is considered better sonically. Does anyone have experience using XLR to RCA adapters? Can it really make a differnence or it's just not worth the effort of even testing it?
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Hello Audiophile Friends, I upgraded my PC and accordingly I considered to upgrade to Windows 10. Unfortunately, ARC said that my DAC8 is incompatible with W10 and a hardware update is required. The price is 1000$ for the update. Consequently I downgraded to W8.1 Pro which is confirmed by ARC as a compatible Windows version. On their web site there is only one USB Driver which, I assume, is compatible with all current and past ARC USB DACs. Technical support did not clarify this point. However it appears that the driver is not compatible with W8.1 Pro neither. When I connect the DAC via USB 2.0 ports DAC8 can be seen as listed in the devices list of the OS however the driver cannot be updated. Briefly, has someone got an idea about the problem? Is it a driver, OS or port issue? Can somebody provide the old driver that I stupidly did not keep (believe me, I keep and backup everything!). Can Windows 7 fix the issue? Thank you.
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I am investigating how to improve the SQ from USB for my DAC8. Until now I have used a decent Chord USB cable, Jitterbug, ISO REGEN + USBPCB + TeraDak LPS, PUC2 lite + TeraDak LPS. So far my conclusion is that using a PUC2 lite with AES connection give the best sound. The only drawback is that it is limited to PCM 24/192. Sound quality is great, very clean, vert balanced with every instument in place. Using ISO REGEN or Jitterbug did not work for me. Jitterbug did not add or removed anything. ISO REGEN which is highly praised, sounds a bit better than USB only but it is not very significant as I expected. ISO REGEN + PUC2 lite is even more surprising. It is not as good as PUC2 alone. It emphasizes the lows but veils a bit the highs. It would nice to hear similar experiences and any recommendation for USB/DDC components that did significant improvement the T+A DAC SQ with USB. I am not looking for subtle improvements but ones that are significant, similar to what I get from PUC2 lite. Experience using Isolated/balanced power can be interesting as well.