I have been hanging around, learning, and reading about this new addiction that came after visiting this site.(lol) I have always been into music because I am a drummer but this site has taught me things about listening to music that I didn't even know existed. Well I finally decided to grab some gear after reading day and night about most of the current stuff on the market. I decided to go with the HD650, Schiit Valhalla, a V-Dac, and I have a new macbook pro using FLACs through Decibel and, and AIFFs through iTunes. I have monoprice.com cables. I have burned the system in the for about 2 weeks of pretty much all day playing with music and pink noise. I am just checking to make sure I am using the system to its full potential given my price range and to see if anyone can answer the couple issues I have encountered.
The main thing I am wondering is when I use this set up: macbook pro>1/8 out to rca>valhalla should I notice a huge difference when I put the V-Dac in instead of using the macs DAC? So it would be this set up: macbook pro>monoprice mini toslink optical out>V Dac>Valhalla. I haven't tested in depth but I have flipped back and forth between those 2 set ups and the only things that I hear is some clarity, tightness, and possibly more volume, and I have all of the volumes set to max except for the amp. Now I don't know all of the lingo used for explaining what I am hearing, but if someone did a double blind test I am not sure I would be able to spot the difference between using the V DAC or the macs DAC. Now I paid $279 for the V DAC and I thought there would be much more of a change so that is what got me thinking it is something else or I am doing something wrong. Should there be much more of a difference when using the V-Dac over using the macbook pro's DAC? I have it so Decibel uses Hog mode, and changes sample rate for best quality. I haven't heard many systems so I don't know what to listen for other than if it sounds good to me or not. I wasn't sure if the optical cable mattered because I thought it was like a HDMI cable and it's digital so I didn't think that it would make a difference in audio quality. Could be totally wrong. Is there a better way to test to see if the V Dac is performing up to par like by listening to a certain bit depth or a certain song quality? Or is the macbook pro being the source the problem? Don't get me wrong this set up sounds great and I am sure that if an audiophile came and listened they could probably hear a difference when using the V DAC or not instantly. It sounds good to me either way, so I am just trying to figure out if I want to keep the V DAC or not since I can still return it. I would like to keep it because I have read great things about it but I am not sure if it works with this system well or not.
The next thing is when I open Decibel it changes the coreaudio format to 32bit. I don't know if Decibel works like iTunes where once you open iTunes that bit depth is locked in. Because when Decibel is closed it goes back to 16bit, and everytime I open it it goes up to 32bit. I can change it back to 16 bit if I have "obtain exclusive access" (which I guess is hog mode) off. So is it better for me to manually adjust it before playing songs with whatever bit depth, 16, 24, and match it or is it better to leave hog mode on and have it stay at 32? It does adjust from 44.1, to 96hz and in between when needed but it won't change the bit depth.
Any information will be greatly appreciated. I hope that the system I have will work. I can still return or exchange the items because I haven't had them too long but I would rather not. I got them because it was all inside the US and I bought them from places with a history of good customer support. But if there are better options for other gear I would like to hear it. I am set on keeping the HD650 because I have heard many others and for the price I got it at they are pretty sweet.
