CEntrance DACmini DAC/Amplifier Official Thread - Page 46

Has someone tried the LCD-3 with the DACmini ? How's the synergy ?

Thank you

Patrick

Quote:

Originally Posted by pfillion 

Has someone tried the LCD-3 with the DACmini ? How's the synergy ?

 

Thank you

 

Patrick

I sold my LCD-3 last week, so can't give you a very precise description now. The sound was pretty good, except that the soundstage is a bit closed in. And I need to crank up the volume quite a bit to reach normal listening level. 

When I still had my Lyr, with proper tubes like the Valvo CCa or the Amperex 7308 that I had, the Lyr powers the LCD-3 with a degree of authority and power that is noticeably better than the DACmini. As for finesse, can't say for sure, somehow the sound of the pairing doesn't wow me, so I have moved on to some cheap Stax. Perhaps the sound of the headphone isn't for me...
 

Thanks koonhua90.

HI SilentSound - thanks for your review - is part 2 posted somewhere as I cannot find it ?

I have just bought myself a new DACmini PX, which if I am lucky I will get burned in in time for it to be my birthday present later this month. I acquired a DACPort as my first DAC, then an Audio-GD NFB-11 (with the Sabre ESS9018 chip) to go with my LCD-2. I am hoping that the reviews I read of the great synergy with the LCD2 and the improved power supply and isolation of the DACmini will be another step up. 

I was able to buy the PX from the dealer for the same price as a CX black so it seemed a no brainer - probably won't use the amp function at all though as I was after a high end Dac-headamp combo on there are not that many single units around.

Interested to see your next reviews when they come.

regards - Vincent

Hello all,

I recently ordered and received a DACmini CX with the 1ohm mod. I'll be ordering a pair of Audio Technica W1000x headphones to pair with it soon, but for now I'm using Sennheiser HD595s as well as a Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 system. It looks and sounds great; however, I do have one problem with it, as well as a few questions.

My problem is volume imbalance at low volumes. I've read that you're supposed to max out the volume control inside of Windows, but if I do that I can only set the volume knob on the CX to ~7-8 o'clock. There is a clear imbalance at this volume. If I set the primary Windows volume to 50% and foobar2000 to 25%, I can turn the volume knob up to 9 o'clock, and the imbalance is gone. My question is is this normal/optimal? How much is the sound degraded by having to use these volume settings, and is that degradation even audible?

Now for my (noob) questions:

Are the universal drivers only necessary if you're going to be recording? If I'm only using the DACmini for headphones and speakers, is it necessary?

Along those lines, I assume the latency test is for recording equipment? When I tried it out it threw an error and said to "check your connections and verify if input/output levels match."

Secondly, in the Windows 7 sound options, under the DACmini properties on the Advanced tab, when I do the format test the sound is distorted static-y. Is this normal? During normal playback I haven't gotten any static, but it's odd that it would have static there.

Also, if it matters, I'm using USB input.

Thanks guys!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iorek 
My problem is volume imbalance at low volumes. I've read that you're supposed to max out the volume control inside of Windows, but if I do that I can only set the volume knob on the CX to ~7-8 o'clock. There is a clear imbalance at this volume. If I set the primary Windows volume to 50% and foobar2000 to 25%, I can turn the volume knob up to 9 o'clock, and the imbalance is gone. My question is is this normal/optimal? How much is the sound degraded by having to use these volume settings, and is that degradation even audible?

Are the universal drivers only necessary if you're going to be recording? If I'm only using the DACmini for headphones and speakers, is it necessary?

Along those lines, I assume the latency test is for recording equipment? When I tried it out it threw an error and said to "check your connections and verify if input/output levels match."
Secondly, in the Windows 7 sound options, under the DACmini properties on the Advanced tab, when I do the format test the sound is distorted static-y. Is this normal? During normal playback I haven't gotten any static, but it's odd that it would have static there.

Volume imbalance is one thing that CEntrance says that check individually. From DACmini case study p9:

«We sort potentiometers with the help of the sophisticated, Audio

Precision-based automated test and relentlessly discard those, which fail a very

narrow acceptance range. This is why  every DACmini features extreme channel

balancing down to the noise floor, along with a smooth, quiet volume tracking curve.» So, probably this is a defective (not properly short-out) unit.

Universal drivers are not necessary, you can enjoy your DACmini with standard Windows drivers, but some say that CEntrance Universal drivers offer a bit of more performance.

Latency test is not applicable to DACmini.

Sorry, I cannot help you with the format test, cannot think what may be wrong there.

Enjoy your DACmini, it is a fine piece of audio equipment!

Quote:

Originally Posted by canyondust 

When you say you set the volume at 9 o clock, is that too loud on both headphones and the speaker system? If the volume is ok on the headphones, lower the gain on the input of the speaker system. If not, it sounds like there is gain being added in your software somewhere, but I don't know where to look as I'm unfamiliar with windows... Hopefully that helps

Sorry, I should have clarified. I'm really only concerned with the headphones. While the speakers are also imbalanced, they operate on their own potentiometer, so I'm sure that's their problem.

At 9 o'clock is where I consider the volume to be comfortable, but that's after having turned down the Windows volume to 50% and foobar2000 to 25%. That's pretty low considering the general rule of thumb for best quality is to keep them at 100%.

Quote:

Originally Posted by plin 

 

Volume imbalance is one thing that CEntrance says that check individually. From DACmini case study p9:

«We sort potentiometers with the help of the sophisticated, Audio

Precision-based automated test and relentlessly discard those, which fail a very

narrow acceptance range. This is why  every DACmini features extreme channel

balancing down to the noise floor, along with a smooth, quiet volume tracking curve.» So, probably this is a defective (not properly short-out) unit.

 

Universal drivers are not necessary, you can enjoy your DACmini with standard Windows drivers, but some say that CEntrance Universal drivers offer a bit of more performance.

 

Latency test is not applicable to DACmini.

 

Sorry, I cannot help you with the format test, cannot think what may be wrong there.

 

Enjoy your DACmini, it is a fine piece of audio equipment!

 

Hmm, yeah, I can definitely hear an imbalance at low volumes. I can actually hear the imbalance shift from the left to the right and back to the left again as I turn the volume up. At 8 o'clock the imbalance is just slightly to the left. At 9 o'clock it seems to be relatively centered.

Regarding the format test inside of the Windows sound menu, I'd just like to know if that's normal to have static. As I said I don't experience any static during normal playback, so I thought that was weird.

Quote:

Originally Posted by canyondust 

Having to reduce the gain digitally in 2 steps of -50% and -25% does seem too much. I have enjoyable playback at 9-10 o'clock with my software set to 100% (iTunes at 100%, system volume bypassed)

Not really, this is just 2 bits (assuming linear volume control - in log would be much higher). DACmini is 24 bit, assuming that 'real' digital resolution in most high end24 bit  DAC's are around 21 bits, we can safely say that for 16 bit music files  one can use as much as 5 bits (almost 30db!) attenuation without SQ degradation.

Quote:

Originally Posted by canyondust 

I also have channel imbalance with my dacmini, but my headphones are 50ohms and not very sensitive.
What headphones are you using with the dacmini?
Having to reduce the gain digitally in 2 steps of -50% and -25% does seem too much. I have enjoyable playback at 9-10 o'clock with my software set to 100% (iTunes at 100%, system volume bypassed)
Instinct tells me that in your situation there has to be some digital gain somewhere, or your headphones are 16ohm and have a sensitivity of >100db

Right now I am using Sennheiser HD595s, but I'm about to upgrade to Audio Technica W1000x, which are even more sensitive.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by plin 

Not really, this is just 2 bits (assuming linear volume control - in log would be much higher). DACmini is 24 bit, assuming that 'real' digital resolution in most high end24 bit  DAC's are around 21 bits, we can safely say that for 16 bit music files  one can use as much as 5 bits (almost 30db!) attenuation without SQ degradation.

I'm using the USB input which according to CEntrance's site has a S/N of 113dB, so I can only lower the volume 17 dB before degradation starts. After testing more extensively last night, I've discovered that I need to lower the foobar volume by -12dB in order to put the CX at 9 o'clock for a comfortable listening level. Doable, but not much wiggle room, and I'm worried since the W1000x is even more sensitive.

You don't happen to have the +10 Gain mod do you? ;)

Quote:

Originally Posted by canyondust 

 

You don't happen to have the +10 Gain mod do you? ;)

Heh, no, just the 1ohm mod... unless they did that one by mistake!

So I'm borrowing a pair of HD800s from a friend, and with the Windows volume maxed, I can only take the volume knob to 8 o'clock. In the 6moon review of the DACmini they state that when using the HD800 with the DACmini most people would want the volume at 12-2:30. For me even 10 o'clock is extremely loud. I can't help but think I have something set up incorrectly for there to be such a difference in volumes.

Any ideas?